Tárogató, 1946-1947 (9. évfolyam, 7-10. szám)
1947-02-01 / 8. szám
14 TÁROGATÓ “Fortune has placed this country in the position where its people do not all speak the same language and do not all adore God at the same altar. Our task is to mould all these elements into one community without destroying the richness of any of those cultural sources from which many of our people have sprung. No one, I think, has gripped the need of meeting this problem of the Canadian mosaic better than a great former prime minister of this country, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who said, speaking to a group of students at the University of Toronto of the necessity of trying to have groups in Canada understand one another: ‘Three years ago I visited in England one of those models of gothic architecture which the hands of genius guided by an unerring faith had moulded into a harmonious whole. This cathedral was made of oak, of granite and of marble. It is the image of the nation I want to see Canada become. I want the marble to remain the marble; I want the oak to remain the oak; I want the granite to remain the granite; and out of these elements I would build a nation great among the nations of the world.’ ” Ministers of our churches and leaders of discussion groups among our young people would do well to secure a copy of “The Canadian Citizenship Act,” and if possible, a copy of the Report of the House of Commons Debates on this matter, in order to be able to assist groups within our churches to become better informed with regard to this very important matter. It is scarcely necessary to say that the action taken by the Sub-Executive had no reference whatsoever to any political party in our Canadian life, but was based entierly upon the conviction that this matter is related to the highest welfare of all our people. In a B.B.C. Remembrance Day Broadcast, as quoted in the Canadian Press, the Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Geoffrey Fisher, D.D., Archbishop of Canterbury, when speaking of Christian men and women in relation to world affairs, called for Prayer and Action and Rededication, and referred to Citizenship in these meaningful words: “The new world into which we are moving demands a much higher standard of citizenship from everyone than before. A sense of duty before rights, of work honestly and keenly done, a power to choose what in popular amusements and habits is recreative and socially good, and to reject what is undermining and weakening to public life, a power of criticism to distinguish between the sound and the shoddy.” This strong appeal can be related to Canadian life just as truly as to life in Britain. Let us seek together to “Make Canada a land to love,” and our Canadian Citizenship to be a creative and meaningful experience. —“Observer.” PASTOR and Mrs. NIEMOELLER — HIGHLIGHT OF FEDERAL COUNCIL MEETING By Gordon A. Sisco Secretary, General Council It has been the privilege of the writer these past days, both as a representative of The United Church of Canada and as a fraternal delegate of the Canadian Council of Churches, to attend the biennial meeting of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, meeting at Seattle, Washington. Here are gathered the representatives of thirty-five national denominations, comprising more than 140,000 local congregations, with á total membership of 27,749,967. These Churches, through the Federal Council, are able to manifest more fully their essential oneness in Jesus Christ as their Divine Lord and Saviour, and by planning in fields of common action, to make their impact felt on the life of the United States. The highlight of this year’s meeting has been the visit of Pastor Martin and Mrs. Niemoeller and the messages they have brought to us. Indeed, the writer will count it as one of the highlights of his experience to have had the privilege of meeting with and listening to these two outstanding Christians, who have come to interpret their experiences as resisters of the brutal Nazis. The First Presbyterian Church of Seattle was filled to overflowing on the opening night when Bishop Oxnam, and those assisting him, walked to the platform. Such great hymns as “Faith of
