Calvin Synod Herald, 2002 (103. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
2002-01-01 / 1-2. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 5 First Hungarian - Los Angeles Celebrates 75 th Year The Seventy-fifth Anniversary brought together Los Angeles area Hungarians of many denominations as the First Hungarian Church of Hawthorne observed the beginning of worship in the Magyar language in California, and founding of the congregation on August 1,1926. The Rev. Dr. Bela Bonis has served as the permanent part-time Minister since 1991. An Ecumenical Worship (Istentisztelet) was held on November 11th, 2001, closing out the jubilee year, with the Rt. Rev. Louis Medgyesi, Bishop of Calvin Synod tendering his sermons in both Hungarian and English. Local pastors of various faiths participated, much like the folk at the church’s organization. It was recorded that on that first day Reformed, Roman Catholic, Lutherans, and Hungarians of other faiths stood together at an Istentisztelet to sing - “Örül mi szívünk, mikor ezt halljuk: A templomba megyünk, Hol Istennek Szent Igéjét halljuk. ” Forty-two people of different faiths - “egy szívvel, egy lélekkel” -proclaimed the founding of the church. The entire church was filled beyond capacity for the celebration, seven other clergy joining the minister and the bishop, and two area choirs. Greetings were also tendered by the Hungarian Consul in Los Angeles, Mr. Szabolcs Kerek- Barczy; the UCC area’s Conference Minister, the Rev. Jane Heckles; and Mrs. Margaret Saltzer, former organist and Chief Elder, daughter of a former pastor, who played the organ for the occasion. A buffet followed in the new social hall. The Beginnings The first attempt to organize a Hungarian Reformed congregation in the Los Angeles area was commenced in 1924 by the Rev. István Csepke, who had brought with him 125 hymnals. He left after only seven months, but left the musical treasure behind, part of the foundation to come. Following WWI most Hungarian Reformed congregations were aligned, by the Reformed Church of Hungary and the “Tiffin Agreement,” with the Reformed Church in the United States (formerly German Reformed). This church saw the opportunity to plant a church and challenged Albert Hady, who had come to Buffalo, NY five years earlier. Upon arriving in 1925 he scoured the area for Hungarian sounding names, attended the Hungarian Soccer Club meeting and the Hungarian Workers’ Group gatherings, frequenting any location to meet other Hungarians. The seminarian collected a group for Sunday worship, but with summer’s end he had to return to Hungary to complete ministerial studies. A former Elder from the Buffalo church now living in L.A. was encouraged and, with 42 individuals, made young Albert Hady promise to return. They also petitioned the Home Mission Board of the Reformed Church U.S. to help establish and sustain a Hungarian church - and, of course, Albert Hady as the pastor. The request was granted, and in June 1926, the Rev. Albert Hady, returned with degree in hand to fulfill his promise to the people he left behind, and former Elder from Buffalo, Janos Decsman, the new church’s first Chief Elder. Growing Years Women’s, Bible Study and Youth groups were very quickly established, and soon after a church newspaper and choir. For the first four years the congregation worshipped rent free at an English-speaking Reformed church. They then bought a group of buildings on Florence Avenue in the city, which became their home for 61 years. The Rev. Hady spent twenty years building the congregation, nurturing Magyar culture and the Reformed faith, until his retirement in 1945. The challenge was taken up by the Rev. Antal Szabó, who served for twenty-four years until his retirement in 1969. A tremendous leader and person of great faith, he inspired the congregation to build on its earlier foundations: Építsünk továbbra is arra a fundamentumra, hogy életünkre áldás, Isten nevére dicsőség térjen!” His personal visits were a strong point of his ministry, as was his meticulous record keeping. Changing Years The pulpit was entered then by the Rev. Gyula Paal, whose twelve year ministry was marked by great changes in the constituency, moving to the city’s distant suburbs, with a loss of younger members to churches there. Retiring in 1981, he was succeeded by the Rev. Sándor Patocs, whose five year tenure was affected similarly, and he departed in 1987. Several supply or guest pastors filled the pulpit for the next four years. In 1991 the Rev. Bela Bonis, a college instructor, became the church’s pastor. The current Chief Elder, Tünde Garai, who provided the information for this history, aptly declares: “He has provided our congregation with the stability that it has needed to keep going... Our congregation would like to express our deep gratitude to Dr. Bela Bonis for his past work and the stability that he has given our group for these eleven years.” The original group of buildings that the early congregation bought, and improved upon so many times over the decades, was sold in 1987 under tremendously distressing circumstances. After the sale, worship services were held for six years in a small upstairs room of a UCC sister church. The entire congregation, but especially the new Chief Elders Mrs. Margaret Saltzer and Dr. Bela Biro, worked incredibly hard to keep the congregation together. The began a persistent search for a new home. After five seemingly endless years of viewing countless church properties, in May of 1992 Chief Elder Biro found a place. The congregation is convinced that God cut the asking price in half to make it affordable. The Present Years In the last nine and one-half years in Hawthorne, the church has recently asserted its belief in its future by adding a brand new Fellowship Hall. It has just re-carpeted and repainted most of the church’s interior. It breaks bread regu(eontinued on page 8)
