Magyar Egyház, 1999 (78. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1999 / 1. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11. oldal REFORMED AND LUTHERANS CONVERGE On August 20, 1997, as the 23rd General Council of the Alliance in Debrecen was ending, an important decision was made in the United Sates. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gave its assent to the Formula of Agreement, establishing full church fellowship with three Reformed churches: the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church of America and the United Church of Christ. The three Reformed churches already endorsed the agreement. In a solemn service on October 4,1998 in Chicago the fellowship was sealed. Twenty-five years earlier, a similar agreement was made between Lutheran and Reformed churches in Europe: the Leuenberg Concord. Now, adopted by over a hundred churches, it is a factor in the life of European Protestantism today, which cannot be ignored. A few years ago, the Methodist churches in Europe also joined the Leuenberg fellowship. Both in Europe and in the United States the doors of fellowship are thus opened. The Lutheran and Reformed churches are ready to recognize each other in the full sense of Christian churches, and to work together on this basis. What does this mean for the two Christian world communions - the Lutheran World Federation and World Alliance of Reformed Churches? Don’t they also have to think of closer cooperation? Debrecen went even further than this. It recommended that in the future the two organizations should prepare and hold their General Assemblies jointly. In Geneva, at the end of October, at the invitation of the John Knox International Reformed Centre, a seminar was held on the possibilities of cooperation. The two world organizations must also make their contribution, so that the fellowship of the churches of the Reformation can find expression that is more visible. If there are ever to be joint General Assemblies, work in common must begin now. The question also arises whether the two world bodies could not do together certain parts of the work, which today they do separately. There is no shortage of possibilities! Lukas Vischer Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches EASTER VISION The prominent presence of women throughout the story of the trial, crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus has given Christian women the courage and boldness to forge ahead in God’s mission despite the limitations that some churches continue to impose on women. Jesus started his ministry by calling Jewish males to follow him, but as the story unfolds, he gradually begins to welcome all irrespective of their social status, gender, ethnicity and religion. The huge crowds that followed and listened to his preaching and teaching included all kinds of people, among them women and children. In Debrecen, we were reminded that these followers created a new community with a new focus on relationship in Jesus Christ, which Paul described in Greek as koinonia. This new community continued to spread the Gospel of the risen Christ, which was first witnessed by the female disciples. There was nothing like this community before, which led the early church to create a baptismal formula that explained the nature of its existence: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus”. (Gal 3.25-28, NRSV.) (From the “Update” of WARC) RENEWING HOPE The youth of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba got together in August for the summer camps, which are held every year in the province of Villa Clara. In order to ensure better participation, the campers were divided into two age groups: those between 15 and 18 took part in a camp from August 10-14, while those between 19 and 28 participated in a camp the following week. These annual encounters are aimed at teaching the youth how to worship our Lord in a different way, taking advantage of the fact that the campsite is in a rural area. They are truly a unique experience. Bringing together young people from all the presbyteries of Cuba (Havana, Matanzas and the Centre) is very moving. There is a fine spirit of communion and the presence of the Lord becomes apparent in our reformed work. We dealt with such subjects as the books of the Hebrew canon, analyzed in detail the biblical passage Mt 9.35-10.4, which is the theme of our church, discussed the participation of youth in the field of work in both secular and church life, and took part in folk-dancing from different regions of the world. The voice of Cuban presbyterian youth truly made itself heard in the year of 1998, putting into practice the maxim: “Ecclesia reformata sed semper reformanda” O M Turcaz (From the “Update” of WARC)
