Calvin Synod Herald, 1987 (87. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)
1987 / 3. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD-2 — REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 49th Annual Meeting of the Calvin Synod Fifty delegates and about 30 guests gathered in Ligonier, PA for the 49th Annual Meeting of the Calvin Synod on May 19-21, 1987. We were honored by the presence and greetings of distinguished leaders of our church life. The Bishop of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America, Dr. Andrew Harsanyi, set the stage of the meeting by his opening devotion and greetings. The joint editors of their official journal, Rev. István Torok and Rev. Gabor Nitsch, were with us, as well as Rev. Lajos Illés, who delivered the official greetings of the HRCA. The President of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, Rev. Imre Bertalan; the President of the American Hungarian Foundation, Rev. August J. Molnár; the Administrator of the Bethlen Home, Rev. Paul Kovács; the Curator of the Archives, Rev Zoltán Kovács; President Emeritus of the Calvin Synod, Dr. Stephen Szabó; the representative of our Hungarian Presbyterian Churches in America, Rev. Al exander Jalso; President Emeritus of the William Penn Association, Mr. Elmer Charles; and Conference Minister of the Penn West Association, Dr. Paul West coat., were amongst those bringing official greetings, and sharing their wisdom and experience at our meeting. Wednesday night the Synod banquet honored the faithful and dedicated service and the manifold creative contributions of Dr. Stephen Szabó, joyfully celebrating the 60th anniversary of his ordination to his holy ministry. It was very uplifting to witness the anecdotes and mosaics that mirrored the numberless contributions and constructive leadership ability of a rich and imaginative ministry and service in the lives of our Hungarian Reformed Churches in America through the unfolding life story of Dr. Stephen Szabó. It was also election time. The Nominating Committee presented the following for offices of the Conference Council: Rev. Zoltán Király, of Passaic, NJ for bishop; Dr. László Medyesy of Wallingford, CT for auxiliary bishop; Dr, Zoltán Szucs of Lorain, OH for general secretary; Rev. Paul Kantor of Columbus, OH for treasurer; and also from Columbus, Mrs. Irma Y. Carnevale as Synod Presbyter. They were unanimously elected. The swearing in oath was administered by Dr. Stephen Szabó, President Emeritus of our Synod. Befittingly delegates and guests took part in a divine worship and Holy Communion of our Lord, in the Bethlen Chapel. In his preaching Bishop Király eloquently called our attention to our mandate to serve. Members of the Conference Council and the Deans of our four Classes conducted the service and served Communion. Due to the resignation of Paul Kantor as editor of the Calvin Synod Herald the Rev. Kalman K. Ludwig was elected as editor. Rev. Kantor promised to publish the third issue yet, and help the new editor to prepare the August issue. Each year representatives to the Board of Directors of the Bethlen Home are elected from the four Classes. Based on their contributions the following churches will have representation on the Board: Hungarian Reformed Church of So. Norwalk, CT from the Eastern Classis, New Covenant U.C.C of McKeesport, PA from the Central Classis, West Side Hungarian Reformed Church of Cleveland, and the Hungarian Reformed Church of Lorain, both from Ohio and from the Lakeside Classis. From the Western Classis our Norridge church, (Chicago, IL) was elected to send representative to the Bethlen Home Board. We have also taken a giant step toward uniting our Hungarian Reformed Churches in North America. The Synodical Counci l proposed four recommendations for implementation, presenting them to our sister church the Hungarian Reformed Church in America: 1. Both judicatories would recognize and grant full ministerial standing to every pastor in each other's judicatory. Details should be worked out by a joint committee. 2. The establishment of a joint Church and Ministry Committee of the two church bodies, with standard requirements for examinations of ministers. 3. Combined issues of the Church papers (Magyar Egyház and Reformátusok Lapja) for Easter and Christmas this year, with the intent of eventually creating a permanent joint publication for the use of both church bodies. 4. Coordination of domestic and foreign mission projects by the existing Church Uniting Mission Committee. Secretary, Dr. Szucs, presented the above four points in his report and Bishop Király also underlined and emphasized these steps in his
