Calvin Synod Herald, 1986 (86. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1986 / 4. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD — 4 — REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA MANVILLE, NJ How does an American of Norwegian, Irish and Swiss German ancestry, born and bred on the West Coast and raised in the Presbyterian church, find his way to Manwille, NJ, to the Magyar Reformed Church of Manville? Although I have been asked that question more times than I can count I’m not sure that I’ve ever properly reflected on it and come up with a coherent answer to satisfy my questioners or myself. Now as I consider this I can see that God has led me here to Manville; I did not find my own way here. Furthermore, God’s leading has been gentle and gradual, so much so, that now it seems quite natural to be pastor of a Hungarian Reformed church. I was brought up in the Presbyterian church in Portland, Oregon. At the age of fifteen I made an adult confession of faith in Jesus Christ. Although I had always been interested in the world; geography and social studies were my favorite school subjects and I often dreamed of world travel, only now did my view of the world begin to broaden to include the church and what it means to be a Christian in other parts of the world. The countries of Eastern Europe, those behind the so-called Iron Curtain, interested me the most. I read everything I could find on the subject. At that time, however, Hungary was nothing more than one country among many in Eastern Europe. When 1 entered Lewis and Clark College in 1974,1 had no idea what I wanted to be or even what I would study, but I soon discovered I had a love and a penchant for foreign languages. 1 had taken French in high school but had not enjoyed it much. My first term at Lewis and Clark 1 took New Testament Greek. I thrilled to the study of John’s Gospel in the original language. The next quarter I enrolled in French class hoping to resurrect what little I had retained from high school. Soon 1 was hooken on foreign languages. The next year I studied German which was to become my favorite language. A little Russian and Hebrew followed. I couldn’t seem to get enough of foreign languages. My final year of college I spent in Munich, West Germany, studying German and literature. I also became active in a German Lutheran church and gradually came to see that God was calling me to the ordained ministry. From the beginning of my plans for seminary I was sure I would be preparing for mission work. I had loved living abroad, learning languages, adjusting to different cultures. In choosing a seminary, therefore, it seemed wise to opt for the school whose mission department was the strongest. I narrowed my choices to two: Gordon—Conwell Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary. I visited both and liked them equally well. I knew friends studying at both schools who gave them each the highest recommendation. Gordon—Conwell had a fabulous mission department, one of the best in the country. Princeton was famous for its history of missionary involvement, but now it seemed to have no mission department at all. Oddly enough, when the time came to choose where I would do my seminary education, I felt God calling me to Princeton. The impulse was too strong to resist and in the fall of 1980 I began my studies in Princeton. Thank God 1 was obedient to his call! Only after a year of study did I discover that Princeton hosts a student from Hungary each year. I became good friends with one such student through whom Hungary became a unique and fascinating country for me. He suggested I go to Budapest to study for a year following my graduation from Princeton, a suggestion the seminary wholeheartedly supported. In my senior year 1 met my wife-to-be, Cindy, a first year student at the Seminary, who enthusiastically agreed to postpone her final two years at Princeton to spend our first married year together in Hungary. It was a wonderful year for us. We studied the language and attended lectures at the Reformed Seminary in Budapest, the Raday Collegium. Weekends we travelled around Hungary preaching in many churches. The Hungarian pastors who invited us to visit them were very generous in allowing both Cindy and me to preach in their churches. We preached over twenty times throughout Hungary, always in the Hungarian language. Though our Hungarian language ability was limited and our sermon composition rather primitive, we felt that the central message God was leading us to proclaim would be best conveyed in the people’s own language: we are one in Christ. Across all barriers of geography, language, culture and politics we are all brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. It was with great reluctance that we left Budapest in the summer of 1984. We had made many wonderful friends whom we would miss very much. But Cindy still had two years to complete her M. Div. at Princeton and it was time for me to look for work. I had come to see that God was calling me to parish ministry. Why should’t I seek to use my experience in Hungary in an American Hungarian Reformed Church? Was there perhaps a position open within commuting distance of Princeton? I am slowing learning never to doubt God’s leading. Manville is just 25 minutes north of Princeton! Manville’s church had been without a regular pastor for almost a year when I began serving there in September 1984. The process I underwent to become pastor of the Magyar Reformed Church of Manville, was not easy but God was faithful at every step and the Presbyterian Church and the Hungarian Reformed Church were both very understanding. I remain a Presbyterian minister, serving within the bounds of the Presbytery of New Brunswick, Presbyterien Church (USA), in the Calvin Synod Conference of the United Church of Christ. Two years have passed since I began in Manville. Cindy has now finished her degree in Princeton and has received a call as interim pastor at the Englishtown Presbyterian Church, a 45 minute commute from Manville. For me these two years in Manville have been among the most rewarding and exciting of my life. I am privileged to preach twice on Sundays, once in English and once in Hungarian. We are a small growing congregation (74 members). Our Hungarian service members are much fewer in number than those of the English service, but they are steady and faithful servants of Jesus Christ. Our ten to twenty members who regularly attend Hungarian service are incredibly patient with this nonnative Hungarian speaker. I sense their love and support at every turn. One member volunteered to check my Hungarian sermons each week for proper grammar and word usage. I am very grateful to him as I believe my Hungarian has steadily improved. I’m thankful to God for the way in which he has led me to Manville. It is not a road I could have dreamed I would follow, but God in his infinite knowledge and wisdom, has faithfully led me along it. The joy and excitement I have derived from serving in Manville surpass description. I thank God for the past two years and look forward with expectation to the years which lie yet ahead, } Steven G. P. Strickler * Editorial note: The above article was written at our request to introduce Steven Strickler's life story to our readers.
