Magyar Egyház, 1980 (59. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
1980-11-01 / 10. szám
14. oldal Steer this way, father, steer straight for me; Here safe in heaven I am waiting for thee. Oh! those Bethlehem angels, when they went back after the concert that night over the hills, forgot to shut the door. All the secret is out. No more use of trying to hide from us the glories to come. It is too late to shut the gate. It is blocked wide open with hosannas marching this way, and hallelujahs marching that way. In the splendor of the anticipation I feel as if I were dying—not physically, for I never was more well—but in the transport of the Christmas transfiguration. Oh! heaven, blissful heaven, heaven where our loved ones are, heaven where Christ is—heaven, heaven! What almost unmans me is the thought that it is provided for such sinners as you and I have been. If it had been provided only for those who had always thought right, and spoken right, and acted right, you and I would have had no interest in it, had no share in it; you and I would have stuck to the raft midocean, and let the ship sail by, carrying perfect passengers from a perfect life on earth to a perfect life in heaven. But I have heard the commander of that ship is the same great and glorious and sympathetic One who hushed Dr. Edmund Perret: Ware’s General Secretary Reviews GENEVA—Immediately after his arrival from the 1980 meeting of the European Area Council in Poiana Brasov, Romania, Dr. Edmond Perret, General Secretary of the WARC was interviewed by RPS about the significance and results of the Assembly. The first question was: Do you consider that the goals intended for this Council were achieved? As for the Conference itself, I would say that the participation was excellent, and we were especially happy to welcome several large delegations from Eastern European countries. We were disappointed in MAGYAR EGYHÁZ wishes all its readers a blessed Christmas Season and a happy, successful and peaceful New Year. DONATIONS TO KAROLY SEMINARY: Hungarian United Church of Christ, Elyria $100.— Hungarian Reformed Presbyters Association 100.— Mr. and Mrs. Earl Rappaport, Chicago 100.— Mrs. Anna Sala, Akron 100.— Mrs. Donald Willener, Akron 50.— Dorcas Guild, Elyria 50.— Mr. and Mrs. Mihály Paul Kiss, Cleveland 25.— Marta Guild, Elyria 25.Mr. and Mrs. Zoltán Kocsondy, Grand Rapids 20.Mr. and Mrs. Tom Kovács, Akron 20.— Elizabeth Bajusz, Akron 10.— Mr. and Mrs. Robert Popiel, Akron 10.— Mr. and Mrs. Dezső Dorner, Akron 10.— Mr. and Mrs. Jenő Szedenits, Cleveland 10.— Mrs. Eva Gallo, Akron 10.— Thanks for every donation! God bless You all! the tempest around the boat on Galilee, and I have heard that all the passengers on the ship are sinners saved by grace. And so we hail the ship, and it bears down this way, and we come by the side of it, and ask the captain two questions: “Who art Thou? and whence?” and he says, “I am Captain of Salvation, and I am from the manger.” Oh! bright Christmas morning of my soul’s delight. Chime all the bells. Wreathe all the garlands. Rouse all the anthems. Shake hands in all the congratulations. Merry Christmas! Merry with the thought of sins forgiven, merry with the idea of sorrows comforted, merry with the raptures to come. Oh! lift that Christ from the manger and lay him down in all our hearts. We may not bring to him as costly a present as the Magi brought, but we bring to his feet and to the manger to-day the frankincense of our joy, the pearls of our tears, the kiss of our love, the prostration of our worship. Down at his feet, all churches, all ages, all earth, all heaven. Down at his feet the four-and-twenty elders on their faces. Down the “great multitude that no man can number.” Down all worlds at his feet and worship. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will to men!” the absence of any representation from our Member Churches in the USSR; a delegation from one of the WARC Member Churches there was expected, but did not, unfortunately, materialize. The principal goal of the Council was contacts, encounters, sharing. I believe we can consider that purpose as being accomplished. Some of the delegates may have been a little surprised at the nature of this Assembly, where the emphasis on administrative activities, reports and so on, appeared to have been reduced to a minimum. Actually, it was the activity of the 12 discussion groups that constituted the hub of the Council, and this was what we intended. All the same, we might all have appreciated a greater degree of synthesis, and wished that some provision could have been made for that missing element. Among the activities connected with the Assembly were the visits to congregations, which went very well, thanks to careful preparations made under difficult conditions. We had been expecting a rather small group of visitors and members of the new European Committee to attend the post-conference session at the Protestant Institute of Theology in Cluj (Kolozsvár). In the end, over 100 people went to Cluj, which created great problems for the organizers, but showed how much interest had been aroused among the Poiana Brasov Assembly participants in this opportunity to visit the very centre of the Reformed Church in Romania. Just a few days before the beginning of the Council, the 10,000 Bibles in Hungarian to be officially presented to the Reformed Church in Romania arrived at their destination. This was most satisfying, as the Bibles were a vital element in the eve.
