Reformátusok Lapja, 1970 (70. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1970-01-01 / 1. szám

REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 13 CAMP REPORT I am not going to tell you about the daily happenings of camp, but I would like to share with you my own personal thoughts and feelings about Camp Ka- nestake. I have gained a greater meaning in my religion. I became closer to God and experienced His presence as we spoke to Him. I fully realize how much I am loved as a child of God and from that realiza­tion, I can truly love others. It is a wonderful thing to be with peo­ple who come together for the same pur­pose which is to love and glorify God. What greater way is there in loving peo­ple than to do it through Jesus Christ? I gained much by hearing everyone’s ideas. I’m always surprised at the way the campers speak, with such depth and meaning. Around my school, and in many other places you find people who would never talk about their religion for fear of what other people would think, as if they were ashamed of it. But at camp, that feeling is never considered. That is one of the reasons why our camp fellowship is so great. Our theme this year was love. I gained a greater understanding about love and how it applies to my life. Life is loving. God loved us so much that He gave us His Son, while we were yet sinners. And through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we received God’s greatest gift, life. What really moved me, was our Con­secration Service. Our speaker was Rev­erend Leslie Borsay. All of us were in a circle, in silence, with only a camp fire as our means of light. And when Rev. Borsay said; “God is here”, I truly felt His presence. And what a wonderful feeling it was. I felt happy, and was glad to share that happiness with everyone. What inspiration I received through singing hymns! We were always singing and loving every minute of it. Our fel­lowship was brought closer together when singing praises to the Lord. When I tell many people that I went to church camp, you can see from their facial expressions, “Oh, a church camp, I know all about that,dull.” Well, we have our share of fun too. But this fun is different to me. It is done in fellow­ship and with concern for everyone. No one can really know what camp is all about unless you experience it yourself. So it is the campers job to tell you about it and invite you to share the wonderful experience of camp. I have gone to camp three years and intend to keep on going for many more years. I learned so much more about my religion and where I stand from our discussions and ques­tions, that I am anxious to learn more. Now my goal is to keep this feeling alive and possibly transfer it to someone else. It’s a wonderful experience. To tell you how wonderful the people are at camp would take all day, but you know there has to be something if the same people return year after year and even bring new campers with them. I know I have the feeling and inspiration, because I wanted to share with you. I know the feeling, and wish you did too. I only hope, that through God’s help, my mes­sage has transferred some of this feeling to you. Linda Stephens Hammond, Ind. Dr. Cynthia Wedel Wins Nomination as NCC President Accepting the presidency of the Na­tional Council of Churches at its 8th General Assembly in Detroit, Michigan, Mrs. Theodore O. Wedel (Cynthia Clark) apologized to “my black bro­thers and sisters” for having declined to withdraw in favor of the black candi­date, the Rev. Albert Cleage Jr. of Detroit. “It would have been easy,” she said, “but I could not bring myself, in good conscience to do so.” The new president, the first woman ever elected to the post, said that she foresaw the need for big changes in the Council which “must be made faster than we now think possible.” She pro­posed that permanent caucuses be es­tablished by all under-represented groups, including women, Indians and Spanish-Americans, which would gain them the power they need to influence the Council.—The Religious Newsweekly Dr. Espy Presents Blueprint for New “Pluriform” Church Council There are three options for the future of the National Council, Dr. R. H. Ed­win Espy told a press conference during the General Assembly sessions in De­troit. Either the NCC will chart a new highway toward true ecumenism OR an “explosion” will disrupt and disorient it OR nothing new will come out of the Assembly and the entire organization will be bogged down. The General Secretary, who was re­elected to a third term, dismissed the latter two options and outlined his philo­sophy governing a “new look” for the Council. Under the suggested name, “General Ecumenical Council,” Dr. Espy saw an organization “which would more adequately reflect the present lines of influence on the religious life of the na­tion.” Such an agency, he said, would consist of two bodies: an official legisla­tive assembly or “parliament,” which would meet annually “to speak in unity only on such matters as could be agreed upon by the various member agencies; and an annual gathering of the people of the church on the order of the “Kirchentag” or Church Day, in Ger­many. Stating that such a new organization might evolve in five to ten years, Dr. Espy noted the growing fraternal rela­tions with the Roman Catholic Church and added that the new Council should “make room for all vital streams of re­ligious life in the nation.” Asked about participation of Jewish groups, he replied that this was a “pain­ful problem” but added: “Thank God for the opening of some doors and windows between us.” An analogy, he said, was the difficult decision not to admit the Universalist-Unitarians into the National Council although they had been mem­bers of the Old Federal Council and “mostly call themselves Christians.” “To me,” said Dr. Espy, “the revela­tion of God through Jesus Christ does exclude those who cannot accept this.” Concluding the interview, the general secretary declared: “To meet the needs of the order and magnitude now con­fronting our people, half-measures will not suffice. We must have a profound reordering of both our national and our church priorities if we are to cope ef­fectively with the issues of war, race, poverty at home and abroad, urban crisis, ecumenism and the erosion of faith.” —The Religious Newsweekly Other Actions of the 8lli General Assembly The scope of concerns before the As­sembly ranged from agreement to re­frain from celebrating Christmas as Usual and instead giving funds and aid to those who cannot afford a square meal, to urging church backing of ef­forts to end rampant discrimination against blacks and poor whites in the rehabilitation of the Gulf Coast follow­ing Hurricane Camille. In the latter resolution, the President was called on to withhold further Federal aid to “white” emergency councils such as the Governor’s Council in Mississippi, and to support the work of the Combined Community Organization Disaster Com­mittee, a coalition in that state of civil rights organizations and the NCC Delta Ministry. Another resolution supported the land claims of native Alaskans and pledged the members of the Assembly “to sup­port the early, equitable and just settle­ment” of these claims and to make their stand known to members of Congress and the Senate. The proposal for the formation of an Indian Board in the National Council was approved and referred to the Di­vision of Christian Life and Mission. Assistance from the churches was also requested for the material needs of American “refugees” in Canada who have sought asylum there on conscien­tious grounds against the draft and the Vietnam war. Such action would supple­ment the considerable aid given these young men (60,000 now and 20,000 more a year expected) by the Canadian Coun­cil of Churches, said the statement, but would not constitute approval of “draft- dodging.” The Assembly’s approval of a Resolution on Peaceful Dissent reite­rated its stand, taken Feb. 22, 1966, in which it decried “official attempts ... to discourage and even intimidate” op­position to the Vietnam war. It also

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