08876
November 24, 2008

Czech mate

PC(USA), Czech congregations meet to extend partnerships

by Jim Nedelka
Special to Presbyterian News Service

HVODZNICE, Czech Republic — My wife, Holly, and I have found our way this morning to Husův Dům — literally, House of Hus or Jan Hus Church, a member congregation of Českobratrské Církve Evangelické, the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB).

Vendula Kalusová invites the congregation to share the Bread and Cup. Photos by Jim Nedelka

Husův Dům is tucked just inside the northern border of this small Bohemian village, a relatively short drive to the southwest from the capital city, Prague. The roomy-yet-intimate sanctuary shares the ground floor of the three-story church building with the pastor’s office and a kitchen/meeting room.

Immediately upstairs is the pastor’s apartment. Climb one more flight, pass several colorful stacks of cloth-covered mats and slide open the door to reveal another comfortable open space. On Wednesdays, it is home to a moms-and-toddlers playgroup; when visiting church groups sleep over, they simply park the toy trains on a siding, put the dollies on a shelf and spread out the mats.

This particular morning at Husův Dům is Thanksgiving Sunday, akin to Reformation Sunday in the PC(USA). The Eucharist is to be celebrated. For these dedicated worshippers — small of number yet large of heart — there is an extra special reason for giving thanks: two Americans representing Jan Hus Church in New York City are worshipping with them.

Later, we will break bread together while discussing the possibilities of a potential church-to-church partnership, part of the hoped-for result of the ECCB - PC(USA) Partnership Conference ’08.

But first, it is time to break bread in remembrance of Jesus, and Vendula Kalusová, Dům’s pastor, begins. Standing at the communion table in her black robe and white-lace prayer, she is simply “Vendula.” In the ECCB, the title “Reverend” is not used.

While the Words of Institution are familiar to Holly and me, the language is not.

As if scripted by Czech poet and playwright Václav Havel, at the moment the consecration begins the sun’s rays break more brilliantly over the low buildings across the street and shine in through the trees. It dances off DaVinci’s Last Supper, the silvery bas relief embedded in the preaching lectern on the communion table and glints off the silver and gold chalice, racing around the cup’s hand-etched scrollwork and playing on the walls.

Vendula personally conveys the Bread of Life to each worshiper.

Then, it is time for the Cup of Salvation. With the Spirit definitely present in this sunlit white room, Vendula continues a practice begun some 600 years ago by Reform Movement pioneer Jan Hus at Prague’s Svatý Martin ve zdi (Church of St. Martin-in-the-Wall): inviting the congregants to share both the Bread and the Cup during Holy Communion.

Until Hus, a 15th-Century Roman Catholic priest and educator influenced by the progressive writings of John Wycliffe, only the Body of Christ was shared during communion. Hus’ key “radical notion” was his belief that the Eucharist was incomplete without the sharing of the Cup.

Additionally, Hus believed the Bible should be available in a people’s native tongue, decrying the Roman Church’s edict which made it a capital offense to possess the Bible in any language other than Latin.

Hus outraged Rome’s hierarchy, ultimately leading to his excommunication and execution as a heretic on July 6, 1415. Studies suggest that Hus' last statements included the prediction: “in a hundred years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed.”

One hundred two years later, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses of Contention to that Wittenberg church door.

Ironically, in the Czech Republic — a country where a high percentage of the population considers itself to be “non-religious” or “atheist” and where the overwhelmingly dominant Christian denomination is the Roman Catholic Church — Protestant religious leaders and symbols adorn their paper money; July 6th is the festive Jan Hus National Holiday.

Today, the Cup is an ECCB sacred symbol, prominently featured on denominational seals. Often, the Cup occupies that honored place in the Sanctuary usually reserved for the Cross.

“The 50 Years”

The power of sharing the Cup is not lost on the faithful here in Hvozdnice [pronounced hoze-nitz]. Their ECCB parish was founded in the early 1920’s. They built and furnished the church in 1929 and their congregation grew.

In 1938, everything changed.

1918’s Treaty of Versailles ended “The Great War,” dismantled the Austro-Hungarian Empire and redrew the map of Europe. Czechoslovakia was born of this process, incorporating the Sudetenland — with its large German population — inside the Czech borders.

In April 1938, Sudeten Nazis loudly implored German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to help them gain autonomy. After months of saber-rattling, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, hoping to avoid war, personally negotiated a plan with Hitler that forced the Czechs to cede to Germany all territory with a German majority.

The result: the Czech population dropped by 800,000. Much Czech industry and their mountain defenses in the west came under Nazi control.

Theologian J.L. Hromadka, who fled Czechoslovakia ahead of the Nazi occupation in 1939. His first stop in the U.S. was the Jan Hus Presbyterian Church Neighborhood House in New York City. Photo credit: Princeton Theological Seminary

Not content, Hitler moved to occupy the Sudetenland, announcing that the remaining Czechs had to leave. Further negotiations between Chamberlain and Hitler yielded the ill-fated “peace in our time” treaty of Sept. 29, 1938. Within months, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist as a political entity, parceled among Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, itself invaded by Hitler on Sept. 1, 1939.

It was the beginning of what Czechs today refer to as “The 50 Years.”

When the Soviet Red Army liberated Czechoslovakia from the Nazis in May 1945, the Czechs regained their national sovereignty but would soon lose control of their destiny. The Communist Party, a legal political entity, began amassing election victories.

By 1947, the Party had gained political majority and in 1948, the Soviet hammer slammed down its domineering influence on Czech life, its sickle slicing away much of their freedom.

The next 20 years of life under Communism never lived up to the high-minded ideals of the Party slogans. The Czech economy floundered so badly that, by November 1967, Moscow openly declined to support the Party’s incumbent First Secretary. In January 1968, Alexander Dubček emerged as the new party boss.

Seeking to turn things around “sooner” rather than “later,” Dubček began working with other progressive Party officials on new measures designed to thaw the Party’s icy grip. Sadly, Dubček’s “Prague Spring” received the cold shoulder from Moscow and the other Warsaw Pact nations.

On Aug. 20, 1968, these countries deployed troops throughout Czechoslovakia. Soviet tanks rolled into Prague’s Válavské Naměstí (Wenceslas Square). Dubček and the other reformers were arrested. Though released after a week, by early 1969, Dubček and the other reformers had been systematically removed from their Party positions.

Another chilly 20 years lay ahead.

On Nov. 17, 1989, Prague Riot Police broke up a peaceful student demonstration commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1939 murder of Czech student Jan Olpetal at the hands of Nazis thugs.

The police brutality outraged the population, sparking several days of public demonstrations and strikes which caught the world’s attention and imagination, especially those in the other Soviet Bloc nations. Without intending to, the Czechs had tipped over the first domino in a series of events that would ultimately topple the Czechs’ Communist Government.

The Velvet Revolution, as it came to be known, helped lead to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the ringing down of the Iron Curtain. Today, Communism is relegated to the history books and to its own museum located, ironically, above a McDonald’s just a few steps away from Wenceslas Square.

Through all of “The 50 years,” the ECCB survived. Today, its members are the children and grandchildren of those faithful who rescued, treasured and passed-down the church’s history, books, Bibles and sacred objects.

The Invitation

Vendula stands before me in her black robe. Looking me straight in the eyes, she offers the Cup, reminding me in perfect English that this is “the Blood of Salvation.”  I lift the Cup to my lips — it is deeper than I expect. I find the comfort point between a sip and a splash in the face, drink, and return the Cup.

As the distribution of the Sacrament continues, my mind shuffles through the range of questions I’ve had since we left the U.S. on Oct. 13.

Few clear answers have come to me through our first days in Prague.

During a busy week of conference seminars and field trips arranged during two years of planning, our PC(USA) delegation has shared the Eucharist in the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Wall, received a quick history lesson about the ECCB and met with the Synodal Council, the denomination’s six-member guiding body equally divided between clergy and lay people.

The “Kitchen Cabinet” that coordinates the Husuv Dum congregation’s partnership with Jan Hus Presbyterian Church in New York City.

We have prayed, sung and lunched with members of The Diakonie, the ECCB’s Social Service branch, which provides centers for the care of runaway teens, unwed pregnant mothers along with community centers, assisted living residences and nursing home facilities for seniors.

During a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with the deans of the Evangelická teologická fakulta Univerzita Karlova v Praze (the Protestant Theological Faculty of Prague’s Charles University), we heard how, during the Communist era, their library survived nearly intact through the most bizarre of circumstances: instead of carting the books off to a warehouse, the Party simply locked the doors and took possession of all the keys!

During these first days together, we began interacting with representatives from our potential partner Czech congregations in scenes reminiscent of nervous first-year college students meeting their new dorm mates. An ECCB review panel had paired us based on the church profile forms we submitted prior to our arrivals in Prague.

At this early stage, both Jan Hus Church delegations have wondered what prompted the panel to pair the church from the “Big American City” of New York with one from a small Czech village.

The first ECCB-PC(USA) partnership was established in 2001 between First Presbyterian Church of Annapolis, MD, and the congregation in Letohrad. Their partnership blossomed from the friendships formed during initial visits between both continents. Further discussions fleshed-out their “formal” agreement.

The Annapolis-Letohrad success prompted the ECCB, in 2006, to suggest Partnership Conference ’08.

Logistically, the bulk of planning fell to the ECCB team of Gerhard Frey-Reininghaus and Petr Sláma, both of Charles University, and ECCB’s Magda Matuliková. The Partnership details were developed by the First Annapolis team of Betty McGinnis, Steve Hays and First Annapolis’ pastor Bill Hathaway, along with Pastor Jiřina Kačenová of Letohrad parish.

The Annapolis planners created a 50-page conference workbook, while the Czech partners assembled a multi-media history presentation and other study materials, proposed the initial church pairings and arranged for translation services.  

For added perspective, the Rev. Tim Havlicek, First Annapolis’ pastor when the first partnership began, is with us in Prague. Now the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Morehead City, NC, Havlicek and elder Steve Anthony are exploring new partnership possibilities. Also with us is the Rev. Joyce Michael, as PC(USA) liaison to the ECCB.

First Annapolis and Letohrad are enthusiastic evangelists for partnership. Their candor about the highs and lows during the formative stages of their partnership is refreshing and a great help in easing some of the skepticism that has naturally crossed the minds of those of us new to this concept.

The twin Jan Hus Churches seem very curious — despite being from polar opposite-sized communities — how their partnership will evolve. There seem to be few obstacles to a positive outcome. Both congregations are small in membership and both have female pastors: Rev. Moira Ahearne in New York, Vendula Kalusová here in Hvodznice.

Both pastors are mothers and both have significant community outreach and social programs: Moira with the Jan Hus Neighborhood House in New York, Vendula primarily with her work as a prison chaplain.

Other partnerships being developed here are between Trutnov Omaha’s West Hills Presbyterian Church in Omaha; Boskovice and The Presbyterian Church, Sewickley, PA; Olumuc and Covenant Presbyterian Church, Athens, GA; Sloupnice and First Presbyterian Church, Morehead City, NC; Brandýs nad Lebem and Trinity Presbyterian Church, Independence MO; Klobouky u Brun and Missouri River Valley Presbytery.

This is truly not a “mission trip” in the classic sense — the Hvozdnice congregants don’t seem to “need” anything. Not only do they have “means” but they also seem to be so much more “in the Spirit.”  So the exploration of partnership is an even more interesting journey

“I Do … I Don’t … I Don’t Know”

The worship service is ending here in Hvozdnice. The congregation rises for the closing prayer and benediction (it is ECCB custom for the congregation to stand while praying and sit while singing).

At service’s end, Vendula excuses herself from fellowship hour. A village family has asked her to officiate at a private funeral at the local cemetery just up the road. The Thanksgiving Sunday meal with her congregation will have to wait for a half-hour or so.

As a way of welcome, the congregation had arranged a church outing in Národní Prířodní Pamatká (Pamatka National Preserve), hiking along one of the well-marked trails that border the Sázavou River. The scenery was lovely, the company and conversations fun, but after six miles over hill and dale, Holly and I are glad today’s most strenuous planned activity will be that of lifting fork to mouth.

Vendula returns and we all head upstairs to the manse, where her kitchen table is transformed into a banquet table. The traditional Czech meal of polévka (soup), vepřova pečeně (roast pork loin) with knedlícky (potato dumplings) and zely (sweet-and-sour cabbage with caraway seeds) is the best pot luck church lunch I’ve ever had.

Along the trail in the Národní Prířodní Pamatká (Pamatka National Preserve).

There is much laughter and breezy small talk in Czech, English and German and sometimes all three languages in the same sentence. The Czechs want to know about our family, our jobs, New York City, the upcoming U.S. elections and to commiserate about the assorted aches, pains and stiffness we have from yesterday’s hike.

Over coffee, tea, a selection of pastries, we continue our conversation about the possible partnership between Husův Dům, Hvozdnice, CZ, and Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, New York, NY. Holly’s and my assignment is to listen.

Vendula speaks for her congregation, stating publicly that a partnership will work only as a “peer” relationship. The Czechs’ recent history suggests nothing less.

In 1990, when Czechoslovakia emerged from behind the Iron Curtain as a free country, it was quickly apparent to the country’s leadership that life would be more comfortable for both the Czech and Slovak cultures if this newly-free state split into separate nations. On Jan. 1, 1993, this goal was achieved when Slovakia and the Czech Republic became a reality, both countries labeled as “emerging nations.”

Today, the Czech Republic is a “peer nation,” having shed its “emerging” tag in record time. In 2009, they will be seated as President of the European Union.

So what will a peer relationship between our congregations look like? Vendula says that the leadership of her church, who are seated around this table, are committed to pursue a partnership in whatever shape, whatever form it develops.

Beyond the customary e-mail and telephone communications, they suggest  a cultural exchange visit during September 2009. Their hope is that several New Yorkers will be able to visit Hvozdnice to further advance this burgeoning friendship.

Then, in 2010, a group from Hvozdnice would visit New York. Vendula suggests that the Czech delegation might include one of her community ministry successes: the Husův Dům Singers. Though under the baton of the church’s Music Director, Veronika Kopecká, most of the dozen or so singers come from the village but are not members of the church … yet.

After some discussion of the timing and logistics of these mutual visits, our lunch concludes with a final prayer, then it is smiles all around as we pose for photos, exchange e-mail addresses and plans for spending the rest of this lovely afternoon in the Czech countryside.

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me”

The view from Sole Fida, the ECCB retreat house tucked into the Krkonoše foothills.

The sun rises early in Janské Lázně, a spa town in the Krkonoše Mountains. Before burning off at midday, a wispy fog hangs low in the valley that breaks at the foot of the road leading up to Sole Fida, the ECCB retreat house tucked into the Krkonoše (pronounced crack-uh-nose) foothills. The fall foliage colors are still striking; the chill in the air hints at the coming winter.

Partnership Conference ’08 has reassembled here after the weekend of visits to our prospective partner churches

You can’t visit this part of the Czech Republic without venturing into Krkonošský Národní Park (Krkonoše National Park) for a peaceful hike beside a waterfall. Nor should you deny yourself a visit to one of the oldest glass factories in the world or a little souvenir shopping in any of the nearby villages.

But now, on this final afternoon of our nine-day trip, it’s time for the three-hour drive back to Prague. When we arrived in the Czech Republic nine days ago, all we had in common with our fellow conferees were our membership in the Body of Christ, the blessings of our individual sessions to explore partnership and the conference preview materials.

During our time here — and especially over the course of the weekend in our partner congregations — Americans and Czechs together have come to realize just how much alike we are.

There are certainly cultural differences. Few Americans breakfast on the Czech staples of yogurt and sliced cold cuts and cheese, or have their “big meal” of the day at lunch. We Presbyterians rarely conduct meetings without a gurgling pot of coffee (ask for coffee and the Czechs will most likely serve you espresso).

During group discussions we Americans are usually quicker to respond, while the Czechs tend to be more restrained, mulling their responses before speaking.

Where we and the Czechs proved most alike is in our mutual determination not to limit the Truth of God. This became most evident during discussions about the mechanics of partnership, which were the most of the conference.

Over their seven-year relationship, First Annapolis and Letohrad have developed a written agreement. Each congregation developed a committee to oversee the partnership and any travel projects between the two. Because of the length of their association, the congregations have been able to a mutual underwriting program. Travel lists are now in place, helping keep the partnership “objective” in the face of deepening friendships.

Hathaway says “the key is open dialogue among equals,” adding that “partnerships are based upon prayer, laughter and regular communication.”

To avoid misunderstandings and their inherent hurt feelings, the First Annapolis-Letohrad team advised the conferees to be clear, concise and straightforward in working out their partnership arrangements.  “Avoid nuances that could be lost in translation between the Czech and English languages,” urged Hathaway, “especially with ‘hot-button’ items such as financial underwriting or scholarships.”

In the end, no hard and fast rules exist for creating a partnership. “There is no one way to live within a partnership,” Hathaway said, adding that the partnership agreement in place for First Annapolis and Letohrad is a format that works for them.

No more strangers on the bus

As our mini-bus winds through the countryside en route to Prague, it strikes me that ECCB-PC(USA) Partnership Conference ’08 has been a living example of the concept of “Six Degrees of Separation.” First set forth in 1929 by Frigyes Karinthy, the theory holds that the growing density and technological sophistication of  human networks makes social distance far smaller geographic separation.

Therefore, any two individuals can be connected through — at most — five acquaintances. Select any one of the Earth’s 6.7 billion inhabitants and using no more than five other individuals, one of whom is a personal acquaintance of the subject, one can connect with that subject

For Holly and me, the theory has proved itself in our journey to Czech partnership. For instance, the day the conference began would have been my grandfather’s 106th birthday … he was born in what is now the Czech Republic. Vendula and her husband Pavel’s wedding day was also my grandparents’ wedding day. While here we visited my grandfather’s home town, Světlá nad Sázavou, and met people who had been neighbors of my grandfather’s cousins. Their in-home bake shop is now a barber shop!

Our circle also encompasses the year 1939, the history of Jan Hus Church, New York and the genesis of the concept behind our conference – partnership.

Alena Zikmundová, who weathered Nazi and Communist occupations of her country to be ordained in the ECCB in 2005 at the age of 78.

We here we met 81-year-old Alena Zikmundová, whose father, the noted Czech theologian, Josef Lukl Hromadka, fled the Nazis to the U.S. in 1939. Their first stop, before Hromadka eventually secured a teaching position at Princeton Theological Seminary, was at the Jun Hus Presbyterian Church Neighborhood House in New York!

Alena’s spirit is the candle in the window for those of us trying to frame the context of the partnership discussion within our churches. Her own studies waylaid — first by the Nazis and then by the Communists — she finally completed her seminary education in 2005 and was ordained by the ECCB.

Partnership Conference ’08 underscored the 21st century reality that our world truly is a global village. In today’s increasingly secular world — the Czech Republic being one of the most secular — the ECCB admittedly faces an uphill climb in their efforts to spread God’s message. Their 150,000 members are approximately 1% of Czech population.

Yet, the ECCB is strong of faith and deep in commitment. By being in partnership with other Christians around the world, the ECCB leadership seeks to learn and teach. With 90 years of shared communion, the ECCB’s s expanding partnerships with the PC(USA) is natural and logical.

Many other ECCB congregations — in Polička, Vsetín, Orlová, Předhradi, Floridy and Náchod-Šonov — still seek PC(USA) partners.

Alena Zikmundová says there are five watchwords for effective partnership:

• Be open to people around you
• Work where you’re needed
• Think more about what the other person needs
• If things don’t go the way you plan, it’s God’s plan
• Thank God!

For information about The First Annapolis, MD-Letohrad partnership, e-mail Betty McGinnis. Click on their Web site to see images from Partnership Conference ’08. Additional information is also available from the Rev. Jody Filipi. When e-mailing, please type “ECCB Church Partnership Information” in the subject line.