Magyar Egyház, 1989 (63. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1989-07-01 / 4. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 7. oldal d.u. 4:30: Szünet. d.u. 5:00: Kerekasztal beszélgetés folytatása és hozzászólások, kérdések. este 6:00: Vacsora. este 7:00: Beszámolók: Magyar Ökumené és látogatás Szöulban: Dr. Medyesy László; — Látogatás a Kárpátalján: Dr. Szűcs Zoltán; Siket misszió: Muzsnai István. este 8:00: Dr. Medyesy László diapozitív képei és a denominációk gyűlései és megbeszélései. Kedd, szeptember 5. d.e. 9:00: Áhítat — Vezeti Rőczey Barna, New Brunswick, N.J. d.e. 9:30: Az amerikai és magyar egyházak kapcsolata, az egyházi iskolák ügye, lelkész utánpótlás és lelkész csere, nemzetközi magyar lelkészegyesület, Magyar Református Világtalálkozó: Dr. Kocsis Elemér, tiszántúli püspök, Zsinati lelkészi elnök, beszámolója. Kérdések, hozzászólások Dr. Baksa Csaba elnöklete alatt. d.e. 11:00: Szünet. d.e. 11:20 Kérdések és hozzászólások folytatása. d.u. 1:00: Ebéd a Bethlen Otthonban. d.u. 2:00: Sajtó az egyház szolgálatában, közös nyomda és kiadványok. Előadó Komlós Attila, a magyarországi Reformátusok Lapja szerkesztője. d.u. 2:30: Befejezetlen ügyek, bizottságok jelentése, választás és az új tisztviselők beiktatása, d.u. 3:00: A gyűlés bezárása. A Harmincadik Magyar Protestáns Bál 1989. november 9-én, pénteken este lesz megrendezve a Wayne Manor-ben, Wayne, New Jersey. A Bál tiszta jövedelmét ez évben is az ösztöndíjalapra fordítjuk. A Protestáns Bál este 7:00-kor vacsorával kezdődik. Az első bálozók bemutatása 9:30-kor lesz, utána tánc. Mindenkit szeretettel hívunk és várunk. Bővebb információért hívjuk Hunyady Piroskát (201) 381-6413 vagy Nt. Rőczey Barnabást (201) 828-3165 vagy 545-5841. THE STATE OFFICE FOR CHURCH AFFAIRS OF HUNGARY DISSOLVED The State Office for Church Affairs of Hungary, which has been the Communist Party’s main instrument for controlling church life since its establishment in 1951, as the implementation of a government decree went “out of business” on July 1. An introduction to this event was the retiring of the chairman of the State Office, Imre Miklós, who was a strong handed governor of the affairs. The final dissolution signals a victory for the opposition activists and communist reformists who together with public opinion have been campaigning for the abolition of the State Office. Spokesman for the government declared that the State Office would stop without a successor organization. 90% of the jurisdictional authorities of the former State Office would also cease to exist; the remaining 10% would be administered by a small department of church affairs within the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to be led by Barna Sarkadi Nagy, former deputy chairman of the defunct State Office, now named deputy minister. The government also decided to establish an organization to be called the National Council for Religious Affairs chaired by the prime minister and to be made up of representatives of the various church bodies. Another important government decree is the cancellation of Decree 22 of 1957 which requires prior government approval of all senior church appointments except appointments made by a foreign body, such as the Pope. Since an all inclusive law concerning religious affairs in Hungary will be enacted foreseeably in 1990 only all present measures are still inconclusive. For some observers it is significant that the man to coordinate the new developments is the former deputy chairman of the State Office who is a professed atheist. A.H. FROM THE BISHOP'S NOTEBOOK Continuing the quotes and quips from my notebook. If you are ever told that the Hungarian language is one of the hardest of all languages and most impossible to learn suggest to learn the Basque language spoken about one million people living on both sides of the Franco-Spanish border. The people call themselves by the name “Euskar.” They have a legend that the devil wanted to tempt them so he had to learn their language. He spent seven years among them but was unable to learn Basque. So the devil, in disgust, left them un-tempted. + A few notes about God: We like to serve God — in an advisory capacity, that is. — God does not hurry nor is He ever late. — There are no seasonal vacations for God. That is no Summer vacation, no Fall vacation, no Winter vacation, no Spring vacation. + Bishop Ernest Unterkoeffler, the co-chairman of the Roman Catholic-Reformed Consultation told us about Charleston, SC when visiting at a consultation meeting: “In Charleston, the two rivers the Ashley and he Cooper join and form the Atlantic Ocean.” Local pride, isn’t it? + I saw on a photograph of the last plane load of the Soviet blockade of Berlin — the inscription was a Bible verse, Psalm 21:11. I looked it up: “For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.” (The quotation is from the KJV, the Berlin Blockade was in 1948.)
