Magyar Egyház, 1956 (35. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1956-11-01 / 11. szám
20 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Harvest Festivals New York, N.Y., Oct. 11—To celebrate the season when the rich bounty of the earth is gathered, special Harvest Festivals will be held this month and through November by Protestant churches throughout the land. Under the aegis of the National Council of Churches’ Department of the Town and Country Church, an order of service for the 1956 Harvest Festival has been prepared and widely distributed. The service was written by the Rev. Deane Edwards of New York, minister of the Reformed Church. Many parishes make the festival an all-day service of thanksgiving and dedication to the harvest season, concluding with parish dinners. Local agricultural groups such as 4-H Clubs, Future Farmers, Farm Bureau, Grange and Farmers Union share in the celebration in many communities. Rural plays or pageants are given; discussion groups meet in the evening. Churches are decorated with flowers, fruits and vegetables typical of the season. These are later given to homes, hospitals and other charitable institutions or distributed among the sick and needy in the community. Offerings for missionary and benevolent purposes are given at this time, too. The celebration of “Harvest Home” is a very ancient custom and has a place in the history of many peoples. The maturing harvest inspired men to expressions of praise and thanksgiving which found their way into the religious services of all lands and faiths. The great Hebrew festivals had agricultural associations, as did the later Christian observances. Primitive folk festivals at harvest time combined with the Hebrew tradition under the auspices of the Christian Church to give Englad its joyous “Harvest Home,” Germany its “Erntedankfest,” and Scotland its “Kirn.” Pageantry, sports, singing, feasting, and comradeship became the social and spiritual expressions of joy at harvest’s end. The Pilgrims kept their day of thanksgiving on the shores of New England with feasting and religious exercises. Many churches have continued to observe “Harvest Home.” The 15th annual service of worship made available by the National Council of Churches alerts all communions, rural and urban alike, to the opportunities in this season for religious experience and expression. The Cardinal and the Commissar When Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty finally broke down and “confessed” at his trial before a Communist court in Hungary in 1949, the free world was shocked. On July 19, 1956, American newspapers carried the story of the resignation of Mátyás Rákosi as top Hungarian Communist, after confessing to practicing Stalinist dictatorship. The fall of Rákosi is particularly interesting because this man, Stalin’s No. 1 man in bringing Hungary under Communist domination, was the person who staged Mindszety’s ordeal. The duel between these brilliant and once powerful men — one a Prince of the Catholic Church, the other a Communist boss — brings to mind Arthur Koestler’s novel, DARKNESS AT NOON. The story of the Cardinal and the Commissar and of Hungary’s “new” order is reconstructed by Dr. George N. Shuster, distinguished writer and president of Hunter College, in his new book, IN SILENCE I SPEAK, was published by Farrar, Straus and Cudahy on August 27. Dr. Shuster has written four other books on modem totalitarianism. CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING of the World Council of Churches, at Galyatető, Hungary, from July 28-August 5. By accepting the invitation for its 90-member Central Committee to hold its annual meeting in Hungary, tne World Council of Churches “showed once again mat it lives its own life in complete independence from any particular political system or ideology and desires to render its witness in all parts of the world,” Dr. W. A. Visser’t Hooft, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, said at the opening session of the Committee in Galyatető. In his general secretary’s report, Dr. Visser’t Hooft said, “At the same time we believe that the churches living under different systems can and must learn from each other. There is mutual correction in seeing ourselves as others see us, which is one of the most precious things in the ecumenical movement.” Dr. Visser’t Hooft spoke to more than 200 people including observers from churches not already represented in the World Council of Churches, consultants from fraternal bodies and divisional committees, guests, and staff. A large number of the delegates arrived by special busses from Vienna on Saturday afternoon. They were met at the frontier by Dean László Pap of the Budapest Theological Academy (Reformed) and Bishop Lajos Veto, Lutheran, Budapest, both Hungarian members of the Central Committee. "One of our main themes in these days will be ‘The Churches and the Building of a Responsible International Order’” said Dr. Visser’t Hooft, “In this concept of the responsible society to which we are committeed ever since our first Assembly we proclaim together that society has a responsibility for the well being of its members, that every person in society has a right to participate as a responsible member in that society, and that society is not an aim in itself, but is responsible to God.” Growth of the World Council Dr. Visser’t Hooft stressed the growth of the World Council of Churches in which 50 churches participated in the provisional organization in 1946 and in which 162 Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox churches from some 47 nations are engaged today. Three churches applied for membership in the World Council of Churches. They are the Baptist Church of Hungary, the Church of the Province of Central Africa (Anglican), and the La Plata Synod in South America (Lutheran). Several large churches which have so far not participated in the movement have recently shown that they are now desirous to enter into closer relations with it, the general secretary said. He also expressed the hope that many recently formed Christian churches in Asia, Africa, and Latin America would join the Council in the near future. “The invitation to hold this meeting in Hungary was extended by the Hungarian churches in 1954 and accepted in 1955. At that time the relationships between churches in this part of the world and those in other parts were still very limited. In the meantime there has been a considerable change in the international atmosphere, which has certainly facilitated the preparation of this meeting.”
