Harangszó, 1954 (1. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1954-07-01 / 7-8. szám
lis CASPAR NANiNES More mul moi4" church groups arc joining in iiitrriiciionifinilioii;*! acli\itics. Today it’s "«чнцнтлйшГ. ... will il be unity tomorrow? ARE American Protestants about to join forces in a single, itni/% fied church? Ever since Martin Cut her nailed his 95 theses U? the church dour lour centuries ago. establishing the second great Christian movement of the West, the hallmark of Protestantism has been ftivision. Today there are many hundreds ftf Protestant denominations, 250 of them in th?*-country alone. But, more and more, clergy and laynv. r arc talking now of ending the disunity. It is far-from certain that wc will sec the integration of all Protestant churches sviihin our lifetime. Yet the signs arc everywhere. 'Delegates from I ft I denominations «re assembling in Evanston, Illinois, this month, in the most impressive demonstration of Protestant cooperation ever seen in this country: the second great meeting of the World Council of Churches. Delegates will be present front each of the 48 countries where the council has members, and one of the six topics up for discussion is, “’Our oneness in Christ and pur disunity as churches." Just in case anyone should mtss the' significance, the council has issued a booklet drawing attention to the meeting’s implications: "Many Christians believe that church unity demands more than co-operative endeavor or federated organisation. Denominational harriers ol any kind, at least in a limited geographical area, are intolerable to them, as shamefully evident denials of unity in Christ." ' Those intolerable denominational barriers have been tumbling all over the world. In the last'half century there have been no less than 100 organic unions of Protestant churches. Scotland, which once had 13 separate Presbyterian denominations. now has four. Canada has substituted for its former 21 Methodist. Presbyterian and Congregational denominations a single United Church of Canada (with only one small Presbyterian group remaining outside the fold). In 1947, the Church of South India brought Episcopalians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Collar’s, August 20, 1954