Magyar Egyház, 1953 (32. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
1953-01-01 / 1. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 13 PLANNING FOR THE YEAR There is nothing more disturbing to an order-loving mind than to see suppers, bazaars, or any other social events in our churches, even weddings, scheduled in the Lenten and Advent seasons, or shortly before any holiday of the Church, when the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is administered. A dance is scheduled for the first Saturday in October, a seemingly good date in the fall except for the fact that the first Sunday of October is World Wide Communion; a supper or some other social event is planned for March when snow storms and icy streets are things of the past not thinking that it may mar the spirit of Lent; or a wedding is planned for Holy Week (just because Dick and Mary took their vacation at Easter) and half of the congregation is invited—practically forcing the issue, which of the feasts should they refuse?!—or a group picnic is scheduled for Sunday at 8 A.M. pulling half our English speaking members from worship service; and so forth. The usual cause for such happenings is an unintelligent planning and complete disregard for the church year. The remedy is simple. At the beginning of the year the groups should plan their major events for the whole year—keeping in mind the different seasons and, if there are other organizations in the same congregation, so placing them that they will not conflict with or hinder other events. We should do everything in due season. DATES TO REMEMBER February 18, Ash Wednesday February 20, World Day of Prayer February 22, First Sunday in Lent March 29, Palm Sunday April 3, Good Friday April 5, Easter Sunday--------- « ♦ » --------QUOTES FOR WORTHWILE READING with gratitude to the authors and publishers of these editorial notes and excellent comments ON THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS It is interesting how comparatively unobserved was the final climax in the tragic development of our age: the testing of the Hydrogen bomb in the Pacific. One remembers how deeply we were aroused when the first Atomic bomb was exploded over Hiroshima, and again how the conscience was stirred when we first heard of the prospect of the Hydrogen bomb. Now it has become a dreadful reality, but little is heard about more recent developments. Such is the desperate portent of modern nations’ weapons that we can only hope that our generation will, by whatever narrow margin, avoid a general war. As we do not even know whether the Russians have the Hydrogen bomb, we can not speak confidently of our position concerning the bomb’s acting as a deterrent factor. Thus we have moved a little closer to the edge of the abyss and one can only hope that our generation will not become dizzy in contemplating the depths of the abyss. Reinhold Niebuhr, Christianity and Crisis WE, TOO, REQUEST CLARIFICATION Commenting on the statement made public by the Roman Catholic bishops at the close of their annual meeting in Washington, Bishop Horace W. B. Donegan of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of New York joined Methodist Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of Washington in a request for clarification. Bishop Donegan agreed with the hierarchy that lack of spiritual training in public schools is a serious problem. But he asked that the bishops qualify their flat statement that "the state has the duty to help parents fulfill their task of religious instruction and training.” He said that "at the moment the Roman Catholics are confining their claims for public support to auxiliary services, that is, bus transportation, textbooks and so forth. They have not always been so reticent. Before consideration is given to the claims for auxiliary services, we should have definite assurance from our Roman brethren that they do not intend to claim tax support for the maintenance of their educational system. Otherwise it is difficult, considering the pattern of the Roman Catholic Church in other countries and its political astuteness in this country, not to assume that the claim for auxiliary services is an entering wedge.” The bishop pointed out, according to the New York Herald Tribune, that "there is a clear distinction between benefits provided to children as children and administered under state control, and funds provided to a church to be administered under church control. It is not in our American heritage for the government to finance the work of the church—of which education is an important part. To change this tradition would in fact give a disproportionate advantage to one grouping of our citizens, no matter how 'equal’ such legislation would be in theory.” We agree with Bishop Donegan that this would be unfair. It would also be unconstitutional, since tax support is an essential element of establishment of religion, and it would be wrong, since it would compel the majority of citizens to pay taxes to support a faith which they do not believe to conform to the truth. The Christian Century, Dec. 10, 1952
