Magyar Egyház, 1969 (48. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1969-04-01 / 4. szám
14 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ No. The true believers in Jesus Christ are eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus Christ even without the Lord’s Supper, by faith. 8. Does this not make our participation in the Lord’s Supper unnecessary? No, because a.) through our participation in the Lord’s Supper Jesus strengthens our faith in that He sacrificed himself not only for mankind in general hut also for each of us personally, h.) through our participation in the Lord’s Supper we testify for our faith in Jesus and for our belonging among his believers, the church. 9. What opinion we don’t accept concerning the Lord’s Supper? We do not accept the opinion that the bread and wine would change into the real body and blood of Jesus and that Jesus is joined to the elements in any way. 10. Does this not mean that our Lord's Supper is without Jesus Christ? No. Although Jesus is in heaven now in his body, yet he is present with his life-giving power among the true communicants of his Holy Supper. Even He promised that he will be with us always in this manner. 11. How should we prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Supper? a.) We should examine ourselves as to whether we believe that Jesus came into this world to obtain the forgiveness of our sins and our eternal life. h.) We should have the most sincere determination that out of gratitude to God we give up our sins, remain steadfast in the true faith and live in the communion of love with our brethren. 12. What is the proper administration of the Lord’s Supper? We administer the Lord’s Supper properly when we preach the Word of God, pray fervently, repeat the very words of Jesus over the bread and wine, receive the elements, and give thanks. 13. What is prohibited? It is prohibited to administer the Lord’s Supper for money or in honor of any man, dead or alive. Stephen Kovács HOW MUCH IS THE CHURCH WORTH? Letter to the Editor Dear Sir: I am not a member of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America. However, through one of my relatives who is a member of this church, the Yearly Report of one of your congregations got into my hands. I found the most interesting part of the Report the listing of the individual donations of the church members. It was interesting and shocking. I noticed that too many of the church members’ yearly contributions to their church was between a few dollars and twenty some dollars. I always heard that the Hungarian people love their church very much, and many of them are real proud of their church. If it is true, what is the explanation of their incredible poor church support? In my American church you cannot find a family or an individual whose annual support of the church would not be at least over one hundred dollars. Our members are not rich people. They are mostly factory workers. They wok together with the Hungarian people and get the same wages. We feel if we would give to our church only a few dollars a year, then we would regard our church as a “bum” on the street to whom we throw a few cents occasionally. But for us our church is not a “bum” or a beggar; our church is the most precious possession for which we are grateful and therefore we are generous in supporting it. If I hear one of my Hungarian friends boasting about his love of his church I will ask him how much is his church worth in his eyes? Three dollars a year? The Metropolitan Inter-Religious Housing Corporation set up by Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish organizations in Harrisburg, Pa., has purchased its first block of 14 slum properties for rehabilitation. When renovated, housing will be available for low-income families who will pay $57 a month in mortgages toward ownership where they had been paying rents ranging from $40 to $80 a month. The Council of Churches of Greater Harrisburg was one of the agencies which provided the seed money. NEWS FROM THE CONGREGATIONS AKRON, OHIO On Palm Sunday we confirmed our children during the worship services. Five children were confirmed during the Hungarian service, six during the English. The newly confirmed are: Árpád Gusztáv Batizy, Csanad Gusztáv Batizy, Szabolcs Gusztáv Batizy, Tass Gusztáv Batizy, Katherine M. Binkley, Sándor J. Borbély, Rachelle Ellen Johnson, Russell Allen Johnson, Vicki Ruth Johnson, Karen Louise Kun and Valerie Lynne Kun. We had a big congregation at Easter worship services. 226 persons participated in Holy Communion. Our beloved brother Joseph Kun died on March 24th. He was an honorary council member, a founding member of our church and a faithful leader during his lifetime. He was 75 years old. On March 28th we buried Louis Vázsonyi, 57 years old. Our English choir glorified God — first time in the new choir robes — during the Easter service. The beautiful new robes were donated by our Fellowship Circle. BETHLEHEM, PA. Mrs. Antal Jámbor celebrated her 91st birthday on March 13. She is the oldest member of our congregation. The minister and members of the Women’s Guild visited her and wished her more happy birthdays to come. On March 23rd our congregation was the host of the annual meeting of our Eastern Classis. The supper was made by the ladies of the
