Bethlen Évkönyv, 1993-1996 (Ligonier)
Zoltán D. Szücs: Our churches and our federation
were the twins of the same mother: the American-Hungarian Reformed necessity of survival and strength. As The Reverend Sándor Harsanyi so aptly expressed it: The Church and the Federation are one. They are both for our people. Every church member and pastor must work for both, for the Federation is the only church-society organization for us. (American-Hungarian Reformed Journal, Year 1, No. 26.) On this gathering at the parsonage in Pittsburgh, the “magnificent six” decided to call together an organizing meeting in Trenton, New Jersey, for July 4, 1896, in order to implement this American-Hungarian Reformed dream. They also became the midwives of the historical recommendation which made the birth of these Siamese twins — the Synod and the Federation — possible. The succinct text of this recommendation states: “It is not enough to organize congregations. There is a need for a fraternal federation. A strong link between the churches and the brethren, to hold together the faithful and the churches, to practice charity, to nurture the faith. — Church life is a man with only one arm, if there is no Federation, a fraternal institution, which helps the churches in their initial difficulties, and support their members, widows, orphans and downtrodden. Good work is possible only with two arms, otherwise we fall apart like an unbound sheaf, if we do not unite under the flag of our Federation, where we have to fight together for the actualization of that noble goal, that the Kingdom of God may be built up amongst us.” (Dr. Zoltán Beky, op.cit. Page 10.) The clarion call, of this well-thought-out recommendation to unite, had a far resounding echo among the Hungarian Reformed brethren in America. On July 4-5, 1896, in Trenton, New Jersey, The Reverend Ferenc Ferenczy and Pal Fuzy from Pittsburgh; The Reverend Gabor Dokus and Pal Szabó from South Norwalk-Bridgeport; The Reverend Bertalan Demeter and Emil Nyitray from New York; The Reverend Gusztáv Jurányi and István Czimbalmos from Trenton; The Reverend Sándor Kalassay and István Pásztor from Mt. Carmel unanimously declared the organization of the Synod and of the Federation. (1896-1921. The History of Twenty-Five Years of the Operation of The Hungarian Reformed Federation of America by Reverend 84
