Magyar Egyház, 1991 (70. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1991-07-01 / 4. szám
10. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ A PILGLIMAGE HOME Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” (Psalm 90:1.) The historic psalm of our Hungarian Reformed people took on a deeper significance for this second generation Hungarian Reformed person as he journeyed “home” to take part in the Second World Gathering of Hungarian Reformed Christians. Affirming and inspiring are perhaps the words which describe best my experience. We affirmed who, by God’s grace, we are. And we came away inspired to take our place and with integrity to do our work, asking that God “establish the work of our hands for us,” as He did for the generations who have come before. Having grown up during vibrant years of Hungarian Reformed Church life here in America, it is critically important for me and others like me to understand better the church of our origins, its theology, its character and its ways. This understanding of background provides foundation and strength for the Hungarian Reformed Church ministry in America as we enter the new century. Yes, certain things are different here, they have been all along. Yet the American-Hungarian church has an integral place in the newly formed Hungarian Reformed World Alliance. We are being called upon by God to grow, ministering effectively and creatively in both the English and Hungarian languages. And if this be God’s will, we shall not fail. With the 90th Psalm as our guiding text, rebirth and renewal were dominant themes at the World Gathering. We celebrated our rich, nearly 500 year history. We relived agonizing years of oppression, political and foreign domination. We took stock as to our present strengths and weaknesses. And we looked to the future, dreaming dreams aid making plans. Our worship was uplifting, combining the traditional strengths of good preaching and vibrant singing with more contemporary expressions of drama and musical productions. We confessed and repented, we thanked God and rejoiced, we recommitted ourselves to the work of His Kingdom. Our meetings were eqally important in that thoughts and feelings were shared openly and honestly. Hungarian Reformed people from nearly every continent, speaking many languages in addition to Hungarian, reflecting different economic and political situations, yet united in Christ and in our heritage. Far from being an isolated event, the World Gathering was the critical first step, the “family reunion” we have needed in order to set the stage for the hard work, the important ministry, which will follow. As with all mountain top experiences, this one also ended much too quickly. Some of us, perhaps, sought to build monuments, but the Lord lead us back down to everyday reality. Reality for those of us of the Hungarian Reformed churches in America, all denominations, is of a declining church, yet of a church with every reason to be optimistic with respect to the future. Bolstered by our rich heritage and the lessons of our past, and trusting in God’s continuing presence with us, we must confront the challenges facing the century old American-Hungarian Reformed Church. We need to know better where we stand today, and we need a strategy for our future. There are ways in which each congregation, each classis and each larger church body can come to better understand its past, prayerfully evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the present, and guided by the Holy Spirit, set realistic spiritual growth goals for the future. We must do this meditation and study together, as one Hungarian Reformed Church, and we must begin our work now! May we enter the 21st century as a church proud of our past, grateful for our present and excited about our future. Yes. Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Continue to have compassion on Your servants .. . Let Your work appear to your servants ... And yes, establish the work of our hands! Rev. Imre A. Bertalan Allen Park, Michigan WORLD ASSEMBLY OF HUNGARIAN REFORMED PEOPLE Bishop Dr. Andrew Harsányi sent greetings to the World Assembly of Hungarian Reformed People. It was read in the Debrecen Great Church by the Very Rev. Alexander Forró who was the official delegate of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America. The text of the message was the following: “Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ! I find the epoch-making significance of the World Assembly of Hungarian Reformed People in Budapest and Debrecen in that by it the Hungarian Reformed people in Hungary, in the succession states as well as in the Western world will be stimulated to know each other and to care for each other. In ethnically mixed families participation in the meetings the non-Hungarian spouses and the half-way Hungarian children will learn to appreciate and to love Hungary and the many century old Hungarian heritage. In Hungarians coming from abroad it will arouse the longing to — what I call root-exploring — want to find out their background and family history thus also grasp the meaning of Hungarian Reformed culture. All this should generate deep gratitude to God for His gift of being Hungarian. The whole Assembly should be the jubilant witness of God-believing Hungarian Reformed people all over the world. The Lord bless you and keep you all in His grace.”
