Calvin Synod Herald, 1986 (86. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1986 / 4. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD — 6 — REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA TOLEDO, OH Dear Members and Friends of Calvin Church, On Sunday, August 3rd, 1 accepted the call to serve as associate pastor of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Allen Park, Michigan. My last Sunday as pastor of Calvin Church will be September 14th. We anticipate moving to Allen Park during the first week of October. It is difficult for us to say „good-bye” to you. As we prepared this letter of farewell, the third chapter of Ecclesiastes came to mind. This is the well known part of the Bible which reminds us that in this world there is a time for everything... „the time for birth, the time for death, the time for plantingand the time forpulling up”... To this Biblical list of „times” we would add: „the time to begin and the time to end.” Our beginnings together date back to July of 1979 when as a church family you welcomed a young, inexperienced pastor into your midst. As God’s people, you nurtured this pastor and you helped him to grow. As a congregation, you and he shared the joys and sorrows, the ups and downs of your lives and his. Together, as a church family, the pastor, his family and the congregation sought to be faithful to God’s call in sharing our faith and in serving Him. The ending comes after a rich, seven year journey together. We find ourselves blessed with many memories to share. We look back on a journey combining tradition and newness, a journey of both joy and pain... We look back on a journey of challenge and growth, a journey during which we were guided by the ever present Hand of God. Yes, „beginning” and „end” fit in well with the theme of Ecclesiastes 3... but let us remember the chapter’s most important message: „Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.” (vs. 1.) God chose to bring us together seven years ago and it is He that chooses to separate us now. And just as God nourished and sustained each of us before we began our journey together, so He will continue to be with us as our ways part. The Lord will bring to Calvin Church new pastoral leadership, and He will be with our family as we move on. In the weeks to come our family looks forward to thanking and saying good-bye to each of you more personally. And, Allen Park, of course, is not far from Toledo. We know that we will be seeing each other often during the years ahead. But regardless where the Lord leads us in the future, the people of Toledo will always be in our prayers and especially in our hearts. We thank you for your love and in closing we share with you ours Imre Bertalan Potential Headquarters Sites Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, St. Louis and New York have been chosen for further study as possible UCC headquarters, the committee charged with recommending a location for the church announced in July. The denomination is currently based in three places in New York City, with its headquarters—defined as the location of the church’s officers—at 105 Madison Avenue. It is expected that if the officers relocate, some of the other national units of the church will do so as well. The five cities chosen best meet criteria developed by the Committee on Location of National Headquarters, reports chair David J. Jamieson, Northern California Conference minister. They also were among the most frequent mentions in a survey in UNITED CHURCH NEWS returned by about 1,000 people. Chief among the criteria are: • Convenient and economic air transportation and good accessibility to the places where many UCC churches are found. • A workforce reflecting UCC diversity. • Existence of a full range of services. • Adequate space to house all the national church agencies together, should they decide to have offices in one place. • An attractive educational and cultural environment for staff and their families. The committee also mentioned cost as an important factor, including the price tag on office space and operations, financial and human costs of relocation, and cost of living. Long-term implications, symbolic significance, ecumenical relations and future growth were additional considerations. Use of the term „relocation” in considering costs does not mean New York is out of the running, the committee emphasized. In fact, preliminary survey results showed New York in front as an individual metropolitan area while the Midwest got the The Hunger Action Fund is a critical part of the United Church of Christ’s overall response to hunger and poverty in our nation and the world. By addressing a wide range of economic justice concerns, the UCC Hunger Action Fund ensures that we in the United Church of Christ are not failing to address the causes of hunger, particularly in the United States. The Hunger Action Fund supports necessary domestic efforts toward the alleviation of hunger and poverty — efforts that are not covered by ongoing contributions to Our Church’s Wider Mission or by the annual One Great Hour of Sharing offering, wmch supports agricultural development overseas. most support as a geographic region. It is possible, however, that if the national headquarters remains in New York, it will move, perhaps to a location where all the national bodies of the church can be housed together. Next step in the process is a thorough analysis of each of the potential headquarters cities. It will include visits to each city to assess its suitability for the offices’ needs plus cost studies on operations and relocation expenses for each place. In Oct., the committee will report to the Executive Council, which will make a recommendation to General Synod next year. Our gifts to the Hunger Action Fund provided grants totalling $115,000 in 1985 to 35 local or regional projects in the United States. In addition, a total of $52,000 in support was given to broadbased ecumenical efforts against hunger. By focusing on economic justice through public policy advocacy, community organizing, and economic development, the UCC Hunger Action Fund is working toward the only lasting solution to the problem of hunger. Please consider a generous gift to the Hunger Action Fund this year. UCC Hunger Action Fund (Keeping You Posted)
