Bethlen Almanac 1998 (Ligonier)
Tóparti Egyházmegye - Lakeside Classis
Dohányos, was honored for the outstanding leadership of his half a century presidency. He received the homage of a standing ovation with tears in his eyes. On October 11 th, we solemnly installed our new Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Louis Medgyesi, in the Hungarian Reformed Church of Fairport Harbor, Ohio. More than two dozen of our members were present at this uplifting celebration and our Pastor was honored to preach the English Sermon entitled “Primus Interpales.” Our Pastor preached the Gospel 223 times during 1998. In 90 English, in 69 Hungarian and in 2 combined Worship Services he proclaimed the saving grace of our Lord in our sanctuary. The power of love, both divine and human was uplifted in 6 marriage services. We testified to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and to our future hope of our life eternal in 24 funeral services. On 23 occasions, the word of God was proclaimed to set the tone for our consistory and organizational meetings, Christmas Celebrations and commemorative services. Our Pastor also witnessed and proclaimed the Gospel at 8 more occasions for meetings of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, the Congregational and consistory meetings of the Hungarian Reformed Church of Columbus, in the Hungarian Radio and at the Installation of Bishop Medgyesi. In the beginning of 1998, the Hungarian Reformed Church of Lorain, Ohio had 486 communicant members. During the year 14 of our faithful and dedicated members were born to new life, into God’s Kingdom. We also transferred the membership of 2 of our faithful, who moved to Nevada. Five of our youth dedicated themselves to the Lord in the solemn service of Confirmation of their baptismal vows. We also were enriched by 5 new members through letters of transfer and Reaffirmation of Faith. Thus, we closed the year of 1998 with 480 communicant members of our church. According to our mandate to baptize, we dedicated to our Lord 6 of our little ones in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. We also proclaimed the Lord’s death till He comes, gathering around his table in 9 English, 8 Hungarian and 2 combined Communion Services. Our Pastor conveyed the care and nurture of our congregation toward those of our members who were in nursing homes, shut-in or in sick beds in 101 take-out Holy Communions. The Pastor also faithfully visited our sick and shut-ins, did pre-marital and pre-baptismal counseling, as well as counseling in personal needs of 1615 individuals. 90
