Calvin Synod Herald, 1991 (91. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1991-11-01 / 6. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD- 2 -REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA Editor in Chief: ZOLTÁN D. SZŰCS, Bishop Editor and Publisher: DR. STEPHEN SZABÓ 415 Steven Blvd., Richmond Hts., Ohio 44143 Telephone: (216) 481-3648 Published bi-monthly Individual Subscription $7.00 yearly Group Subscription $5.00 yearly Postmaster send 3579 Form for change of address to 415 Steven Blvd., Richmond Hts., Ohio 44143 Second Class postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio Printed by: Classic Printing Corp. 9527 Madison Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44102 Frontispiece Picture! The Peacable Kingdom The Old-Testament Oracle. Will it be fulfilled in the approaching Twentyfirst Century in Jesus, the Christ? The impressive picture on the front page of our present Christmas Issue, augmented by this side attachment here on the 2nd page, was painted by Edward Hicks, the famous colonial American artist. It should be noted that Isaiah had in mind not an obscure and forever remote mortal, but a living King! He visualized the Messiah coming from God, the One who would bring to perfection the ideal ever cherished; the ultimate end to be accomplished in Him and through Him to be effectuated in all who are worthy to govern. The ideals of democracy, so gloriously developed by our own John Calvin in Geneva and so perfectly imitated by the American fore-fathers writing the Constitution, can only be vindicated through honorable characters of governors and governed. This immortal Picture of Hicks takes Isaiah’s prophecy beyond the time of the Old Testament to the new world. Notice the American scene of the Pennsylvania mountains on the side with William Penn in the distance; when man and beast would settle down peacefully and a “littlechild” would lead them. The same theme has also become the major theme of the New Testament, centralized in the message of Christmas. How much closer will the sudden and dramatic changes of present History at this last decade of Twentieth Century bring the mighty Vision to complete fulfillment?! That is the crucial question now. MAGYAR SYNOD’S MOTTO Traditions-embracing FAITHfrom the PAST, fervent HOPEfor us in the PRESENT, in LOVE’s service for the FUTURE! * * * MA GYÁR EGYHÁZKERÜLETÜNK JELIGÉJE Hagyományokat építő HIT a MÚLT-ból, élő REMÉNY a jelenben a SZERETET-nek JÖVŐ-t építő szolgálatában! A Calvinist Church in Leányfalu Leányfalu is a small village on the right bank of the Danube. Its Calvinist congregation was formed in 1958, in one of the very hard periods of the country. The little community has never had a church of its own, in a country, like Hungary in those years, occupied by the soviets and ruled by the communists, there was no way to build one. The first place of their services was the bar-room of a former public house. In a frosty Christmas Eve when the pastor of the village was kept back by the floating ice of the river, in that bar-room celebrated László Ravasz, the great presbyterian bishop, who was removed by the communist government and banished to Leányfalu, his last open service. But later on even that place was taken away by the servile leadership of the fully state controlled Hungarian Calvinist Church. The congregation of the village has got only one hour on each Sunday and on the holidays to celebrate services in the vestibule of the local presbyterian home for the aged. The possibilities of the services depended on the good-will of the home administration for more than twenty-five years. But the years of 1989-1990 have brought a fundamental change in the history of Eastern-Europe and especially in that of Hungary. Last autumn, also in Leányfalu to make the best of their first opportunity the presbyterate decided to built a real church. The new church should serve not only as a congregational building but it will have to give home for religious youth meetings and summer campings. However, the country and its people emerging from a long period of foreign rule is not yet strong enough to start such enterprises alone even if their necessity is evident, since the long lasting years of the communism have weakened it not only economically but in a moral sense too. Therefore the Calvinist community of Leányfalu relys on all those who are ready to lend them a helping hand to start the rebuilding of safe foundations of the future Hungary.
