Calvin Synod Herald, 1982 (82. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1982-04-01 / 2. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD — 5 — REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA The Redemptive Value of Sacrifice it is my feeling that the sacrifice of living beings is a part of nature, just as death is a part of life. In nature an animal may stay back from the herd to face certain death, so that the others might escape. A bird may act injured, as if it had a broken wing, to save the young. A person might sacrifice himself or herself for his or her country. / wonder what is the cause of sacrifices. Is it because we have a small part of the large universe in us, which compels us to be corporately responsible for others? / don't know. As I think of Good Friday / see the ultimate sacrifice a person can give. Christ gave an example of selfgiving. His sacrifice brought us into fellowship with our Creator and fellowship with one another. Because of Christ's sacrifice we became linked into a mystical bond of shared life. His suffering thus became redemption for many. His sacrifice on Good Friday was not buying God off, but rather it was an exercise of ultimate trust in the goodness of God. By the example of Christ we are also called to service and seif-giving. /Is we study the meaning of sacrifices, we soon learn that ever since the beginning of history people tried to give some offering to please God. In my opinion the only adequate sacrifice is one's self. In the Old Testament there was a man named Jephthah, who made a strange sacrifice. He said that he was going to offer whoever comes forth from the house to meet him. Instead of giving himself to the Lord, or changing his inner life, he offered a substitute'. a member of his family. / don't think we can please God with this type of a sacrifice. In modern history we have individual and corporate sacrifices. In some cases individuals and groups voluntarily give their lives for others, while in some other situations people and countries are sacrificed by evil political systems. / believe that even the latter do not die in vain, lam convinced that the self-sacrifice of individuals and groups can create a new life for humanity, and / think that even the death and suffering of those who died forcefully will have a redemptive value for those of us who are left behind. On this Good Friday let us especially remember the self-sacrifice of Christ, who gave himself, so that out of his death we may receive a new and more abundant life. B.P.K. RESOURCES AND REFERENCES At our 1981 Annual Meeting of the Calvin Synod Conference we enjoyed several Workshop presentations on the subject of meeting the challenge of ministry no matter what the size or state of our congregations. Aaron Elek, Eva Fabian, László Medgyessy, and Steve Nagy contributed richly from congregational life experiences which have worked for them. Research data for several of this country’s major denominations indicate that a minimum membership of 200-250 is necessary to support the cost of a full-time minister and an adequate church program. Any membership count of less than 200 suggests that a part-time minister and the designation of “a small church’’ are appropriate. This is not a negative description. For many years a small church can be a church for its community more successfully than can a large congregation. Are you dubious? Here are 12 references you can use to be encouraged and re-committed in your ministry, — especially if your congregation is not large. * GENERAL RESOURCES Carroll, Jackson W., ed. Small Churches Are Beautiful. New York: Harper and Row, 1977. Dudley, Carl S. Unique Dynamics Of The Small Church. Washington, D.C.: The Alban Institute, Inc. 1977.--------Making The Small Church Effective. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1978. Greene, Robert B. “New Life For Small Congregations” JED Share (Spring, 1979), Philadelphia: United Church Press For Joint Educational Development. Hudnut, Robert K. Church Growth Is Not The Point. New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London: Harper and Row, 1971. Madsen, Paul O. The Small Church’. Valid, Vital, Victorious. Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Judson Press, 1975. Schaller, Lyle E. Impact Of The Future: 20 Trends Affecting The Church Of Tomorrow. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1969.--------“Twenty Questions For Self-Evalution In The Small And Middle-Sized Church” Church Management (April, 1977). Cleveland: Church World Press. Walden, Howard. Nine Roads To Renewal. Waco, Texas: Word Books Publishers, 1967. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION RESOURCES Domingos, Ann Marie. Working With Children In The Small Church. Nashville, Tennessee: United Methodist Publishing House, n.d. Foster, Virgil E. How Small Church Can Have Good CE. New York: Harper and Bros., 1956. Fritz, Dorothy B. The Spiritual Growth Of Children. Philadelphia: Board of Education of The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., 1957. * Only by reading at least 4 of these references will you benefit from this selected bibliography, but do begin, — by examining even one. From SMALL CHURCH FOR THE TOWNSHIP a 1980 Doctoral Field Project Report byC. T. Medyesy, Counselling Minister and Pres, of the Wallingford Clergy Association, Connecticut. LIKE A TOSSED UP STONE Like a tossed up stone that falls on the land, My Little country! Your son comes to spend His time with you again. While he goes away on trips outward-bound, He becomes dizzy and falls on that ground From which he was taken. He wants to depart, but how can he drown That native longing which hardly dies down When it starts up again. I belong to you in my great fury, In disloyalty, in love, In worry, In Hungarian gloom. Like a tossed up stone that falls helplessly, I fall back to you my little country, And sadly slap your face. Oh! What's the use of my resolution? My departure brings but one solution: I will always return. ENDRE ADY The REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA of Hungary is 25 YEARS OLD. WE WISH OUR SISTER PUBLICATION A HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
