Egyháztörténeti Szemle 17. (2016)

2016 / 2. szám - SUMMARIES IN ENGLISH - Ruzsa-Nagy Zoltán: The Institution of the Presbitery in the Reformed Church of Kiskunhalas in the Late 18th Century

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Egyháztörténeti Szemle XVII/2 (2016)

The Institution of the Presbitery in the Reformed Church of Kiskunhalas in the Late 18th Century

Ruzsa-Nagy, Zoltán

The scope of the article is to reveal the establishment and the operation of the Presbyterian Church government in the Reformed Church in Hungary in the 18th century as an example of the Reformed Church of Kiskunhalas.

The Presbyterian government of the Reformed church in Hungary had been established in the borough of Pápa in 1617. Later in the century the puritans promoted the institution of Presbyterian government in northeast Hungary and Transylvania. However the opposition at the National Synod of Szatmárnémeti in 1646 succeeded in hindering the Presbyterian efforts in the eastern part of the country for at least a century. In the 18th century the Protestant churches of Hungary were under constant pressure by the Roman Catholic Habsburg rulers. Historians agree that the oppression Protestants had to persevere gave a second impulse to the establishment of local presbyteries.

The borough of Kiskunhalas is situated in south-central Hungary, in the Kiskun (Cumania Minor) free district. The whole town followed the Calivinst Reformation. Prior to the institution of Presbyterian government church life was conducted by the local borough council. The presbytery was inaugurated in 1764 in connection with the efforts of the Roman Catholic Church to gain positions in the town. However the first constitution that regulated the work of the presbytery was put in effect in 1771. The presbytery in Kiskunhalas called themselves ‘consistorium’ or ‘ecclesial meeting’ and the members were called ‘consistorial assessors’. The duty of the ‘con- sistorial assessors’ was only described in general terms in 1771, telling more about their behaviour than their actual duties. In the first years the borough council retained the employer’s rights regarding to the local minister and the teachers of the local church school. In the 1770’s the presbytery took over all rights of the town council including appointing a new minister for the church as it happened in 1776 when the former pastor died.

The presbytery at first consisted of the mayor and the notary of the town, 4 members of the borough council and another 2 representatives of the ‘honest citizens’. In 1771 the membership was extended to all Protestant members of the borough council in addition to 4 representatives of the citizens. The membership lasted life long. When election of a new member was necessary, the presbytery named the candidate(s) and elected. The presbitery elected the church warden (curator) and they accepted his annual financial report, too.

In the first years most cases the presbytery had dealt with were issues church discipline. Majority of the issues were related to adultery. The author lists the sources related to the use of the shame stone as penalty for major ethical offences. However during the 1770’s the church discipline issues gradually disappeared form the agenda.