Magyar Egyház, 1963 (42. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1963-12-01 / 11-12. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ r> Ready for the procession before the opening of the assembly. Bishop Beky and Dr. A. Harsanyi. climate of dialogue” between members of the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodoii Churches. "We acknowledge the significance of the Vatican Council and welcome the prevailing openness which makes continuing conversations possible. We express the hope that there will be many local conversations” between Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox. Examining the sub-theme of the Assembly the Message concluded by saying that “the sum of it is the call to renewal through obedience. If the church is really to be contempory servant of the eternal Christ it will mean the radical re-ordering of its life and practices ... we must ground our church life in the renewed study of God’s word and God’s world; we must learn the disciplines of prayer . . . It is probable that wholly new ways of ministry will have to emerge to impart the Gospel to our culture.” A Pronouncement on Human Rights expressed the Council’s deep concern about the limitations on political freedom in certain totalitarian societies and about the “denial of religious liberty both by avowedly atheistic governments which seek to eradicate all religious influences and by other dictatorships which hinder or even persecute specific religious groups — usually minorities.” The Rev. Reuben H. Mueller, presiding bishop of the Evangelical United Brethren Church was elected President for the next triennium to succeed industrialistlayman J. Irwin Miller. Dr. R. H. Edwin Espy is the new General Secretary replacing Dr. Roy G. Ross who retired last June. The post of Associate General Secrtary which became vacant through the election of Dr. Espy was filled with the Rev. Dr. David S. Hunter, director of the Department of Christian Education of the Protestant Episcopal Church. A revised constitution and re-structuring of the Council’s internal organization was also voted by the General Assembly. A resolution expressing “contrition” over the death of President Kennedy was passed; the same resolution pledged support to President Johnson. At the evening session where President Kennedy was scheduled to address the General Assembly a Memorial Service was conducted by Bishop George W. Baber of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; the memorial meditation was held by Dr. Eugene Carson Blake of the United Presbytrian Church. Bishop R. H. Mueller, new NCCC president receives gavel from retiring president J. Irwin Miller. (All general assembly pictures by NCCC staff photo) East German Christians Reported Thriving "In A Spiritual Way” Dr. Julius Rieger, a West Berlin churchman, one of 10 Protestant theologians from Germany on a month long tour of U.S. congregataions as guests of the United Church of Christ, said at a press conference that suppression of normal church-life activities has intensified individual faith. Christianity is thriving “in a spiritual way” in East Germany to a greater extent than in West Germany, he said. The churchman, who is superintendent of Berlin-Schöneberg for the Evangelical Church of the Union, said the traditional position of the church as the center of the village has been abolished in East Germany. But, he added, faithful Christians in the statecontrolled agricultural production teams have found “new ways of exercising their Christianity . . . new ways to live Christian lives.” He commented that the West could profit from the example of the faithful in East Germany. “Always the church that is living under tyranny and under persecution mobilizes spiritual power which churches under normal circumstances do not exhibit”, Dr. Rieger said when asked to compare the status of East and West German churches. (EPS, Geneva) MAGYAR EGYHÁZ wishes all its readers a blessed Christmas Season and a peaceful, happy New Year. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★A**
