Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - July/95

Contributor - Charles Webster

Title - Two Sanctuaries- "Two Simmering Solitudes" Part III - An Enduring Witness

Topic - Church History

In my first two articles Two Simmering Solitudes', the origins of the conflict between two civilizations, Eastern Byzantine and Western European, were discussed. The thoughts of another Bosnia, if and when the Romanian balloon pops is depressing. The communist economic legacy is equally as grim with hyper inflation, currency devaluation, factory closings, and massive unemployment. 'Before we had money but there was nothing to buy, but now we can buy anything we want but we have no money. But it is nice being able to buy things when we can." In this article, the enduring witness of the Reformed Church will be discussed.

It is exciting to worship in a church full of people! The urban Reformatus Churches for the most part have large congregations on Sunday morning. In rural villages the attendance might be down, but it can also be relative because of the large size of some of the buildings. If I arrived at church service 5 minutes before service, the balconies were full with standing room only! At Olaszi Refonnatus in Nagyvdrad there were over fifty young people coming every

Saturday morning for Confirmation Class. PA-PP Sandor at Olt Street (Third) Reformed Church, Sepsiszentgyorgy (SE Gheorg4e) confirmed 150 young people over a four week process! The first service was outdoors, because the church was just much too tiny. Getting rained upon, successive services were moved to the Var (Fortress) Templom. Large Sunday Schools also attract hundreds of children. Before December 1989 children's religious instruction was banned.

Unfortunately forty years of neglect has left the Church buildings woefully inadequate, teaching methods dated, and a dearth in educational resources. During the past forty years our churches have built large Christian Education Centres with offices, nurseries, classrooms, libraries, gyms, parlors, and kitchens. In Hungary and Romania Church property is often at a premium leaving little or no room for expansion. The Communists confiscated all land except the church building and living quarters for a Pastor and Organist. If the Pastors house was deemed too large part of

7 that was confiscated. The state, when confiscating the Parish Schools and other properties, clearly delineated the separation of Church and State with the erection of high cement walls even inside when necessary.

Today churches are faced with three problems - Churches in bad repair from neglect, inadequate facilities for teaching and ministry, and finally no money to repair their beautiful old buildings. Primitive pipe-organs, with foot pumps to fill the bellows, need repair. Ancient rusted out wood stoves in country churches need to be replaced with efficient heating systems. How many of you would let your children participate in a Christmas Concert in an unheated church, when it is -15 C outside? How many of you would sit through a service snuggled up in warm coats, scarves and gloves? This is winter reality in rural Romania! Industrialization and urbanization have brought extensive growth to cities, with large neighbourhoods and blocks of flats where there are no churches. Therefore new church development projects are underway and many more urgently needed. Unfortunately the devaluation, high unemployment and inflation have left churches unable to raise even their portion of the Pastor's stipend. It is an awesome task for the church in spite of her many eager dedicated people.

During the past forty years our churches have not only gone through massive building programs, but at the same time denominations have modified and rewritten Sunday School Curriculums every 6 - 8 years. Christian Educators have tried to keep abreast with insights from psych-social, learning, and educational psychologists in order to create attractive 'user-friendly', written and audio-visual resources for both children and adults. While the Romanian teaching methods both secular and religious involve lecture and extensive memorization with little attention given to 'how to think'. Our Evangelicals take 'Flannelgraphs' for granted using them for over thirty years; they are unheard of in Romania! The Easter Story on Flannel graph, from Child Evangelism Fellowship (C.E.F.), was like a prized possession for a one Pastor and friend. Describing it as fantastic, he wanted me to get him more. Early in May I was able to arrange for a delivery of some flannel graph stories, compliments of a Pentecostal Publisher and C.E.F.! Discovering that spiritual and biblical truths can be taught to small children, GECZI Istvan, a Reformed Pastor, translated into Hungarian, Scripture Union's book "Teaching Under Fives."

The unfortunate reality in Romania is that the churches going places are those who have western money and partnerships. In the case of the Reformed Church, most of the aid is coming from the Netherlands. Western partnerships and money is having a visible impact in about 200 congregations. It has been said that the only buildings being built today are banks and churches! Through a generous $3,000 gift from a wealthy American the large twin tower -Ujvaros (New City) Templom in Nagyvdrad (Oradea), across the street from the old Communist Party headquarters, has been restored to its original splendor. Last summer the dingy dirty brown crumbling stucco from years of neglect was repaired and repainted. Just before arriving in Nagyvdrad, work crews had finished repainting the decrepit looking Olaszi, the Bishop's church. Presently funding is being sought for a large Finnish designed Parish Centre with hall, meeting rooms and guest rooms. First Presbyterian Church of Hastings, Nebraska, provided Rogarius Reformatus, a new Church development project in the suburbs of Nagyvdrad, with their old church van.

At Illyefalva (Ilieni), 15 kms south of Sepsiszentgyorgy (Sf. Gheorghe), Dutch, German, Swiss and Belgium aid has restored and transformed the Bastions and Walls of the Var (Fortress) Templom into a Christian Cultural Centre bringing together Hungarian and Romanian Christian artists. Nestled at the foot of the hill is a beautiful new Christian Youth Centre, an arc shaped building in a modified Tudor architecture, and the recently completed Children's Village for 60 orphans.

Olt Street's Pastor tells about the Securitate's plans to demolish and relocate the congregation, from their old two floor Reformatus School, into even smaller facilities. The removal of ground floor classroom walls provided a small 'L' shaped worship space on three levels, inadequate for the growing congregation. Today money from a Reformed Church in the Netherlands is building the new Olt Street (Third) Reformatus on prime land in downtown epsiszentgyorgy (Sf. Gheorghe). 'What a reward for resisting the Communist Regime!

Reformed Churches are not the only beneficiaries of financial assistance. The Romanian Baptists are not only building a large mega-church on the intersection of all the tram lines in Nagyvdrad (Oradea) but fund raising is underway in the United States for a Christian University on the outskirts of the city. Assistance from Roman Catholic Churches in Germany is building the new Catholic Gypsy Parish, Educational and Cultural Centre in Sepsiszentgyorgy. In the same city a large new two floor Unitarian Church with its seven floor tower is also nearing completion through American assistance. Financial and material aid is helping to close the facilities gap from the forty- four years in the Communist wilderness.

If there is money coming from the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Switzerland do they need our help? The fact that there are about 400 parishes that do not have western partners, is an indication that more partnerships are needed. Maybe our congregation is very small and we can not afford to do much. How can we help? Partnerships can be arranged with either congregations or small groups in Romania. Since the modifications of 1989 the Church is beginning works among the small pockets of Hungarians, which are called the diaspora, in the sea of Orthodoxy. A hundred dollars can do wonders there! It can renovate a tiny building with no floor into a Prayer House for the diaspora in Prizsmar (Prejmer) near Brasov! It can also pay the salary of a Pastor for one and a half months! I would like to be able to help some of our congregations form partnerships.

Two Simmering Solitudes gives one a glimpse of the struggle and life of our Reformed Brothers and Sisters in Romania. The extended arms of the west has brought a new sense of vitality to the Hungarians, proud of their ethnic identity, and their old expression of the Reformed Church. The building of partnerships with our brothers and sisters encourages them in their witness, restores their hope, and equips them to face the future.

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.