Magyar Egyház, 1967 (46. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1967-01-01 / 1. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 7 them never-fading laurels, ever-green palm branches in the realms of eternal life. In this battle the real leaders never look down on the common soldiers but lift them up equal with themselves and as Paul did with Epaphroditus, look upon them as brothers, companions in labor, fellow workers and fellow-soldiers and as messengers of the great leader. The commander-in-chief of the army holds them in good repute and rewards them according to their labor. All of you have a task to perform for Christ this year. Maybe someone of you will be carrying a pitcher of water to the thirsty. Maybe God will let you hold fast to the rope holding on to the basket in which Paul escapes. Perhaps the Lord will send you. not for a donkey, but for your modern vehicle that He may make His Palm Sunday entrance into hearts. Everyone has something to do which is a part of the history of salvation. Everyone is an important link in the chain. Without your cooperation the work cannot go on. In your humble place, in the rear, you are still a very important person. Christ died for you that you might live for Him. Can we show the way to those who will follow us? Are we faithful in our places that through us the Lord might show to His disciples the prepared place where the most important things concerning salvation are revealed ? Can we do our work so well that at the end of our labor we can be held of all as having a good reputation? Take up your responsibility, stand with the leaders as brethren, fellow-workers and fellow-soldiers and you will be highly honored not only by man but by your commander-in-chief, the Lord Himself. Eugene L. Smith DYNAMICS OF DEVELOPMENT* The 1960’s have been called the “Decade of Development” by the United Nations, 1966 is the year in which the dynamics of development were revealed to churches more sharply than ever before. That disclosure came at the World Conference on Church and Society, sponsored by the World Council of Churches. The most dangerous tensions of the world today exist between the affluent nations and the great tropical belt of developing nations. A spiral movement is at work in each which constantly increases the explosive contrast between prosperity and poverty. In the affluent societies, prosperity increases rapidly, population slowly. In the poorer areas, the population growth is greater than growth in production and poverty spreads. Educational opportunities are much greater in the affluent countries. So many of the brightest youth of the developing nations seek education in the more advanced nations. Employment opportunities are better there. Thus, many of them never return home. Moreover, many already trained flow to the affluent nations. This “braindrain” increases the economic vitality of the wealthy nations, and detracts from that of the nations most needing such trained personnel. Development means the enrichment of every phase of a nation’s life. Family patterns change with economic growth. Social customs alter deeply with rapid changes in production. »This Is the 1966 Year-end summary of Dr. Eugene L. Smith, Executive Secretary of the World Council of Churches In the United States. The churches in developing nations have a tremendous task in helping to weave a new fabric of society that maintains human values in the midst of economic revolutions. The churches of affluent nations have a task as great. It is to awaken the conscience of the prosperous to the needs of the impoverished. In this instance, the task is great indeed. International trade patterns must be set up which will follow the developing economies to become competitive with affluent nations. The present unwillingness of the richer countries to allow the development of such trade patterns is one of the major current obstacles to economic growth in developing nations. The evangelistic imperative has never been stronger. The church must call persons to that discipleship of the living Christ which seeks to demonstrate His Lordship over every relationship —- corporate as well as individual. Response in the church to this challenge is vigorous. The Roman Catholic Church is giving serious study to the establishment of a new secretariat in the Vatican for the task of dealing particularly with the issues of development. The World Council and the Roman Catholic Church have pooled resources for food distribution in famine areas of India and Africa. Canada has just radically re-organized its Canadian Council of Churches, with a new flexibility for action and study. The World Council has chosen for the theme of its Fourth Assembly, to be held in Sweden in 1968, “Behold I make all things new.” Man’s new technological skills offer mankind hope of the conquest of poverty, the abolition of hunger. Yet hunger spreads. No task is more urgent in our time than to seek God’s will for us as we try to serve Him in the task of making all things new in Christ. Delegation from the Reformed Church in Hungary Visits the United States The Reformed Church in Hungary will celebrate this year the 400th anniversary of the acceptance of the Second Helvetic Confession by the Synod of Debrecen in 1567. Details on the celebrations were given by Dr. Tibor Bartha, bishop of the Trans-Tibiscan District and president of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary at the annual meeting of the North American Area Council of the World Reformed Alliance held during the second week in January in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Bartha together with Bishop István Szamosközi and accompanied by Dr. István Finta, editor of Reformátusok Lapja, the official weekly of the Church in Hungary and Dr. Károly Tóth, secretary for external affairs of the General Synod, attended the Memphis meeting as fraternal delegates upon the invitation of the North American Area Council. At the beginning of his address Bishop Bartha expressed thanks to Dr. James McCord, President of Princeton Theological Seminary and secretary of the North American Area Council “who, for long years, was the prime mover of the rebuilding of ecumenical relations between the Reformed family in the Americas, and our churches in Central Europe.” In describing the Reformed Church in Hungary, Bishop Bartha gave these figures: the two million Reformed Church members live in 1220 congregations which form 27 seniorates and 4 districts the
