Calvin Synod Herald, 2001 (102. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2001-09-01 / 9-10. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 5 Justice & Witness Report UCC General Synod XXIII Rev. Zoltán S. Sutto Prom July 13th through the 17th, the United Church of Christ held its 23rd General Synod in the beautiful city of Kansas City, Missouri. I had the privilege of representing the Calvin Synod on my appointed committee, the Justice and Witness Ministry (JWM). This is the ministry of the UCC that deals with most of the social problems that face our denomination and the world around us. Many issues were discussed by the JWM committee but perhaps the most important concerned the topic of the upcoming Neighbors in Need mission offering. We were all made aware of the importance of this offering in the life of our Committee and the many programs that we are involved in. All of the members of the committee were encouraged to tell their individual Conferences of the need for all of their churches to get involved in a big way to make this a success. It should be noted that in the past there were six church wide offerings but as a result of the actions of GS XXII the number was reduced to four. As a member of this committee I attended all of the General Synod plenary sessions and I was also assigned to a committee at the GS that dealt with two issues. The first concerned the continued bombing of the municipality of Vieques, Puerto Rico by the U.S. Navy. This has been going on since 1941 and as a result of this the environment, ecology, health and life of its people have been destroyed. Despite the fact that President Bush has agreed that the bombing will stop, that act does not go into effect for several years and the damage will continue to mount up if it isn’t stopped now. The committee called upon the GS to voice its continued concern to our government and call for the immediate removal of all naval personnel from the municipality of Vieques. The motion passed on the floor of the General Synod. The second issue dealt with the problems in Colombia dealing with the treatment of the displaced persons. These individuals have been moved because of the continuing efforts of the Colombian and American forces to stop the cocaine problem in the country of Colombia. The committee asked GS the approve the use of our (the UCC) committees to do all that they could to stop the displacement of the natives of this country. The General Synod also passed this motion. The General Synod was unique in the fact that the Disciples of Christ held their General Assembly at the same time as us. Both church bodies met in the same conference center and it was very interesting to see the difference in the two groups. Overall the experience was very interesting but with all those people, the size of the convention center and all of the endless meetings, I certainly longed for our own Synod meetings. Youth Camp - Building Faith The Lord blessed us with good weather. And then he blessed us with good leaders, and finally the blessing of great campers. The camping experience is one that allows participants, be they first time youth or seasoned adult, to grow in their faith experience in ways that really are not possible in an everyday setting. That is the most positive aspect of the week. All of us “live in the real world” everyday, meeting the challenges of life, challenges to our faith, and having to choose between those things which seem so appealing and normal while at the same time we know that they are “not quite right”. And under the pressure of “real life”, our perspective loses its focus, and often we begin to feel that we are alone in our struggle. Our faith is attacked by everything in our daily lives, beginning with the morning news, expectations on our jobs, peer pressure amongst both colleagues and friends, and finally in what passes for “entertainment” on television and other media. The feeling of fighting a losing battle often hits us. The wonderful news of the Youth Camp is that there we see a whole new perspective on life. Other adults who take their faith seriously, who like us fight the battle every day, yet hold to what Christ taught us about relationships, about prayer, about worship. Here we meet the people who have Christian values at the center of their lives, and they are not ashamed of them. They REJOICE in them! And being with them, we too - once again - see that not only are these values, and feelings NOT outdated, but they are the true foundation of all that is good in our lives. And we remember why it is that we fight the daily struggle. But even better news is the Youth themselves! Many of us have limited contact with youth, and the contact we do have is often not encouraging about our churches, our society, our future. And here, suddenly, we discover that young people from around the country, and from other countries, come to this camp. Some of them are not even members of our congregations, nor of our denomination, yet they come because of Christian friendships with OUR youth. They experienced a fellowship which gave them a glimpse of something special in life, and now they all came to experience a special type of fellowship at “church camp”. That fellowship is “Christian Fellowship”. This is a time when these young people can share their deepest feeling, their Christian Joy, their doubts and sorrows, and they do it in an atmosphere of acceptance and love. And as a result there are many instances of young people coming to terms with their doubts, of seeing their faith reflected more clearly as they are able to share these feelings. And we are privileged to see young people commit themselves not just in their minds, but with their hearts, to their faith. Finally they are in a company of believers, where their faith is not just challenged, but also (Continued on page 7) □GO
