Bethlen Naptár, 1986 (Ligonier)
Rév. Béla Bacsó’s 50th anniversary
296 BETHLEN NÁPTAR had the Sanctuary remodeled and redecorated, and had an Aeolian Pipe Organ installed in the sanctuary. During this pastorate Rev. Bacsó served as president of the Lakeside Classis of Magyar Synod and a synodical treasurer of Magyar Synod. After a period of 18 years, the Magyar United Church of Christ of Elyria, Ohio elected Rev. Bacsó to serve his second pastorate in the Church, starting in November of 1957, serving until his retirement from the active ministry in June, 1976, a total of 22 and a V2 years during the two pastorates. The church honored him with the title: “Pastor Emeritus.” Upon retirement from the active ministry, Rev. Bacsó served as “interim minister” in the following United Churches of Christ: Hungarian Reformed Church, Columbus, Ohio; North Ridgeville Congregational Church; Lorain Hungarian Reformed Church; Elyria Lake Avenue Congregational Church; St. Peter’s Church, Amherst, Ohio, a total of 58 months. He also preached in a number of other churches in Ohio and Michigan. During his twenty-two and a half years in the active ministry in Elyria, Rev. Bacsó has served as president of the Elyria Ministerial Association, president of the Greater Elyria Council of Churches; he is a 27 year member of the Elyria Kiwanis Club, having a 25 year perfect attendance record. He became president of the Club in 1965; served as general chairman of the New Elyria Library Fund Campaign, sponsored by the Elyria Kiwanis Club, raising a total of $227,000 toward a goal of $600,000 new library building on Washington Ave. (The present appraised value of the library is three and a half million dollars.) In 1969 Rev. Bacsó served as Lt. Governor of Div. 13 of the Ohio District of Kiwanis International. He and his wife Ida attended six Kiwanis International Conventions and seven Ohio District Conventions. He is a member of Frank S. Harmon Lodge 663, Free and Accepted Masons, and for the last seven years has been serving as chaplain of the Elyria Senior Fellowship Club. Rev. Bacsó also served on the Northeast Ohio Evangelical and Reformed Synodical Council, and attended a General Synod Meeting of the United Church of Christ in St. Louis, MO as a delegate. At the 1985 annual meeting of the Western Reserve Association held in Cleveland, OH Rev. Bacsó and wife Ida were honored by the Rev. Dr. Jacob Wagner, Association Minister, who presented him a certificate of recognition for his 50 years of pastoral services in the United Church of Christ.
