Magyar Egyház, 1953 (32. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
1953-04-01 / 4. szám
12 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ VISITATION EVANGELISM By Charles A. Darocy How vital is your congregation ? One way of finding out is by studying the financial report. But so much of the money is gained through the work of organizations and social affairs that you find that a few people serve as the money raisers! Then you may study Church attendance over a period of time. But the Christmas and Easter crowds make the average Sunday attendance look sad by comparison. Now try the acid test. How many new adult members are gained annually? On Confirmation Sunday a group of 14-year-olds is accepted into membership. What of the other Sundays? Don’t forget that the Confirmation Class is the fruit of your Church’s educational program and Christian homes. Yet how many of the people you were confirmed with have fallen by the wayside through mixed marriages or inactivity? More than you would care to admit. Your local Congregation is vital and alive when it secures adult members. Most of our congregations leave this work to the minister. The laymen relax and the poor pastor is left to do everything. Few realize how much more effective the word of a layperson is in dealing with the unchurched. After all, the minister is paid to do his work. If you were to tell your neighbor about the benefits of the faith, he would be amazed and pay attention. But do you? The fact is that few of our churches gain as many as a dozen adult members annually. In other words, it takes from 10 to 100 adult members to gain ONE. As a result little new talent is gained, and Church membership remains stationary or else declines slowly. I serve as pastor of a Presbyterian Church in the heart of Brooklyn, a city known as the 'graveyard of churches.’ Yet, in spite of this discouraging picture, this congregation has gained 65 adult members in the past three years. Active membership has grown to 267, the Sunday School now enrolls 106 youngsters. With the great increase in membership many inactivities were dropped and the entire congregation was revitalized. Over HALF of the persons who attend worship services regularly were gained as a result of a regular program of Visitation Evangelism. From where did these 65 adult Christians come? In most cases, from the immediate neighborhood. Throughout the year the members report the unchurched people with whom they come in contact. The pastor meets many unchurched persons in his daily rounds. The lists are compiled and arranged according to addresses. The groundwork is done, now the Visitation Committee takes over. Every Elder is a member of this Committee, as are the leaders of the Women’s Organizations of the Church. The Pastor serves as Chairman and twelve teams of two persons each are formed. Husband and wife teams are the most effective. Each team is assigned 15 homes, and the work is begun. The Committee is active every spring for a period of two months, and is now in its third year of work. In three seasons of work the Visitation Committee made a grand total of 286 calls. Over1 500 persons were acquainted with the work of our local congregation. When a team reported progress the pastor made the follow up call and enrolled the interested persons into a Confirmation Class. Not all who expressed willingness to join the Church did so, but a total of 65 adults, or 13% of all the persons contacted, did make a public profession of their faith and were enrolled by the Church. The entry of new members completely changed the picture of congregational life. The organizations found members who were willing and eager to work. The entire neighborhood was made aware of the presence of a Protestant community in its midst. But the most pleased persons were the callers who set the role of Church membership into sharper focus, for they willingly gave up their free time to make others aware of the precious gift of a faith that is their heritage. Can all this be done in your local congregation? Don’t let the fact that your Church serves in two languages discourage you. Reports from Duquesne and other Churches indicate that when the Elders and laymen join the pastor in his work, great things can be done. It all depends on YOU. If your Church isn’t as spiritual as you would like it to be, examine yourself, speak with others, and cooperate with your pastor in giving the necessary push to the greatest task of the Church today: Christian Evangelism. NEWS OF THE 14th ANNUAL CONFERENCE Greetings to all members of the Bethlen Youth Federation. As I recall, this is the first time the Conference is being held in Detroit and the Young People’s Club is making plans for the Labor Day week-end. The great Motor City has many interesting sites. Besides our automobile plants, we have beautiful parks and one in particular is Belle Isle, a unique city island-park in the Detroit River. Tourists also are especially interested in seeing Greenfield Village and Edison Institute, as they are rich with information of the way people lived in the good old days. Along the shaded streets of Greenfield Village are 100 exhibits, craft shops, mills, stores, homes and schools, Thomas A. Edison’s original laboratory and workshop. Last but not least, we cross the world’s largest international suspension bridge (The Ambassador Bridge) and go south to Windsor, Canada. Now that we’ve toured Detroit on paper, let’s get together and make it come to life. Amelia Murguly
