'A task that's just begun' ran the slogan across the backdrop at the Victoria Palace theatre, London. An unusual theme, you might think, for a 50th anniversary meeting. But then, as one speaker said, 'Moral Re-Armament is an idea more relevant, more necessary for the next 50 years than it was in 1938.'
Fifteen hundred people came on 29 October to a morning meeting followed by an afternoon service of thanksgiving and dedication at St Margaret's Church, Westminster - the parish church of Parliament. Those who spoke in the morning included Georges Mesmin, a French Member of Parliament; Prof Robert Craig, former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and US Congressman Charles Bennett, who is one of the architects of the Arms Control Agency and Vice Chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Ambassador Chiba of Japan read a message to the meeting from the International MRA Association of Japan.
Some challenges for the future were presented through the morning. Geoffrey Lean, a leading environmental journalist, spoke of the prospect of a third of the world's cropland turning to dust, half the world's living species becoming extinct and 'the greatest change in the world's climate for at least 125,000 years as the Earth warms up through the greenhouse effect'.
Jim Lynn, from the Falls Road, West Belfast, spoke of the need to face what is dishonest and wrong in England's relationship with Ireland before each country could find their true destiny. Dr Ricardo Maiztegui, a lawyer from Buenos Aires, spoke of his bitterness after the South Atlantic war. He had refused to attend a conference where he might be asked to sit at the same table as British. Now he asked those present to forgive him for his hatred. He concluded, 'In 12 years we will enter a new millennium. Will we enter this new millennium carrying the hates and hurts of the past? I am convinced we shall not. It would be a great mistake. It would be sin.'
Young people spoke of their experiences of accepting the challenges God had put before them - experiences varying from accepting the gift of joy to combating racism.
The Marquis of Graham, a Scottish farmer and landowner, talked of the need for a change in food policy. Farmers in Britain, he said, were coming to terms with the fact that subsidized surpluses in the rich world were undermining the ability of Third World farmers to make a living.
Bill Jaeger chaired the original meeting in 1938 at which Frank Buchman launched the idea of Moral Re-Armament. Looking back, Jaeger said, 'What captured me when I first met Dr Buchman was his concept that the destiny of the ordinary man and woman is to be a re-maker of the world, which meant to face the truth about myself and my country and take responsibility.'
But the world today, he said, was more ready for these ideas than 50 years ago. 'Today the future of civilization is at stake. We are at a turning point.'
His words were echoed by Congressman Bennett. 'Frank Buchman,' he said, 'would never have planned this as a memorial service, he would have been looking forward to the future. The challenges are as great, if not greater, today as they were when he launched it.'
The afternoon service in St Margaret's was the central occasion in two weeks of events around Britain which amounted, as one speaker said, as much to a launching of something as to an anniversary.
In Liverpool, the Chairman of the City Council, Councillor Dorothy Gavin, gave a reception in honour of Moral Re-Armament's 50th anniversary. Allan Griffith, former foreign affairs adviser to Australian prime ministers, read a personal message to the Chairman from Jim Beggs, National President of the Waterside Workers Federation of Australia. 'Moral Re-Armament is a force that motivates people in a direction that favours not left at the expense of right, nor right at the expense of left - to fight on issues without favour,' it stated.
In Leeds, the Yorkshire Post commented on the fact that Dr Frederik Philips, former President of Philips Electrical Industries, had flown in especially to attend a lunch marking the anniversary, organized by a local industrialist, John Vickers. And in Cardiff, the Lord Mayor received overseas visitors in the City Hall before a public meeting. Other events took place in Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Wrexham. Kenya, Uganda and Taiwan also held anniversary meetings.
In Malaysia the occasion was marked by a musical revue which toured the country. Entitled 'Which Way Malaysia?', the show consisted of dances, songs and skits which aimed to put across a vision for the country.
