Magyar Egyház, 1970 (49. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1970-02-01 / 2. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 TWO WILL DIE TO RISE AS ONE World Alliance of Reformed Churches and International Congregational Council Uniting Assembly The Taifa Hall of Kenya’s University College, Nairobi, will provide the setting for an unusual happening on August 20, 1970. Two brief, separate, assemblies of world confessional oganizations will take place in the Hall. Delegates to the assembly of the International Congregational Council will be the onlookers as the World Alliance of Reformed Churches votes itself out of existence; W.A.R.C. representatives will then watch I.C.C. delegates as they formally record their vote to dissolve their organization. All delegates will be asked to vote on a formal Act of Union, after which the heads of both organizations, Dr. Wilhelm Niesel, president of the Alliance, and Dr. Ashby E. Bladen, moderator of the ICC, will each address the joint assembly. The whole event may not take more than an hour; it will round off a decade of negotiations and growing-together, and conclude the separate history of these two world confessional families. Immediately following the Taifa Hall meeting, the delegates, from 127 churches in some 75 countries, will march to the large St. Andrew’s Church (Presbyterian Church of East Africa) where during a service of word and sacrament the W.A.R.C. and the I.C.C. will unite to become the new World Alliance of Reformed Churches (Presbyterian and Congregational). Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, general secretary of the World Council of Churches and a member of the W.A.R.C. Executive Committee, will preach the sermon. For the remainder of the time, until August 30, ihere will be one united assembly under the general theme: “God reconciles and makes free”. There are a number of “firsts” about the Nairobi assembly. The merger itself is of course one of them. "How strange it is that we, having so much in common in faith and order, remained apart”, says the official message that went to the member churches. Thirty-eight of the churches belonging to the W.A.R.C. and the I.C.C. are at present engaged in union negotiations. It is hoped that the merger of the two world organizations will have a stimulating effect on the union talks currently going on in different parts of the world. Another “first” is that the assembly will be held on African soil. It may well be that the mere physical fact of meeting on the continent of Africa will turn out to be one of the most significant aspects of the assembly. It is certainly the intention of the assembly Programm committee that those who will travel to Nairobi next summer will be conscious throughout the assembly proceedings that they are meeting in an African context, being the guests of an African host church. A third new feature about the assembly will be the attendance of a larger percentage of youth than before. It was decided that all churches should be asked to include at least one youth delegate in their delegations, and that the smaller churches normally entitled to send one delegate only, be invited to send an additional delegate, provided he/she is under thirty. Young people at the assembly will have the status of full delegates with the right to speak and to vote. SEMINAR FOR HUNGARIAN PASTORS HELD AT PRINCETON A two-day seminar of continued theological education for Hungarian Reformed pastors, first of its kind, was held at the Center of Continued Education of Princeton Theological Seminary, January 13-14. Lectures and discussion centered on the following three themes: “Trends in Contemporary Theology”, led by Dr. Daniel L. Migliore, Assistant Professor of Theology at Princeton, “How You Deal with the Challenges of Our Day?”, led by Dr. David Willis, Professor of Historical Theology at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, “The Here and Now of Church and Ministry”, led by Dr. Tibor Chikes, Professor of Pastoral Theology at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D. C. Morning bible studies were conducted by pastors Dr. Kalman Sulyok and Dr. Andrew Harsanyi. The seminar was jointly sponsored by the Calvin Synod of the United Church of Christ, the Hungarian Reformed Church in America and the Hungarian Conference of the United Presbyterian Church. 15 pastors attended. New Hungarian New Testament Translation Budapest —; Under the auspices of the Reformed Church in Hungary, 4000 copies of a new translation of the New Testament have recently left the press. The publication, prepared by Professor Gergely Budai, has received financial backing from the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. Dr. Budai, who at one time was Professor of New Testament Studies, and later Dean of the Reformed Theological Seminary in Budapest, embarked on his translation work after his retirement in 1954. The new edition of the New Testament includes a ^general historical synopsis, indexes of names and subjects, surveys of Jesus’ parables and miracles, and of parallel synoptic material. Professor Budai’s translation has been widely welcomed for its use of clear contemporary language. (RPPS) ORGAN for the asking: the Perth Amboy Church will give its organ to any sister church free of charge—except for transportation costs. The organ is in good shape. The new organ will be ready in about 4-5 months. Those interested should write to the church office.
