Magyar Egyház, 1959 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1959-03-01 / 3. szám
14 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ ECUMENICAL NOTES At the General Board meeting of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., held at Hartford, February 25-26, our Church was officially represented by Dean Gábor Csordás. The Rev. Paul Ferenczy and the Rev. Joseph Urbán attended as guests. The widely publicized report of the Cleveland National Study Conference on World Order was transmitted to the Council’s Department of International Affairs for further action. The Cleveland Conference held last November, among other issues, expressed its view as to the need for open discussion of the role of Red China in international affairs, specificly in regard to its recognition by the U.S. Government and its admission to the United Nations. This drew attacks from several sides, some of which not only criticized the Conference’s views but also questioned the right of the Church to voice its opinion concerning issues of public life. Before referring the Cleveland Conference report to the Department of International Affairs — which was the proper routine procedure — the Red China question was brought up for discussion. In the course of this the Rev. Csordás made a brief statement in regard to our position in this matter. “We are undoubtedly influenced by the fate of our brethren... in Hungary and by the problems of many millions in other Communist controlled areas behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains”, Rev. Csordás said. “The Hungarian Reformed Church in America believes that the wording and wide-spread publication of the Cleveland findings were unfortunate and, to a certain extent even harmful for ... it... gives the world the misleading impression that the largest and most significant driving power in this country, the fellowship of Protestant and Orthodox Churches, is in direct opposition to the foreign policy of the State Department, consequently, the position of the State Department does not represent the thinking and attitude of the American people . . . The Hungarian Reformed Church in America welcomes the firm stand our Government had taken in the Chinese question and strongly feels that the only way this country can successfully work for international peace... is by living up to her commitments.. Rev. Csordás also said that our Church will fully state its position in a letter to the Department of International Affairs. The General Board meeting ended with the issuance of a declaration, entitled “The Hartford Appeal” calling on all the constituent churches, related councils and organizations, to “uphold the right and duty of the churches and their councils to study and comment upon issues of human concern, however controversial; encourage from within and without the churches and their councils full and open criticism of the positions taken by them; resist all efforts to discourage full freedom of discussion and, in discussion, reject attempts to suppress such freedom ...” ★ After the expiration of the required 6 months waiting period the membership of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America in the World Council of Churches — admission was at the August meeting of the Central Committee in Nyborg, Denmark — has become final. The next meeting of the Executive Committee of the U.S. Conference for the World Council of Churches will be held in April at Buck Hill Falls. Dr. Andrew Harsányi will be our delegate at this meeting. Dean Gábor Csordás will join him for the Annual Meeting immediately following the meeting of the Executive Committee. ★ Miss Fruzsi Harsányi praticipated in the Washington Visitation Program of the United Christian Youth Movement, March 10-13. She will report on it in the next issue of Magyar Church.-----------o----------IN SEARCH OF FAITH The New York Times’ Magazine published an interesting article about American theological seminaries. The writer asserts that the theological schools live in a time of growth. Enrollments in Protestant seminaries are 150% higher than they were twenty years ago. He quotes as an example Union Theological Seminary of New York City where the pre-war average of 250 students rose to 650. The American Association of Theological Schools has 125 members, embracing 20,500 students. Among the Protestant theological students, who come to seminary after graduating from college, 60% are married. According to the writer, the thinking and feeling of seminary students are characterized by a strong desire to serve their fellow men through the ministry. Yet, paradoxically, they are more sceptical about their call from God than previous generations were. They do not wish to separate themselves from reality, rather they want to be involved in it. Interest in religious research is also much keener among students than before; enthusiastically they search for the basic values of existence. For this generation of seminary students have lived in a quarter-century full of decisive and quick changes, when the formerly undoubted basic values became questioned. The writer sums up his review by saying that although the students have many radical doubts when they enter seminary, yet they leave with an attitude more orthodox and theologically more certain than that of some of their professors. Spectator. k k k THREE BAPTIST CHURCHES IN BARCELONA, Spain have been closed by the police. The largest of the three, at Calle Verdi, is a new structure, opened recently because the church building used up to that time was too small for the congregation. The police refused to accept the opening of an additional church building. A second church at Pueblo Nuevo, which had been reconstructed after being destroyed in the civil war, and more recently, the Baptist Church at Turo de la Peira, have also been shut down. In Madrid a Baptist pastor who failed to obey police orders for the closing of his church is due to come before the courts. (EPS, Geneva) * * * A GUTENBERG BIBLE, more than 500 years old, has been returned to a Polish museum, from which it was removed 19 years ago for safe-keeping during World War II. The Bible, valued at more than $500,000, and art treasures, were brought to the US by officials in 1940.
