The 1870 and 1888 failed attempts by
the community to become independent was tackled a third time in 1919 and their
goal was achieved in 1921. We wanted a detailed report about it. On
the 6th of February the Rev. Toth had the elders increase his salary from 480 to
1500 Kronen. After that the war started and the old salary doubled to
achieve the same amount of service.
This must have caused a lot of discord
in the community because many threatened to convert to the Evangelical-Lutheran
congregation. The idea was also again kindled that the community could be
made completely independent. The elders attempted on the 8th of February
to convince the pastor that a raise in salary of another 480 Kronen would be
enough. However he explained on the 17th of February that he did not want
to do this because he could not allow this because then the office and service
of the pastor would be little more respected than the service of a maid.
The community had over 7000 Kronen in the treasury in 1918 so that it was easy
to decide on a fee of 1500 Kronen. However in response to those who
threatened to resign from the congregation, in order to placate them and retain
the dignity of his services, he explained at the same time that as long as he
was in the branch community the service of the pastor would be performed, he
will do this completely free of charge, and in no way would he accept a salary
from them. The yearly accounts show that he had not received a salary
since 1919. The pastor also brought to their attention that independence
for the community meant about four times the burden. However the elders
were not dissuaded from this plan because the majority of the community members
were for independence; above all for the reason, so I have been told, because
most church services could not begin at the intended time because the pastor
held the Hungarian church service immediately before it and because there were
often baptisms or other events the length of time was stretched out. The
long wait was much too much.
On the 9th of March the community
assembly discussed the unanimously brought up suggestions of the elders for the
independence of the community, for the acceptance of the pastor's salary letter
and the corresponding tax key. Seventy-four members were against the
pastor's salary letter and 8 were for it. This gave a salary of: 1.
apartment in the existing teacher's apartment, 400 Kronen, 34 q of wheat after
the 1st of September's prices were paid, 27 q of corn after the 1st of May's
price was paid, and Stolarien. His duties were as follows: complete
service of a pastor according to the regulations of the Reformed church law,
religious instruction in case of nationalization of the schools, and if the
community has no choirmaster, he is to lead the community in song. The new
tax key was voted on with 45 votes for, 37 against, and 3 abstentions. For
the independence of the community there were 54 votes, of which 27 were against
it and 5 abstained.
On the 30th of March the general
assembly had a new higher tax key accepted and decided that a new pastor
(Verweser?) should be employed in the same year. Towards these decisions
58 community members put in an appointment for leadership under Martin Göttel.
They said that the community would not find the means to maintain a school for
the duration without difficulty, and they should still open a second school.
In addition to this burden they still had to pay a pastor a very unusual amount
for so small a community. However, the state took over the school so the above fears declined and the community
could unanimously begin to continue on with their work. Part of the desire of
the community was fulfilled in 1919. At the request of the elders the Rev.
Toth (the local pastor) sent to them in the same year the completed theologian
Karl Bincze to be pastor (Hilfsprediger?) in the community. The joy
in the community was great. They had their first pastor. He went at
his work with youthful eagerness, it was recorded, in the community with "all
his heart and soul." He started to collect Pastor Karl Bincze donations in
the community for a church fund with which the community could get materials.
After his death this fund reached a level of 27,000 Kronen and was named the
"Karl Bincze Fund." But the community was not to enjoy his services for
long. He only served here for 5 months when he died on the 2nd of February
1920. The grateful community made a vault for him, in which he was
buried on the 4th of February with the greatest of participation.
Rev. Bincze's death was a great loss
to the community. But the work he began should be continued. Shortly
after Rev. Bincze died Rev. and Senior Toth and the Hungarian community had the
pastor (Verwesern) Laszlo Benedek and Sandor Kovacsy but they did not know
German and therefore they could not serve the German community. The
community therefore wanted to employ their own pastor (Verweser) again, but
there was no provision for one. The church service was held mostly by
teacher Schmidt, but baptisms, weddings, and funerals were conducted by today's
Evangelical-Lutheran pastor (Senior at the time) Peter Scherer. Through
his willingness the elders encouraged him to continue this service officially as
long as he wanted to do it, until the community could have their own pastor
again.
Then in 1920 the school was handed
over to the state so the community could with united strength make an impact to
pursue the independence of the community. Now they wanted to gain the
young preacher Christian Jung from Crvenka. The elders sent church father
Karl Eng, elder Michael Gutwein, and Philipp Schwebler whom Senior Janos Kontra
from Suza (Baranya), one of 147 community members who signed the request, wanted
them dispatched personally to deliver it to the pastor Jung. In November
they went on this laborious journey. The Senior promised to fulfill their
request. On the 12th of November the Senior appointed Christian Jung to be
pastor of the community and he finally took over the position on the 25th of
November, after he had already held the church service in the community since
the 31st of October. The community was again overjoyed. They could
continue on with new work and fresh courage to achieve their independence.
Still in October 1920 the
Seniorat's assembly turned down the decision from 1919 pertaining to this matter
with the reason that at the one community meeting almost half, at the other more
than half of those who had the right to vote were absent, that of 58 community
members, more than 1/3 have appealed the decision, so that it can be seen that
the community did not stand completely behind these decisions. The request
for the employment of a pastor (Verweser) was elected and was soon - after
renewed requests, as we saw - was fulfilled. Since 1919 the relationship
in the community has changed a lot, which is why the Senior advised that the
community assembly should seize upon the necessary decision anew, accept an
appropriate salary letter and tax key which guaranteed the existence of a
permanent pastor position.
On the 23rd of January 1921 the
community assembly accepted the necessary decision unanimously. The pastor
was assured the following salary: apartment with side buildings, 1000 Kronen, 34
q of wheat, 27 q of corn and Stolarien. - The decision was then presented at the
Seniorat's meeting with detailed reasons, which was confirmed on the 30th and
31st of August. So the community had achieved independence; from then on
it was the "German Reformed Congregation of Feketic." Since then they have
established their own pastoral office and registrar (secretary).
However pastor (Verweser) Jung was
still not proper, that is (ie.), he was not appointed pastor by the community.
Then he passed his second pastor examination in June 1922, so he could be
initiated in the pastor election. At the election assembly on the 25th of
June Pastor Jung was unanimously appointed to be their pastor.
He was the first elected pastor of the community. With it the goal they
strived for since 1919 was completely achieved.
II.
The unanimous appointment of Rev.
Jung showed that he was greatly appreciated by the community. He eagerly
served here for 5 years. He made his rounds around the community so they
could grow to know the Word of God better, he introduced the Bible study hour,
which since then has been held weekly almost every winter.
In 1923 the established Reformed
branch community of Kula was then connected to this community. So for a
short while, until March 1926, the local community was entrusted with a branch
community.
At the end of August teacher Schmidt
resigned as state teacher and choirmaster for the community and returned to his
home community. For a few months the Hungarian Reformed teacher Laszlo
Kozma performed the choirmaster service as a substitute. But soon at the
suggestion of the pastor, representatives of the community were formed who named
teacher Philipp Zepp, a fellow countryman of the pastor, to be state
teacher of Feketitsch in November 1923. However he couldn't start in
his position until January 1924 because the schools were closed due to illness.
With him the community gained a good choirmaster and the pastor an eager
collaborator. He conducted the religious instruction, held with the
pastor's choir practice to practice the psalms and hymns and learn new ones.
When the pastor from Kula served, he also held the church service. - For his
eager service the elders, pastor, and choirmaster, when it was possible, elected
to subsidize his salary from year to year.
On the 25th of August teacher Zepp
bid farewell to the community and moved back to his hometown. Since then
the community has often had to bid farewell to their servants with emotional
hearts.
Soon Rev. Jung also bid farewell to
the community since he took on the pastor's position in Beschka on the 21st of
October 1925. Before he left informed the elders that the Reformed teacher from
Werbaß, Koloman Rumpf, was to be appointed as the local state teacher. The
elders him right away to be choirmaster.
On the orders of Senior Peter Klepp,
Lewit (pastor's assistant) Daniel Gutsohn took over control of the community
from the teacher from Werbaß. He came each Sunday to hold the church
service when he did not have to go to Kula, then teacher Rumpf held the church
service. Levit Gutsohn served until the middle of March 1926.
Meanwhile they tried to fill the pastor's position but without much luck.
Then Rev. Jung's plan that was already considered to build a new parsonage was
actively discussed. Rev. Peter Weimann (at the time the Senior of the
Southern German Reformed Seniorates) held many of the meetings and discussions
in this matter. Then the Keleman's house was purchased for the parsonage.
At an elder's meeting and a general assembly which took place one after the
other, various suggestions were made and discussed. The community was in
constant excitement, the opinions went in many directions although everyone
wanted one and the same thing: the orderly, permanent care through an elected
ordained minister. The majority rejected the purchase of the house and the
elders had already concluded a temporary contract which had to be cancelled and
caused some trouble afterwards.
So it continued as Rev. Kornelius
Weimann was employed as the local pastor (Verweser). From the middle of
March until the middle of September 1926. Finally the community assembly
decided on the 25th of April at Daniel Giese's suggestion to dictate an
extraordinary two year tax to raise the money for the parsonage building.
On the 14th of September theology
student Philipp Eng, administrator of the community, had to go away to continue
his studies starting in November. Afterwards there was a shortage of
pastors in our Reformed community in many places so they had to get foreign
help. Two young Swiss came to serve in the German community. The one
was Rev. Heinrich Berger, who started service in the community at the end of
November 1926. He also soon won the heart of the community. The
Bible hour in winter was picked up again, and he also gave the religious and
confirmation instruction. The community gave him a monthly salary of 1,300
Dinar, which at the proposal of church father Johann Huber it was raised to
1,500 Dinar in January 1927. A very valuable work of Rev. Berger was the
creation of a community library for which most of the books were given to him by
his friends from Switzerland, but the community also contributed. The
library was somewhat increased during the time of Rev. Eng, numbering 350 issues
and volumes and were especially during the winter months.
In April choirmaster Kolomann Rumpf
had to leave service of the community because differences developed between him
and the elders. In the same year he went to Laslovo near Osijek.
After that there was no German Reformed teacher in Feketitsch. The
community had no choirmaster so Rev. Berger sometimes led in the community
singing while he was unknowledgeable in playing the harmonium. But soon
this service was assumed by somebody in the community. "Mr. Ludwig
Gutwein, member of our community, proved to be an exemplary replacement in his
service as choirmaster/organist which we would like to recognize. He
declined any cash but he should receive our sincere thanks in the minutes."
(Minutes from the 25th of September 1927.) After that he served our
community in this way until today. From 1931 to the end of 1933 the
community gave him a salary of 5 q of wheat and 5 q of corn a year but because
of the difficult material situation they could no longer do it.
Still at the time Rev. Berger made
the first decisions and took the first steps for the new building of the
community. A special section should report about it. At the
beginning of April 1928 Rev. Berger bid farewell to the community and his
departure was greatly regretted. From one Sunday to another the church
service was held by one preacher after another until the community received
another pastor (Verweser).
From the 3rd of September to the
middle of November 1929 Rev. Philipp Bellmann served the community. After
him until the 20th of January 1930 Sandor Szekely was pastor (Verweser) who also
worked for Senior Agoston at the same time. His work was made more
difficult because he did not know German very well. After him Rev.
Bellmann came again and worked here until the end of March 1931. He
directed the difficult work of the construction with the elders and also had to
do the many steps for it. After a short time he bid farewell to the
community and after that he served in the Diaspora by being employed in Sidski
Banovci.
From the 1st of April 1931 until the
30th of April 1935 Rev. Wilhelm Müller from Germany served with an interruption
of 5 months. He also had the most intimate relationship with the community
and made this his second home. He was certainly more skilled than others
with his family visits and sick visits and he did so with special diligence and
eagerness as nobody did before or after him. Some could also hear of his
helpfulness. From the 20th of April to the end of September 1933 he was
pastor (Verweser) in Torschau until the local pastor's election was over. -
Meanwhile Ludwig Poth served as pastor (Verweser) and at the same time he had to
do the work of curate besides Senior Agoston. If his service was impaired
by it, the community at least had the material advantage because they only had
to pay him a part of his salary which improved their difficult economical
situation. - On the 1st of October Pastor (Verweser) Müller took over the
service again and worked here again until he had to bid farewell to the
community on the 28th of April 1935. After that he could not be promised
lasting employment as a foreigner, so he resigned his office. Rev. Ludwig
Poth took over the service of pastor (Verweser) from him. This time he
also had to work in the bishop's office at the same time again besides his
service so over 4000 Dinar could be saved by the community, so a part of the
debt owed by the community could be paid off with it.
Since October 1925 the community has
not had a permanent elected pastor of their own although it has always been
their desire to have one. For the past ten years so much was worked out so
the large construction could be begun in 1928. At the suggestion of the
elders the community assembly decided unanimously on the 13th of April 1936 that
the pastor's position be filled by an elected ordained minister and accepted a
new pastor's salary letter in which the pastor was assured of receiving an
apartment, 1500 Dinar a month, and the Stolarien. On the 28th of June
Ludwig Poth was appointed as the pastor.
