Calvin Synod Herald, 2014 (115. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2014-07-01 / 7-8. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 11 Mission Trip to Australia Hungarian Reformed Ministers from Australia who attended the Diaspora Conference of the North American and Australian Hungarian Reformed Churches in Niagara Falls in April, 2013 invited me to visit their congregations in Australia to nurture a good relationship with Calvin Synod and the United Church of Christ. Since 2000 they have invited many bishops and church leaders including Bishop Kálmán Csiha, Bishop László Tőkés, Bishop Lóránt Hegedűs, Bishop Géza Erdélyi, and Bishop Gustáv Bölcskei. The Hungarian Reformed Church in Australia serves mostly Hungarian immigrants and is organized into four church synods. Their worship services are mostly in Hungarian and in English. On my visit there this spring, I had the opportunity to preach and serve Holy Communion on Good Friday at the Hungarian Reformed Church of Australia, NSW District in Sydney. During the service I taught a new hymn to the children in the church. I had the pleasure of staying with the Kicsi family and enjoyed the hospitality of a Hungarian Australian family. The next day I visited the St. Elizabeth Hungarian Nursing Home with Rev. Kund Peterffy, where I met with the residents, family members, and staff. On Easter Sunday, I preached and served Holy Communion along with the pastor, Rev. Csaba Dezsi, in Melbourne, Victoria. We visited the Arpad Home on Easter Monday and I preached and served Holy Communion to the residents, guests, and staff. I was also interviewed by the local Hungarian television station. The following week was dedicated to the annual ministerial meeting of the Hungarian Reformed Ministers of Australia on the Bishop Póznán and Rev. Csaba Dézsi in Melbourne, Victoria Gold Coast. Each minister had the opportunity to lead the morning devotions. I was asked to lecture and to provide information about the ministry of Calvin Synod and the United Church of Christ. We compared our liturgy and our service to our brethren living in the diaspora, and shared theological issues about our ministry. Rev. Lőrinc Kovács invited me to preach at his congregation in Brisbane, Queensland and on the Gold Coast on April 27th. He also serves as the honorary Consul of Hungary. The next day we visited the Hungarian Senior Citizen’s Club and met with the leaders of the Hungarian Freedom Fighters Association. I greeted them and prayed at their luncheon and program. I was pleased to meet with Rev. Attila Szabó from Adelaide, So. Austrialia and to learn about his ministry, congregation, and the larger Hungarian community. All of the ministers I met in Australia expressed great respect and appreciation to their mentor, the late Bishop Kalman Csiha, who encouraged all of them to take their mission seriously and with the utmost dedication in the Hungarian communities in Australia. Overall, I was enriched by my Australian colleagues’ love and collegiality and I am thankful to their families for their hospitality. I would like to express my appreciation to Rev. Dr. James Moos, Executive Minister for Wider Church Ministries and Co-executive for Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ, for the generous financial support to make this mission trip possible. The Australian ministers showed genuine interest in our lives and ministry in Calvin Synod, UCC. It is my hope that the relationship between our two church bodies will be strengthened and nurtured in the future. Bishop Béla Póznán With Rev. Lőrinc Kovács Hon. Consul of Hungary In Brisbane, Queensland Hungarian Reformed Church of Australia, NSW District in Sydney
