Bethlen Naptár, 1960 (Ligonier)
Bethlen Almanac
50 BETHLEN ALMANAC XL The churches worked diligently to maintain themselves. The hardship was especially felt during the 1930-33 depression years. A new generation grew up, those who were born in America and gradually even their children, the third generation. Most of the second generation still spoke the language of their mothers, but the third and fourth generation spoke only English. Churches introduced English services. Sunday School, young people work and many other organizational work is carried on in most churches entirely in English. Attempts were made between the two World Wars to unite all Hungarian churches in America. These gatherings in 1935-36 at Cleveland O., and Perth Amboy N.J., ended in failure. When the Rev. Alexander Daróczy was the archdean of the Free Magyar Reformed church (1939-45) these negotiations were revived and “an agreement for closer collaboration and organic union” on the Hungarian churches was prepared. Meetings on April 1st, 1940 in New Brunswick, N.J., April 3rd in Philadelphia, Pa., April 17th, 1947 Cleveland O., June 10th Carteret, N.J., July 1st Perth Amboy, N.J., and November 23rd, 1948 in Passaic, N.J., were all in vain. There were significant events in the life of the Hungarian churches especially when in 1922 the chair of Hungarian Studies was established in Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa., by the Reformed Church in the US, where the Rev. Alexander Tóth worked faithfully preparing students for the Christian ministery until 1936. From 1922 to 1929 the Dayton Central Theological Seminary also trained a few pastors. In 1939 another Hungarian chair was established in Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, 111., where the Rev. Barna Dienes, Rev. Dezső Parragh, and the Rev. August Molnár worked until 1959, when this was discontinued, because of the lack of interest and financial support by the Hungarian Churches in the Evangelical and Reformed Church. The Reformed Church in the US merged first with the Evangelical Synod of North America in 1934 and recently, the Evangelical & Reformed Church in the USA united with the Congregational Christian Church in 1957, thus forming the United Church of Christ. In 1939 the Hungarians were allowed to organize a Magyar Synod, with four classes, in which form the work is still carried on in the congregations. XII. THE BETHLEN HOME It is wonderful to see how Almighty God worked among the Hungarian churches. While the various denominations had much misunderstanding, there was one point in which they all agreed, when they unitedly built the BETHLEN HOME, an institution for
