Magyar Egyház, 1960 (39. évfolyam, 1-9. szám)
1960-02-01 / 2. szám
8 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ guest preacher to our Perth Amboy congregation in the spring of 1956; now he is ministering to one of the leading Presbyterian churches of Canada. It has been a real joy to find one of our hosts as an old friend of our churches. Minority Churches The General Secretary of the Alliance, Dr. Marcel Pradervand gave one of the major addresses on the minority churches. Minority churches are those, in his definition, who have to serve in a nation having no Protestant or not even Christian background: Churches in the Latin countries, where they have to face the intolerance of a hostile Roman Catholic environment and state, or the so-called “younger churches” which are the fruits of the missionary endeavor in “Afro-Asian” countries. The General Secretary, who knows more about these minority churches than anyone else, stated clearly that the Reformed and Presbyterian Churches organized the Alliance in Í875 with the primary intention to aid these minority churches in many possible ways. The address of Dr. Pradervand was refreshing, and we hope that the Alliance will expand its services in the interest of these minority churches belonging to the fellowship of the Alliance. Reformed-Lutheran Relations The other major speech by a young Canadian professor of theology, Dr. Joseph McClelland, was dealing with Reformed and Lutheran relationship. There is a desire now, on the North American continent, that a conversation should begin between Lutherans and Presbyterians. The lecture dealt eloquently with the problems involved. We, however, felt again that our Presbyterian brethren are totally unaware of the fact that such a conversation never stopped in Central and Eastern Europe, and even intercommunion is an accepted feature in the life of many Eastern European Reformed and Lutheran bodies. I think solutions already found towards closer relationship should be recognized as well as existing differences in doctrines. The Hungarian Reformed Church in America is possibly the only church body on the North American continent which continues the traditional “intercommunion” as it is stated explicitly in our Constitution. Theological Revival The past President of the North American Area Council, Dr. James I. McCord, to whom all delegates are very much indebted for his excellent leadership exhibited during the last two years and in the Toronto meeting, was influential to focus the attention of the North American Area Council to the decisive theological problems of our day. A Theological Committee was set up a few years ago under his leadership. It submitted its first major report in the form of a theological statement on “the Reformed Faith in the World today.” The report was received with enthusiasm by the whole Area Council and we hope to discuss it in the near future. There is one very important message of this Toronto meeting for us. Our Theological Committee must start work. Member churches will be asked for criticism, advise and suggestion, and the Theological Committee under the new president of Dr. Allen O. Miller of Eden Theological Seminary wishes to cooperate closely with the existing denominational committees on theological matters. New Officers As it is customary, new officers were elected for the North American Area Council. The Rev. Dr. James Wagner of the Evangelical and Reformed Church became the new president and Dr. Cochrane of the Presbyterian Church of Canada the vice-president. Dr. James McCord will continue to serve as North American Secretary, and our good friend Eugene M. Osterhaven will be again the recording clerk. Dr. Visser of Milwaukee was elected to be the treasurer. Bishop Beky will be the member of the Administrative Committee, the policy making body of the North American Area, as he has been. Bishop Beky was also elected by the Area Council as member of the Commission on Civil and Religious Liberty headed by Dr. Eugene C. Blake. This commission will continue a tremendously significant work. Hungarians at the Meeting: This time again we met some friends of Hungarian Reformed origin among the delegates of our sister churches. The retiring Vice-President, the Reverend William Babinsky of the Reformed Church in America is the son of a late Hungarian Reformed pastor, and one of the delegates of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the Reverend Raymund DeDobay ministers the Hungarian E&R Church in Racine, Wisconsin. Professor Bela Vassady of Lancaster was a delegate of his church too, he could not attend due to his present research work in Europe. We also want to tell that Bishop Beky was visited by many of the local Hungarian ministers during the Alliance meeting and there was a very warm reception given in his honor by the Hungarian Reformed Church of Toronto headed by Dr. László Pokoly and Chief Elder Benjamin Robb. Aladar Komjáthy World Church History Made In 1959 (RNW.) Revolutionary social change, which marked the last decade, put its stamp on the decisions and discussions of world church leaders throughout 1959. For the world’s churches it was a year of significant gains in Christian unity. For the “younger churches,” which in May formed the first East Asia Christian Conference, the year was crowned with successful selfdetermination and interchurch cooperation. And for all the world’s churches, it was both the Year of the Refugee and of major natural disasters. Uprisings in Tibet and Cuba, with their grim aftermaths; record-shattering typhoons leaving death and mass destruction in Japan, Korea and Taiwan; and overwhelming floods in India and Pakistan were dark
