Magyar Egyház, 1966 (45. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1966-11-01 / 11-12. szám
16 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ CHRISTIAN STUDENTS VOTE TO FORM NEW ORGANIZATION (The Religious Newsweekly)—The eighth annual General Assembly of the National Student Christian Federation (NSCF) will in future be recorded as the historic occasion when it voted itself out of existence. Some 200 student members of the organization, representing ten denominational youth groups plus the Y’s campus organizations, created a new national group to be known as the University Christian Movement. Like the old NSCF, it will be a related unit of the National Council of Churches, but autonomous in managing its business and policy affairs. Meeting on the campus of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, the students were joined by the officers of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox student groups who voted to join the new University Christian Movement. This major ecumenical move means that membership in the national Movement is now open to all local and regional church-related campus groups through their national organizations. “Christian students want to be where the action is -—in the world and in the university,” keynote speaker the Rev. Harry Smith of the University of North Carolina, declared, predicting that their combined strength will develop a Christian witness on college campuses which should have a vital impact on educational institutions across the nation. The assembly elected Charlotte Bunch, Washington, D.C., a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University, president of the University Christian Movement for a one-year term. Churches Agree On Name If Merger Is Reached The Presbyterian Reformed Church in America will be created if a proposed union of the Presbyterian Church U. S. (also known as the “Southern” Presbyterian Church) and the Reformed Church in America (commonly known as the “Dutch” Reformed Church) takes place, according to an agreement reached at a meeting held recently in Newark, N. J. According to the timetable of the two churches’ Joint Committee, the target date for presenting the Plan of Union to regional units of both churches is 1968. This would permit a final decision by 1969 meetings of the Presbyterian General Assembly and the Reformed General Synod. The constituting assembly of the united church would then be held in 1970. Dutch-Hungarian Dictionary by Reformed Pastor to be Published. The publishing agency of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has accepted for publication the Dutch-Hungarian dictionary compiled by the Rev. István Zugor, retired pastor of the Reformed Church of Hungary. Pastor Zugor has been at work on the dictionary since the late 1930s. He also plans to prepare a Dutch grammar in Hungarian and a Hungarian-Dutch dictionary. (RPPS.) Hungary Restricts Church Tourists. ' Hungarian authorities have issued new regulations governing entry of foreign pastors, missionaries, and other church workers into the country as tourists. In the future, both entrance and transit visas will be given to such persons only if they can show an invitation from a Hungarian church or special approval from the Hungarian government’s office for church affairs. (RPPS.) Luther Not to Be Made "Chief Advocate of Socialism" When the 450th anniversary of the Reformation is celebrated next year in the East German Republic, Martin Luther will not be made the “chief advocate of socialism”. This was stated by Gerald Gotting, deputy chairman of the German Democratic Privy Council and President of the East German Christian Democratic Union, at a meeting in Wittenberg recently. “It is only by honoring Luther and the Reformation in their historical context, free of any taint of reactionary abuse, that we can let ourselves be vitally touched by the significance of this man and his age”, Gotting stated. * * * * From Martin Luther’s “Concerning Christian Liberty” A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone. Although these statements appear contradictory, yet, when they are found to agree together, they will do excellently for my purpose. They are both the statements of Paul himself, who says: “Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself a servant unto all (I. Cor. 9:19), and “Owe no man anything but to love one another” (Romans 13:8). Now love is by its own nature dutiful and obedient to the beloved object... .. . For man does not live for himself alone in this mortal body, in order to work on its account, but also for all men on earth; nay, he lives only for others, and not for himself. For it is to this end that he brings his own body into subjection, that he may be able to serve others more sincerely and more freely, as Paul says, “None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord” (Romans 14:7-8). Thus it is impossible that he should take his ease in this life, and not work for the good of his neighbors, since he must needs speak, act, and converse among men, just as Christ was made in the likeness of men and found in fashion as a man. ... Jews and Christians Read Scripture Together in the Netherlands. Christians of various denominations and Jews in Amsterdam plan to establish a “Teaching House” where they will read together the Thora and the gospel. The Teaching House will continue a tradition from the 17th century, when Jews and Christians in Amsterdam came together for common study of the Bible. (RPPS.) On the 156th anniversary of Chilean independence, a united thanksgiving service was held in the main plaza of a Santiago suburb. The service was led by the Roman Catholic bishop, the pastor of St. Paul’s Methodist Church, and a lay leader of the Lutheran Church. The Jewish rabbi was invited to deliver a prayer. In the sermon the Methodist pastor emphasised the sovereignty of Jesus Christ and the fact that God continues to act and create in the history of Chile. (EPS, Geneva) Dial-a-Movie is a service of the Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis. By phoning its number parents are advised whether current films are appropriate for family viewing. 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