wfn.org | Czech Pastor Says Eastern European Churches

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2-June-1998 
98195 
 
    Czech Pastor Says Eastern European 
    Churches Are Challenged by Divisive Issues Too 
 
    by Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-Mainline denominations like the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) aren't the only ones challenged by divisive issues such as human 
sexuality and ordination and racism - eastern European churches face them 
too, according to the Rev. Ondrej Stehlik of the Evangelical Church of 
Czech Brethren (ECCB), Czech Republic, who visited the Louisville 
Presbyterian Center May 26-27. 
 
    Although church members and pastors in central and eastern Europe have 
given the impetus to much of the social and political changes resulting 
from the fall of communism in 1989, they've worked furiously since 1990 to 
keep pace with the new world order they helped to create. The results for 
the ECCB, Stehlik told the Presbyterian News Service, have been mixed. 
 
    For example, Stehlik said, the issue of sexuality and ordination has 
not been widely discussed by the ECCB. Moreover, he said, due to the small 
size of the denomination, the issue would likely be addressed differently 
by each congregation.  According to Stehlik, the ECCB consists of 
approximately 180 ministers and 250,000 members -- about 2 percent of the 
Czech Republic's population of 10 million people. 
 
    "We [clergy] know each other and [ordination and sexuality issues] 
would be handled more personally and not by the legislative body of the 
church," Stehlik said. "In all likelihood, our stated clerk would negotiate 
this matter with the individual minister and the congregation. We don't 
have anything in our book of order which would prohibit ordination (of gay 
or lesbian persons)." 
 
    Stehlik said that addressing contentious issues such as ordination and 
human sexuality on an individual basis has some disadvantages, but, he 
added, "we needn't be divided in this case as a church."  However, he said, 
should the issue come before the ECCB's General Assembly, "I'm pretty sure 
there would be some division in the church." 
 
    Stehlik acknowledged the pain and dissent the ordination issue has 
caused the PC(USA).  The denomination has spent the last 20 years debating, 
taking action at the General Assembly, voting on constitutional amendments 
and engaging in judicial processes related to concerns over human sexuality 
and ordination. 
 
    The 1996 General Assembly approved Amendment B - the commonly called 
"fidelity and chastity" amendment - which became G-6.0106b when the 
presbyteries voted to ratify it last year. The 1997 Assembly approved 
Amendment A - the commonly called "fidelity and integrity" amendment - 
which was soundly defeated by the presbyteries as a proposed revision of 
G-6.0106b. 
 
    The only action submitted to this year's Assembly related to the 
content of G-6.0106b - from Milwaukee Presbytery - calls for its deletion 
from the "Book of Order." The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the 
General Assembly, and other church leaders recently called for a 
"sabbatical" on ordination standards. 
 
    "Personally, philosophically and theologically, I sympathize with the 
liberal wing in your denomination on this issue," Stehlik said. 
 
     Stehlik said the ECCB is also beginning to address racism in the Czech 
Republic. He said there is bitter hatred toward some members of Czech 
society, particularly Roma, or "gypsies," by "skinheads" and other fascist 
parties. 
 
    He said the ECCB Assembly recently issued a proclamation against racism 
that has been deemed "very important" by the denomination. Stehlik said the 
ECCB's General Assembly commissioners serve a four-year term, which gives 
them more time to track the development of denominational policies. 
 
    Stehlik said many Protestant theologians and laity in the Czech 
Republic are also concerned about the current status of the Jewish 
community in eastern and central Europe. He said cultural changes during 
the last 60 years were largely determined by the Nazi occupation during 
World War II, the murder of millions of people by Hitler and Stalin, a 
numbing series of fascist and communist dictatorships and a decades-long 
omnipresence of the secret police. 
 
    "Following World War II, the Jewish population in Czechoslovakia was 
decimated," Stehlik said. "Today, there are only two rabbis in the Czech 
republic. And this missing voice has prompted some of the church members to 
rethink our attitudes and our approach toward the Jewish communities, and 
real theological discussion is going on." 
 
    Stehlik described the theological exchanges between Christians and Jews 
in the Czech Republic as "often intense," but with the end of the Cold War 
and more than five decades elapsed since World War II, "the time for 
discussion has never been higher." 
 
     More than 30 years after Presbyterians joined African Americans in the 
struggle for civil rights in this country, the PC(USA) continues to work 
against racism too. Last June, on the first anniversary of the burning of 
Matthews-Murkland Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, N.C., the denomination 
announced a new endowment, "The Hawkins-Buchanan Fund for Racial Justice," 
to help in the effort. 
 
     Additionally, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program sponsored two 
conferences last summer at Estes Park, Colo., and Montreat, N.C., titled 
"Facing Racism: In Search of the Beloved Community." More than 1,200 people 
attended the two meetings. Members of the General Assembly Council and the 
denomination's national staff participated in antiracism training last 
year. 

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