Calvin Synod Herald, 1986 (86. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1986-06-01 / 3. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

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REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA--- PETER P. BODOR ORDAINED __Ä

At the Hungarian Reformed Church of Flint, Michigan, Peter P. Bodor was ordained on June 15th. Present were Bishop Zoltán Király of the Calvin Synod and Bishop Dezső Abraham of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America and the following other clergymen: Rev. László Cserháti, Rev. Kalman Ludwig, Rev. Victor Orth, Rev. József Posta, Rev. József Szirmay, Rev. Zsolt Takacs and the celebrant Rev. Peter P. Bodor.

Following the ordination service at which both bishops preached Rev. Bodor was installed and a banquet was held.

At the ordination and installation celebration, that took place during the evening hours, Rev. Bodor expressed his thanks to God, to his parents, to the leaders of the Calvin Synod and the members of the Flint congregation for the support they had given him during his studying and during his ministry.

Peter Pal Bodor was bom on August 21, 1959 in Arad, Transylvania, Romania. His father, Rev. László Bodor, a Reformed Minister, and his mother, Albinka, were serving in Ant (Bihar County, Rom.) at his time of birth. He is the second of the three children; his older brother, Zoltán András, and his sister, Albinka.

In 1961 his family moved to Bodofalva (Temes County), where Peter entered school in 1966. He had completed three years when in 1969 the family moved to Nagyzerind (Arad County), and he continued his schooling there until 1972. In those three years Peter was very fortunate to live in a rural area with all the benefits the country offers a young boy.

In 1972 his father was offered the pastoral position at the Arad-Gaj Church. He accepted the position after considering the educational opportunities which would be available to his children. In Arad Peter completed elementary school and began and completed High School, from which he graduated by receiving his Baccalaureate Diploma in 1978.

During the years at Arad, Peter was confirmed and, thus, able fully to participate in Church Life. The Bible Hours had a tremendous effect on him and awoke in him the longing to learn more about God and the Bible. This longing strengthened his resolution to serve as an ordained minister of God.

In the Summer of 1978, as a result of a successful admittance test, Peter enrolled as a fulltime student at the Kolozsvár United Protestant Theological Seminary. However, he could not begin his studies until 1979 because he was drafted to complete an abbreviated soldier’s training program. The Kolozsvár United Protestant Theological Seminary is a four-year (8 sem.) program, of which he completed three full years having passed all his exams successfully. During his years as a theologian, as a result of seminary life based on the examples of the Holy Bible, Peter gained a strong insight into the responsibilities of a minister. Those years will always remain for him a joyous and treasured memory.

In the Fall of 1982, Peter accompained his parents on a trip to Western Europe on official church business. They did not return to RoUean Kalman Ludwig and Bishop Zoltán Király are conducting the service of ordination for Peter P. Bodor. Sitting in the background are Rev. József Sirmay and Bishop Dezső Abraham.

^ Bishop Zoltán Király welcomes the newly installed Rev. Peter Bodor as Dean Kalman Ludwig watches in the background.

Pastors enjoying the hospitality of the Hungarian Reformed Church of Flint, MI during the ordination and installation banquet of Rev. Peter P. Bodor.

mania. After spending eight months at a refugee camp in Austria, they arrived in the United States on March 22, 1983.

Peter’s goal to finish his seminary program was delayed because he first had to learn the English language; therefore, he went to study it on a university level for two semesters. After learning it acceptably, he was formally accepted by the Ashland Theological Seminary (Ohio) as one of their fulltime students in September of 1984. He fully completed his studies in December of 1985, and received his Master

of Divinity diploma on May 24, 1986. Before this, however, he was examined by the Committee on Church and Ministry of the Calvin Synod and found qualified to seek ministerial status in the Calvin Synod, Conference of U.C.C. This gave him the right to serve as a student pastor first at Roebling Hungarian Reformed Church (NJ), and since December 1, 1985, due to the official invitation of the Hungarian Reformed Church of Flint, he has been fulfilling the minister’s position of that congregation.