Calvin Synod Herald, 1985 (85. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)
1985-02-01 / 1. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD — 3 — REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA Rev. Andrew Kosa, D.D. 1896-1984 and school. For 64 years he was a member of the New Brunswick Classis, Reformed Church of America. Upon retirement in 1963, Reverend and Mrs. Kosa did much traveling. Their son Ernest, was a Chaplain in the U.S. Army and they had occasion to visit with him and his family throughout Europe and the U.S. Even in retirement he served the Magyar Reformed Congregation of New Brunswick as their Pastor Emeritus and was the “substitute” for his son-inlaw, Rev. Imre Bertalan, who succeeded him as pastor of his beloved church. The fifty-nine year marrige ended upon the sudden death of Mrs. Kosa in 1980. From then on, Reverend Kosa lived for his six grand-children and especially the four great grand-children who became the center of his life. His home at Lake Hopatcong became the focal point for the family. Truly he was a man of God — lawyer, counselor, listener, helper, friend to anyone who needed him. We thank God for his life and for what he has meant to each of us. Th e Kosa family came through Ellis Island from Tiszaszalka, Hungary in 1905 and joined the father who was working in the iron mines in Wharton, NJ. Andrew the 9 year old child fit easily into the life in the town. The local pastor noted that he was studious and arranged a scholarship for him in Bloomfield Academy in preparation for Bloomfield College and Seminary, Bloomfield, NJ. Upon graduation in May, 1920, he received a call from the Manville, NJ church. In January, 1921 he married Margaret Blum. Two of their three children were born while at the Manville church — Ernest Martin and Lillian. Margaret was born in New Brunswick. In September, 1925 the family moved to the Magyar Reformed Church of New Brunswick where he ministered for 38 years. During this time he continued to serve the Manville congregation for 25 additional years. In 1925 the congregation consisted of about forty families and there was a $28,000 debt. The work of gathering the families of the church together was started slowly but surely. The young pastor and his wife immediately organized the Sunday School, Nőegylet and Christian Endeavor societies. Summers were spent with the children of the entire community learning about God, learning to read and write in Hungarian and learning folk songs and handcrafts. Truly, the church was not only the spiritual but also the social center for the Hungarian families of New Brunswick, and he was the pastor of the flock. During the war he was active with the Hungarian Defense Council which kept in touch with the servicemen of the community. After the war, he assisted those who fled from Hungary. The church was remodeled in 1946 and the pulpit was moved from the side wall to its present location. The stained glass windows were donated and the congregation rededicated its sanctuary. In 1958 the pipe organ was purchased and the educational wing was completed in 1960. In 1956-57 he once again helped with the re-settlement of the large influx of Hungarians who came to the area. He was a sponsor for countless members of those desiring citizenship. For many years he was the chaplain at the County Jail. In 1955 Bloomfield College and Seminary conferred the Doctor of Divinity degree on Andrew Kosa for his Christian service to his church, community DR. HERBSTER DIED DAYTON, OH - The Rev. Dr. Ben Mohr Herbster, 80, first president of the 1.7 million member United Church of Christ, died at Kettering Memorial Hospital on December 16th from complications following a recent operation. A “pastor’s pastor” who fortuitously combined the spiritual zeal of a preacher with the down-to-earth requisites of an administrator, Dr. Herbster played a key role in negotiations that led to the formation of the United Church of Christ. The Rev. Dr. Avery D. Post, president of the United Church of Christ, characterized Dr. Herbster as “a quiet, resolute man whose pastoral and diplomatic skills made him the perfect individual to knit together the diverse and often complicated elements in the United Church of Christ. He was determined that the new church he helped form would be dedicated to carrying out the biblical directive to be the servant of the poor, the ill, the unjustly-imprisoned and the dispossessed people of the world.” “He dedicated his own ministry to these services and to being a wise counselor to his brother and sister ministers,” Dr. Post remembered. “He was also a firm, competent leader. Without his guidance, the United Church of Christ in its formative years might have been unable to overcome the differences in beliefs and church practices that had to be reconciled to make the denomination a whole. We bless Ben Herbster’s memory and are thankful for his services,” Dr. Post stated. Formed in 1957 by union of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the church is today one of the most progressive “mainline" Protestant denominations. The union represented the first time in American religious history that two denominations from distinctly different backgrounds and church polities were united to form a single church. The Evangelical and Reformed Church with a modified presbyterian form of government, came out of the German Reformation, while the Congregational Christian Churches had their religious roots in the Pilgrim and Puritan settlers of New England, each congregation being independently governed. Dr. Herbster had been minister of the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church in Norwood, OH, for 30 years when he was elected the first president of the United Church at its constituting General Synod in 1961. He was re-elected to a second four-year term in 1965. He retired in 1969. Dr. Herbster was born in Prospect, OH on Aug. 26, 1904. He graduated from Heidelberg College, Tiffin, OH, in 1926 and Eden Theological Seminary, Webster Groves, MO, in 1929. He was ordained that year in the Reformed Church in the U.S.A. Later he did graduate work at Ohio State University, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, and the Chicago Theological Seminary. Dr. Herbster held honorary degrees from five colleges. Ben Mohr Herbster 1904-1984
