Calvin Synod Herald, 1996 (96. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1996-09-01 / 5. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD AMERIKAI MAGYAR REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 7 -New Church Building of the Calvin Synod Dedicated The First Hungarian Reformed Church - Walton Hills, Ohio "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it will labor in vain" (Psalm 127.1) As you enter the new Sanctuary, you will pass under a ceramic mural depicting the Coat of Arms of our Hungarian Reformed Faith (Page 8) Dedication Worship Service Sunday, April 28, 1996 No feeling can be as delightful as the feeling of contentment as the time of a church dedication. This is the moment when we see, with naked eyes, a Dream to become reality, a Wonder to become an actuality. Our church in Cleveland was indeed the very first of our fold to be born on the American continent, 105 years ago. In the following scores of years it also became first in numbers and influence; the God-fearing people of the First Church turned out to be wondercreating people in the New Land across the sea. All that in the course of the most turbulent century of human history. You are the descendants of such ancestors, who built the house for the Lord before they built homes for themselves, and that with the burden of a double taxation. They paid mandatory taxes for their homes overseas, in which their wives and children lived, and voluntary contributions here for church they built. No wonder the neighbors surrounding the "Hungarian läge" exclaimed; "The Lord has done great things with them!" The Lord deed did! That is the reason to rejoice! In spite of ferocius tempests of this most destructive century they built four Temples of the Lord in six distinctive phases of construction. This is the "Cleveland Wonder"! This is what made Cleveland the "Magyar Debrecen", the fortress and center of magyar cultural life in America. Hundreds of flaming hearts merged into one link over and over again! Then came the succession of wonders: the wooden church, the stone church, Bethlen Hall, Great Church, the reunion of the First Hungarian Reformed Church and the First Magyar Presbyterian Church, the new Bethlen Hall and now the New Church. At this dedication of this new church, let new life enter into the souls of church. Let the Lord make us see the yet greater wonder; the coming of His Kingdom to this turbulent world; the Kingdom of never-ending Peace and Love! TT-
