Bethlen Naptár, 1985 (Ligonier)
Az Amerikai Református Egyházban
218 BETHLEN NAPTÁR SOUTH RIVER, NJ Pastor: Daniel James Meeter Tiszteletbeli örökös lelkipásztor: Varga Emil. Chief Elder and Vice President: Charles Brilla. We entered 1984 in very good spirits, thanks to our 80th Anniversary which was run by Elder and Mrs. Daniel Kish. At our Anniversary Worship Service we published the new logo of our “Rooster Church,” donated by our beloved artist, Joseph Csatari. Dr. Howard Hageman of New Brunswick Seminary preached on “The Power of the Lamb,” from the Revelation. The centerpiece of our Anniversary Dinner-Dance was a uniqe “Church-Cake” donated by local baker Stanley Magéira and eaten by the congregation. The whole celebration gave us all a big boost. In February we contracted to have our sanctuary completely repainted, revarnished, and refurbished. After two months of worship in the basement we were thrilled to return upstairs for our Homecoming Service which was led by the Consistory. The pastor’s wife gave us a new hymn for the occasion, using the church’s motto and the tune for “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”: Wake up, wake up, Christ is coming; Sleepers, rise up from the dead. Christ, the light, on you is dawning, Would you choose this death instead? Christ who shakes you longs to way you, Dangers great surround your bed. Wake up, you in sin now sleeping, Hurry, for the night is gone. Grace has lit the earth for ages, Come and great God’s brilliant dawn. Wake up, children of the darkness, Christ the Lord of Light has come. In June we held a one-day retreat for all past and present Consistory when we discussed how we should lead the church to a strong ninetieth birthday. The Consistory’s Every Member Visitation has gone too slowly, but we have now set January 1, 1985, as our target date. After that, we will start a long-range planning commission. On Easter the pastor completed his sixteen-month sermon-series on Luke and began a six-month series on Genesis, with Exodus to follow. In July we began our first-ever Sunday Adult Bible Class after worship, and it is going strong. We confirmed one young man, Robert Johnson, on Pentecost. Our joint Reformed/Episcopal Youth Group raised over $1,000 for World Vision hunger relief by enduring a thirty-hour fest. We all used our Love-Loaves again, and we will add a new CROPwalk to our list of social benevolences. Sunday School continues to suffer from shrinking enrollment and poor parental support. It is our next big project. We took a controversial
