Magyar Egyház, 1966 (45. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1966-11-01 / 11-12. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 17 PASTORS IN EAST GERMANY PROTEST "PRESSURE ON CONSCIENCE" (Berlin) — A statement read from Protestant pulpits in Niesky, East Germany, states: “We have recently en­countered resistance in this diocese. Pressure is exercised on Christian parents and children to participate in the ‘Youth Dedication’ in a way that is contrary to the freedom of conscience guaranteed in the Constitution ... In cases where Christian children refuse to repeat atheist creeds, the authorities have refused to admit them to secondary schools. “In giving Christian instruction we encounter serious obstacles. Services and parish activities are prohibited in public buildings; this menaces church life in all villages where the churches have no premises' of their own. Further­more, the civic authorities claim the right to decide which activities organized by the Christian congregation on church premises are for the glory of God.” (EPS, Geneva ( THE SECOND HELVETIC CONFESSION RENDERED IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SECTION XV Justification of the believers. 2. W hat does it mean that God justifies us? It means that God forgives our sins, absolves us from our due punishments, receives us into his grace and declares us to be just. 2. By what reason is God willing to declare us to be just? By the reason that the perfectly innocent and just Jesus Christ took upon himself all our sins and paid for them. In other words, God regards the righteous­ness of Jesus Christ as our own and takes away all our guiltiness. 3. What shall we do that we may be declared just and right by God? We have to believe that by our own power we never could become just and sinless persons before God. Furthermore, we have to believe that God imputes the righteousness of Jesus to us by his free mercy, without our merits. As the Scripture says: “By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God . . . not because of works, lest any man should boast.” Eph. 2:8,9. 4. What proves that we are justified children of God? It is proved by our abundant, God-pleasing good works, which we are able to do with the help of Jesus whom we received into our hearts by faith. Stephen Kovács NEWS FROM THE CONGREGATIONS BETHLEHEM The celebration of the 15th anni­versary of our congregation turned out to be a success. Eleven guest­­ministers were present including Bishop Louis Nagy, and our new dean, Dr. András Harsányi. At the mortgage-burning ceremony the Hungarian Reformed Federation was represented by its president, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Zoltán Beky. One of the guest speakers at the banquet was John N emesnyik, the president of the National Presbyters Association. On November 27th we had the an­nual Bethlen Home Sunday with a special combined worship service when the Rev. Alexander Daróczy, superin­tendent of the Home was the guest preacher. Combined Worship Service will be held on Christmas Day with the Lord’s Supper at 10 a.m. The holy elements have been donated by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Biro. The father of László Fekete, secre­tary of the church, died in the old­­country after a long illness. CARTERET The order of holiday worship serv­ices is as follows: December 23, 7 P.M. —Preparatory, Christmas Eve, 6:30— Hungarian, 8 P.M.—English, Christ­mas Day, 8:30—English, 10:30—Hun­garian (both with communion), De­cember 26, 11 A.M.—Hungarian, De­cember 31, 6:30—bilingual, New Year’s Day, 10 A.M.—English, 11 A.M.—Hungarian. On the last Sunday in Advent the Christmas Program of the Sunday School was conducted in the course of the regular morning service. The children presented “The Christmas Story” which appeared in the Last issue of Magyar Egyház. Weddings: Alex Varga and Joan Brady on October 30, Thomas Smolin­­ski and Judtih Brady on December 10. DUQUESNE Our Fall Fellowship Dinner was held on October 30th with great suc­cess. Thanksgiving Communion was ob­served on November 27th. 153 mem­bers came to communion, 9 shut-ins received the holy elements in their home. Councilman Robert Szepesi and his wife donated the elements. Wedding: George G. Pohlman and Joan Szuch, on November 26th. Funeral: Joseph Palágyi, 87, on November 29th. Layman’s Sunday was observed on December 4th. Councilmen Alex War­gó (sermon), John Darnay, Elmer Shigo and Robert Szepesi participated in the Service. Councilman Richard Heyz and his wife donated a hand-embroidered Hungarian flag in memory of their grandparents; Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Revak donated the stand in memory of their parents. The flag was dedicated on December 4th. The Rev. László Berzeviczy also participated in the service. The speaker at the banquet following the service was Judge Albert Fiók. Christmas parties: Women’s Club on December 7th, Sunday School on December 16th. hosted by the Women’s Club. Caroling will be done by the Coun­cilmen in Hungarian and by our Youth Fellowship in English the week before Christmas. Special services during the holidays: Thursday and Friday of Christmas week 7:30 P.M. — bilingual; Christ­mas Eve, 7:00 P.M. — bilingual, Christmas Day, with communion at both services, Hungarian — 9:30, Eng­lish — 11:00 A.M.; Christmas Mon­"Church Women United" — Booth at the NCC General Assembly

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