Magyar Egyház, 1964 (43. évfolyam, 3-9. szám)
1964-11-01 / 9. szám
20 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ activity. The youth of today is the future, the Elders of our Church, the people of our Church. Unless we hold the interest and the loyalty of these boys and girls they could drift away. We have gone a long way in the past 3 years but much better co-operation and co-ordination is needed. On the positive side let me mention our National B.Y.F. Conferences. Instead of boarding the young people in individual homes resulting in endless parties, we now have camp-conferences and they are real conferences. And the boys and girls like it. The first year we had less than 100 youngsters; the second year we had 120 and this year we had almost 150. Believe me, this is an excellent way to build our Churches and train our future leaders. Then what about the unification of church liturgy and church program? Wouldn’t it be nice if we visited in other churches of our denomination and we didn’t have to watch the person next to us to see what’s coming next? In other words: we should have the same order of worship, using the same hymn books. Bishop Beky greets the new officers of the Elders’ Association. Front row, left to right: Sándor Kiss, retiring president, Bishop Beky, John Marincsak president, Dr. Imre Nemethy vice-president; back row: Edward Erdie, chief elder of the Bethlehem Church, Lajos Hajos auditor, Alexander Chomos vice-president, Gyula Borcsik treasurer. Another very important thing is our Sunday School program — you see, I am back with the youngsters again. Training of Sunday School teachers — what an important thing! Our Church is a teaching Church — not because we are different but because this is the commission the Lord Jesus Christ gave! The 10 weeks course we had in the Eastern Classis last Spring was excellent. It must be repeated regularly. Here is another thing. We know that the Church has the answer to the vital questions of modern man as well as the standards for Christian man’s behavior in our modern society. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But we have to express it in modern terms so that our people can live by it and the world understand it. For this purpose we should have standing committees of elders and pastors who would jointly draw up the pronouncements of the denomination on contemporary issues and keep thm up to date. You will say: He hasn’t mentioned missions yet. I am not forgetting it. As a Church we want to grow. We want to expand. How should we do that? Try to take away members from the neighborhood Baptist or Methodist Church? That doesn’t seem to be the Christian way. Of course, we would like to see all mixed marriages stay with us. In some given situations we should be willing and ready to fulfill the need of a neighborhood church. But first of all let us go after all the unchurched Hungarian Reformed people in this country — believe me, there are thousands of them. There are many cities where new Hungarian Reformed Churches could be organized. For this we need zeal, we need money, we need endurance. But before all, we must have the conviction that our Church with its creed, with its traditions is one which is worthy of growth and expansion. And. of course, we should actively share the responsibility of a world wide mission program of the Church of Christ. For all this we must keep in mind that the Church does not belong to the ministers only. The Church is the body of Christ and we all are members of this body. This calls for an active — really active — participation of the laymen, a real leadership by the elders. Not only in the material but also in the spiritual affairs of the Church. Our Lord said that the Kingdom of God is in us. For His sake, why don’t we show it? NOTE OF THANKS___ My wife, boys and I wish to thank the members of the Bethlen Youth Federation and other local youth groups and congregations for their sincere expressions of sympathy following the death of my father and the death of our infant son, Jay W. Thanks are also extended to those who honored us with their presence at my recent installation as Associate Minister at the North and Southhampton Reformed Church, Churchvillej Pennsylvania. The most generous gifts from the Women’s Guild of the Trenton Hungarian Reformed Church will always be humbly remembered. Our sincere best wishes are extended to the new officers of the B.Y.F. and advisors, as well as to all local officers. May your goals and aims be attained and your pleasures greatly experienced. Hope to be able to join you at future gatherings. Sincerely, Joseph W. Cookson THE FIFTH HUNGARIAN PROTESTANT BALL The Fifth Hungarian Protestant Ball, held November 20 in the Grand Ball Room of the Hotel Pierre in New York City, was an outstanding gala event of the season. Debutantes included Eszter Boross, Katalin Boross, Erzsébet Csicsery-Rónay, Ilona Danes, Irene George, Christina Hamza, Lydia Hamza, Borbála Kiss, Abigél Makár, Zolna Makár, Katalin Nyeste, Julia Papp, Piroska B. Rácz, Lorraine Ullmann, Suzanne Zörgő. Proceeds of the Hungarian Protestant Balls are used to aid Hungarian Protestant college students. Six scholarship awards of $200 each were given out this time. The Scholarship Committee consists of Dean Gabor Csordás (New Yorki, the Rev. Imre Bertalan (New Brunswick, N. J.), Mr. László Eszanyi (Washington D. C.), the Rev. Dr. Andrew Harsányi (Carteret, N. J.), Dr. Arthur Moor (Hartford, Conn.) and Dr. Paul Stuart (Elizabeth, N. J.)
