Fraternity-Testvériség, 1961 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1961-10-01 / 10. szám

FRATERNITY

15

In Hungary itself the two most vital organs of renewal were the Student Christian Movement and the Bethania Union (Christian Endeavour). The former renewed its connection with abroad whenever the war was over, and at once instituted evangelistic activities of all kinds, continuing them vigorously till this day. The Bethania Union, working in other strata of the membership of the Church, took as its special task the organizing of conventions for the deepening of spiritual life; but in doing so it alienated a number of church leaders. The latter were at first afraid that the movement was primarily interested in a non-confessional expression of the Christian faith, and as such might militate against Hungary’s historical expression of Christianity in Calvinistic theological terms. In consequence, Dr. Eugene Sebestyén instituted another movement which, in its turn, emphasized the distinctively Calvinistic background of the Church’s theology. Unfortunately, feelings ran high over the clash that arose between these two emphases and points of view. Consequently, when Dr. László Ravasz was inducted in 1921 as bishop of the Danube area Church District, he made it his first mission to seek to draw the two parties together. An incisive saying of his was quoted throughout the Church: “I wish to missionize the Church and churchify its missionary work.” To this end he concentrated on an exaltation of the pastoral function of the Church. He saw that real home missionary work in an area is analogous with a live parish under the leadership of an active and evangelically minded minister. Moreover, Ravasz largely succeeded in reconciling the two points of view in the Church, with the result that during twenty years of his wise and inspired guidance the Reformed Church went through what can only be called a real inner transformation.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century the numbers of Reformed Church people in Budapest had greatly increased. As factories and workshops sprang up, the seasonally unemployed of the Great Plain tended to drift to the capital