On the first day, attending clergy will listen to a speaker about church revitalization before they discuss the topic, while on the second day they will talk about the preparations for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation at the Niagara Falls in 2017.
If you take the word, revitalization and look it up in the dictionary you will find its definition as to give life to or to give new vitality. In a church’s context it is about looking for new ways to bring people of the community together. Church revitalization is about bringing a fresh meaning into service and servitude today; it is about making the Word of God practical and useful in people’s everyday lives. In a sense the topic church revitalization is connected to the protestant reformation very much, yet leaders of the church seem to work on dividing our churches and the faithful by organizing an expensive anniversary celebration of the Reformation at the Niagara Falls. In 2013 all of our churches were invited to the Niagara Falls to take part of a Diaspora Conference, which only proved to be beneficial for the Hungarian government as a public relationship stunt.
This year I urge my brothers and sisters in the cloak to be wiser, honest and loving to God and to their congregations. Do not support another senseless gathering at the Niagara Falls. Let us not be blinded to see the big problems that we all face together in our small congregations. Let us encourage each other to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation by bringing the faithful together locally and pray to God that our churches can celebrate the 600th anniversary with the true value of the Word of God, that should be reflected on us by our service in the local parishes where we serve, not on government official’s notepads in Hungary.
With love in Christ,
Rev. Tamas Devecseri
If you take the word, revitalization and look it up in the dictionary you will find its definition as to give life to or to give new vitality. In a church’s context it is about looking for new ways to bring people of the community together. Church revitalization is about bringing a fresh meaning into service and servitude today; it is about making the Word of God practical and useful in people’s everyday lives. In a sense the topic church revitalization is connected to the protestant reformation very much, yet leaders of the church seem to work on dividing our churches and the faithful by organizing an expensive anniversary celebration of the Reformation at the Niagara Falls. In 2013 all of our churches were invited to the Niagara Falls to take part of a Diaspora Conference, which only proved to be beneficial for the Hungarian government as a public relationship stunt.
This year I urge my brothers and sisters in the cloak to be wiser, honest and loving to God and to their congregations. Do not support another senseless gathering at the Niagara Falls. Let us not be blinded to see the big problems that we all face together in our small congregations. Let us encourage each other to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation by bringing the faithful together locally and pray to God that our churches can celebrate the 600th anniversary with the true value of the Word of God, that should be reflected on us by our service in the local parishes where we serve, not on government official’s notepads in Hungary.
With love in Christ,
Rev. Tamas Devecseri
