Magyar Egyház, 1957 (36. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1957-12-01 / 12. szám
16 MAGYAR EGYHA7 How Is the Council Supervised and Governed? By official representatives — ministers and lay men and women — of the thirty four communions that comprise it. A General Assembly meets every three years. A General Board of about 250 members meets quarterly as the interim supervisory body. It consists of the delegated representatives of the churches and is responsible for the policies and programs of the Council. It reports regularly to each of the denominations and is subject to their review. The Council is in no sense a “free lance” organization. It is a council of churches responsible to the communions which established it as their agency for co-operation. No individual can speak for it. What Authority Has the Council over the Churches? None. It is in no sense a “superchurch” or superorganization. It depends wholly on the principle of voluntary co-operation through democratic representative processes. It is completely committed to the maintenance of our cherished freedom. It rejects all thought of enforced uniformity. It seeks only the kind of unity which is consistent with liberty and diversity. As leaders of the churches meet ana work together they find that the Christian convictions and interests which they have in common are far more important than their differences. They also discover that co-operation does not require any church to relinquish any part of its own historic heritage. The Council can, therefore, have a great Christian influence without exercising any control over any church. How Does the Council Do Its Work? (A) Through four main “divisions”: Home Missions, Foreign Missions, Christian Education, Christian Life and Work. (B) Through “joint departments” for concerns — such as evangelism, stewardship, and family life — which are related to all divisions. (C) Through “central departments” and “offices” serving the total program of the co-operating churches in broadcasting and films, in public relations, in research and survey, in contacts with state and local councils, in Church World Service, and other interests. (D) Through two general departments of United Church Women and United Church Men, in which the laity of the churches unite their efforts along major lines of Christian activity. What Does the Council Do? Its primary task is to co-ordinate the work of the denominations. Here are concrete illustrations of united projects conducted by the Council: publishing the Revised Standard Version of the Bible annually sending supplies of food, clothing, and medicine to needy overseas completing the resettlement of displaced persons in new homes conducting Protestant religious programs in national parks presenting Christian messages on all radio and television networks and independent stations providing a “ministry-on-wheels” to migrant workers in 30 states from Florida and the Rio Grande to Canada teaching illiterates around the world conducting “university Christian mission” in taxsupported institutions guiding released-time Weekday Religious Education and Daily Vacation Bible Schools preparing and publishing Sunday school lesson outlines and missionary education textbooks collecting and publishing statistics of church membership and of missionary and benevolent giving giving guidance and technical assistance to the church’s ministry to persons in hospitals and prisons uniting Christian people in devotional programs helping local communities to organize councils of churches for co-operative service maintaining and extending concrete projects to improve relations between races and nations planning strategic national study conferences of church representatives. How Is the Council Supported? From three main sources: (A) contributions from the member churches; (B) gifts of individuals; (C) appropriations by foundations, corporations, and other organizations. Twenty five per cent of the total income represents gross receipts from publishing operations, sale of literature, rental of films and other income from services rendered. Of the income derived from contributions about 60 per cent comes from the churches. The Council welcomes contributions from friends for current support, and gifts and bequests for the enlargement of the program.
