Magyar Egyház, 1961 (40. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
1961-01-01 / 1. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 gram to aid dependent children, be modified immediately to prevent discrimination against children because of the circumstances of their birth. Advancing technology is confronting society with many new problems, and to these the church can bring fundamental values, but not always specific answers, agreed Dr. R. H. Edwin Espy, National Council general secretary, and Dr. Truman B. Douglass from the Congregational Christian Board of Home Missions. The 12 million American children uprooted each year when their families move, are affected by a kind of “psychological transiency,” depriving them of necessary emotional security, Dr. Espy said. The high rate of unemployment among teen-agers makes them feel insignificant if not actually parasitic, he said. Executives and members of 28 boards of home missions set up a committee on home mission policy and strategy, a commission on cooperative planning to develop a common Protestant strategy, and a commission on cooperative field projects to make possible a common Protestant-Orthodox approach to needs of persons. The Assembly elected J. Irwin Mllier of Columbus, Ind. for the Council’s new president. He is the first layman chosen for this post in the Council’s 10 year history. This election highlighted the new emphasis on the importance of the laity and their equal responsibility with the clergy to prosceute Christ’s mission in the world. 0 ►Charles A. Darocy: CHURCH UNION IN OUR TIME The tremendous publicity given to the proposal of Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church, for organic union of four great Protestant denominations has focused the attention of our entire nation up this vital issue. The determined support of Bishop Pike of the Protestant Episcopal Church has intensified the public reaction. One thing is certain, American Protestantism is now truly at the crossroads. Whether organic merger is the answer remains to be seen. The general decline of American Protestantism, not recognized for decades by its naive leadership, became formally acknowledged by the election of Mr. John Fitzgerald Kennedy to the Presidency. The spectacle of a constantly growing Roman Catholicism coupled with a parade of “good” Protestants who blithely sign the undemocratic pre-nuptial agreement and thus give their unborn children to the papal Church speaks far more tellingly of the Protestant predicament than any doctored reports. To imagine that church union in itself will rebuild the weakened bastions of Protestantism is ridiculous. The only kind of union that can achieve any lasting results is one in which like-minded denominations are able to regain the lost oneness of the past. The Blake proposal assumes that theological differences if any, are irrelevant. And, to be quite frank about it, from a practical point of view, he is right. This loss of theological direction has led to the breakdown of modern American Protestantism. Filled with words like “spirituality”, enthused with terms like “advance program,” but theologically most denominations are alike as the proverbial peas in a pod. In the process church discipline has become totally forgotten. The very same ministers who weekly summarize the UN proceedings, pray for interracial understanding and fellowship, find their churches empty, for they fail to bring their people to Christ before presenting his answer to these issues. Good intentions alone are not enough, our times call for a definite message, and the message of the Church must be spiritual in nature. Perhaps Dr. Blake and Bishop Pike, both men of tremendous personal integrity hope that in the framework of a united Church the forces for good will outweigh the clerical creampuffs. One would pray that they are correct. Circumstances, however, would indicate that their attempts will not be able to effect the required change. As a general rule the quest for unity is a sign of weakness, not strength. The proud Congregationalist Churches joined forces with the Christian Churches of the Middle West in the ‘thirties. Then they merged with the Evangelical and Reformed Church, itself a theological riddle, half Lutheran and half Reformed, to form the United Church of Christ whose new confession of faith is actually a confession of uncertainty! On the other hand the Lutheran bodies have been merging at a wondeful rate: but within their own family. Their record of growth indicates that whatever numerical superiority is achieved by any merger is more than offset by inevitable losses, unless the merged bodies are as in their case, of one family. Interesting examples of this thesis may be found in two recent American unions. The Evangelical United Brethren Church, formed in the early ’40’s, LOST membership last year. The Evangelical and Reformed Church, after its merger, gained members and congregations at a rate substantially LOWER than the majority of other denominations. Why? Because two marginal operations that join forces do not necessarily improve. For when a Church loses theological and structural unity it no longer attracts people. The Blake-Pike proposal would call for the union of four denominations: United Presbyterian, Methodist, United Church of Christ and Episcopalian. The first three groups would generally favor such a proposal. The Episcopal Church, at present increasingly under the so called “high-church” influence, will most likely fail to approve the plan. A number of its leaders favor this move, but they will probably never sway the mass of the clergy and a laity that is remarkable articulate and aware of its historic tradition. The other three will no doubt unite. Since theological differences are relatively unimportant, we may witness the complete loss of the ancient standards of faith, and in their place a new version, not too specific, but very noble sounding. The Methodist bishopric will probably be adopted, and this is one move that will be for the better. In local areas smaller congregations will be able to join forces to eliminate the tragic duplication of services that marks today’s work. From a purely administrative point of view
