Magyar Egyház, 1958 (37. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1958-01-01 / 1. szám
8 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Quite the contrary. God demands many things from you. First, you must be believing and prayful and in conversation with Him and a person of vision, that unconditionally you may trust in your Lord and give testimony that He is your Lord and that you belong to Him. Faithfully you must obey Him and stand your guard and with your exemplary life calm fearful travelers and pray for them. Do not carry unnecessary cargo on board because your life is in danger, you will cast it into the sea. To the passengers on Paul’s ship, it was promised that not even a hair would fall from their heads and their lives would be safe, but they had to fight for their lives — each for his own, — in the peril of death and with toiling of their last strength, swimming and clinging to boards and pieces of wreckage, but they did reach land. God, throughout this year, will not pamper us. His providential love will accompany us in the midst of contrary winds, starless, dark nights and in tornadoes. This providential love we can only possess if we swim for it, or on boards or wreckage, struggle in the desperation of a drowning man. Let us sit in Paul’s ship, in the ship of the Church, with faith, prayer and trust and sail through this coming year. It might happen that we will strike shoal, but he who has an immovable faith in God and is ready and willing to undertake the toiling of swimming to land on boards and wreckage, this one will surely reach the haven. He will sometime stand before the King of Kings to receive his crown of life. Louis Nagy. THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN AMERICA TODAY by the Rev. Charles A. Darocy Radical changes have taken place in American life since the Second World War. The churches began to reassert themselves. A new revival of liturgical consciousness led to such oddities as Baptist churches with altars and Roman Catholic churches with Communion Tables. But far greater than the physical signs of change were the changes within people. The Church reasserted its old power because the American nation realized that it had erred grievously in turning its religious institutions into secondary organs of community life. Today we stand on the threshold of a new era. Protestantism faces its greatest challenge and opportunity. And if it fails to act with vigor it will find the tide turning almost imperceptably toward a hazy individualism cloaked with the emblems of national self-righteousness. The alternative is too dangerous to consider. We must by all means take advantage of the present situation and expand our evangelical work to the greatest extent possible. The Free Magyar Reformed Church is now a member of the National Council of Churches. By its act of entering this great Protestant and Orthodox fellowship it has signified its willingness to share in the common witness of the churches to the American people. Cooperation at the top level is most easy to achieve. Two able representatives may be delegated to national boards and committees and the denomination can thus share in the Council program. But fellowship can never be left merely a matter for the top level. It must originate in the local parishes, and through their work and witness it can then bring Christian influence to bear on all the community. As a minister I serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Protestant Council of New York City. In my own Bronx borough it is evident that Protestant witness is severly limited by the failure of the Episcopalian clergy to cooperate. To the community at large this indicates that the Council doesn’t really represent all of Protestantism, merely one part. This situation holds in many other communities. For unless the local clergy and congregations take an active role in the work of the united Protestant effort, the entire program loses stature in the public eye. The cooperative religious movement does not call for any given denomination or congregation to sacrifice its ideals in the least. But only when all are aware of the crying need for cooperative action can we truly represent the united witness of churches for Christ. From the earliest days of American Protestantism the clergy have been leaders of community action. The Church must speak out on vital issues. It cannot remain silent, for its very silence is witness to its inability to face the common issues of modern life. When the Church speaks the community WILL LISTEN! The prophetic utterances of the Bible bear eloquent witness to the power of God’s Word, even in the most distressing of circumstances. Membership in the National Council is a step in the right direction. Our talented clergymen and laymen are now faced by the more immediate problem of relating their great spiritual heritage to the life of the local community. May God grant power to bear true witness to the Light of the World, our loving Savior.-----------o----------THREE QUESTIONS FOR ROMAN CATHOLIC CANDIDATES Protestants and other Americans United for Separation of Church and State in their recently issued report on their ten years’ activities in fighting “to maintain separation of the church and state” demand that Roman Catholic candidates for President and Vice- President take a public stand on these three issues: 1. Denominational boycott of the public schools, 2. Use of public funds for sectarian schools, 3. Appointment of a United States Ambassador to the Vatican. “This organization,” the report said, “is now cooperating with local taxpayers in the preparation or prosecution of ten court proceedings designed to protect taxpayers against the unconstitutional use of public funds for secterian purposes.” The report also said it opposes the plan suggested by Roman Catholic Cardinal McIntyre of Los Angeles “to secure Federal grants for parents of parochial school children in a pattern paralleling the G. I. educational bills.”
