Magyar Egyház, 1958 (37. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1958-05-01 / 5. szám
10 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN OUR CHURCHES There are many volumes of books written on the responsibilities of women in the Old and New Testament in the various Protestant Churches but we seldom talk about the role of women in our own Church. We have our own traditions and historical bonds and certainly we must examine this question. First, we must notice that women seem to occupy a secondary place and less important role in the Church. Maybe our Church alone is not to be charged with carelessness and negligence but other Churches are also committing the same errors that they do not acknowledge the equality and parity of women with men. This unequal status of men and women must be discussed frankly and openly. The reason for giving women secondary importance is based upon the bible. According to Genesis man was created first and then woman. I. Corinthians 14: 33-37 teaches, “women should keep silence in the Churches. For they are not permitted to speak but should be subordinate as even the law says: if there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.” I. Timothy 2:11-13 tells us “let the woman learn in silence with subjugation. But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed then Eve.” Of course if we compare the role of women in pagan life and Christianity, then we shall admit the great advance achieved with the new status and dignity of women in the Christian Church. Look around in pagan circles even in our days, where illiteracy and superstition or Mohammedanism reigns, women are subjected to a very low standard. Yet, even with the advance of Christianity all over the world, the fact remains that women in most Churches and among them in our own Reformed Church are still not quite equal with men. Calvin, the great reformer said: “it is a dictate of common sense, that female government is improper and unseemingly.” In secular life, in commerce, in industry, in politics and in schools and all other spheres of life women made a tremendous progress, while in the Church, the equality of women has lagged behind. A visit to the Churches, or a study of the activities of women would show us that more women attend Church services than men, and in most Churches women do actually much more for their congregation than men. The charge that Christianity is a feminine organization seems almost justified. Catheline Bliss wrote a book, “The services and status of women in the Church” which is highly recommended to all those who are interested. In our American Hungarian Reformed Churches the women’s organizations are functioning most effectively. Their name in almost all churches is the same, “Lorántffy Zsuzsanna Nőegylet” “Lórántffy Women’s Society”), after a great lady in Hungary who helped the Reformed Churches and schools with royal generosity. These women’s organizations were actually functioning before the Churches were officially formed and built. These first generation women are still the backbone of the Hungarian Churches. Their members are tireless workers. There is hardly any phase of Church life that one cannot find these women there promoting and helping to build the- kingdom of our Lord, the Church of God in our midst. Often the leaders of the congregations cry out that God may send young women who are willing to carry on this wonderful work. In many American Hungarian Reformed Churches, a few decades ago, they had deaconesses who served and fulfilled an excellent mission. Now, we do not hear about them, although a few larger churches still employ women social workers, but they do not use this biblical word “deaconess” to designate them. There is a sharp difference between deaconess and elder in our Reformed Church. Women are not allowed to serve on the Church Council. In the Presbyterian Church in the USA, they may become elders, in the E. & R. Church also. In the First Hungarian Reformed Church of New York City (E. & R.), a few years ago, they elected women elders which became the topic of many debates and discussions in the Hungarian Churches. In some denominations women may become ordained ministers. But usually, the Churches in Europe, the Dutch and the Hungarian Reformed Churches for example, are more conservative than the Churches in America. The role of women in our own Church is being constantly improved. The younger elements of the Church formed women’s organizations after the pattern of the American Churches, so we can find “Couples Clubs”, “Circles”, “Women’s Guilds”, and other “Women’s Societies” with various names, methods and purposes. In many Hungarian Churches, these younger women’s organizations perform a very fiae service, but time and practice will bear testimony of them in the future. D.A.--------------o-------------PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL CLOSED IN COLOMBIA (Bogota) — A Presbyterian school, the American College, in the Colombian town of Villarrica, Tolima, was closed on Sunday, February 16, by the local military commander, who said he had received his orders from the Ministry of Education in Bogota, the capital of Colombia. Classes began on February 10, after the reopened school had fulfilled government requirements in order to resume work, but met with active opposition from the Roman Catholic parish priest in Villarrica. Children of Protestants are not accepted in Villarrica’s public school system. Over half the school-age children in the town have no schools in which to study. The closing of the Presbyterian school, says the Evangelical Confederation’s report, “leaves the ninety-one children enrolled without opportunity to learn to read and write”. E.P.S., Geneva --------------o-------------Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
