Magyar Egyház, 1997 (76. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1997 / 4. szám
10. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ THE DEBRECEN DECLARATION On August 19, following the last service of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, closing document of the general meeting, the Debrecen Declaration was read in several languages. Its full text reads as follows: We belong - body and soul, in life and death - not to ourselves but to our faithful savior Jesus Christ. We confess our theological and moral failures, our complicity in adding to the world’s burdens, our inadequate witness to God’s purpose. We ask forgiveness from God and from each other for these transgressions, and also for the injuries we have done to each other. Relying upon God’s promises that the shackles of injustice can be broken, and claiming the new life which forgiveness makes possible, we declare the following: WE ARE NOT OUR OWN. We belong to the living God who created all things and declared them to be very good. We will not exploit and destroy that creation. We will be stewards of the created world for God. WE ARE NOT OUR OWN. We believe in Jesus Christ, who died and resurrected for us and for our salvation. We confess that no ideology or agenda holds the secret to the ultimate direction of history. In all our things we depend on our Redeemer. WE ARE NOT OUR OWN. We know that in Jesus Christ we were bought by God for a great price. We will not patronize, exclude or ignore the gifts of any person, male or female. We declare our solidarity with the poor and with all those suffering, oppressed or excluded. WE ARE NOT OUR OWN. We believe in the Holy Spirit who will guide us to ail truth. We refuse the false assumption that everything, including human beings and their labor, is a commodity and has a price. WE ARE NOT OUR OWN. We pledge ourselves to a simple life-style which bears witness to the fact that we are the members of God’s “household”. WE ARE NOT OUR OWN. We do not despair, for God reigns. We will continue to struggle against injustice in this world, and we look forward to the Holy City in which God will dwell together with human beings and are their God. WE ARE NOT OUR OWN. With our Reformed Christian ancestors as well as with the whole Church of God we join our voices to proclaim: SOLI DEO GLORIA! THE THIRD GENERAL MEETING OF THE CONSULTATIVE SYNOD OF THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCHES The Consultative Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Churches held its annual meeting in Budapest, on August 7. The event was attended by some 120 delegates representing practically all regions and headed by D.D. Kalman Csiha, bishop, ministerial president, Transylvanian Church District, Kolozsvár (Cluj), István Szabó, secular president, USA, D.D. Lorant Hegedűs, bishop, managing president, Danubian Church District, Budapest. In his report sent to our news service, Oliver Czovek, secretary of the Consultative Synod and minister in Budapest, pointed out the following: It was this meeting where the basic document of the Liturgy of the Hungarian Reformed Churches was compiled at. It was also decided that in addition to the Hungarian Reformed Hymnal a complementary choral book is also to be published. The member churches undertook that they will carry out a fund-raising campaign for building new churches at Dunaszerdahely/Slovakia and Vargyas/ Romania. Following the committee reports the delegates formulated a Declaration in which they greeted the Debrecen General Meeting of the Reformed World Federation expressing the hope that it will contribute to the abolition of injustices that affected our churches.
