Magyar Egyház, 1965 (44. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)

1965-02-01 / 2. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

9

MAGYAR CHURCH

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General Assembly and Bishop’s Consecration

in McKeesport

February 15, 1965 was an historic day in the life of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America: in the course of the General Assembly of the Diocese, at a special service in the church of the McKeesport (Pa.) congreation, the second bishop of our denomination was consecrated.

According to the Church’s constitution the term of office of the bishop is three years and one person can only once be reelected. The double term of Bishop Dr. Zoltán Béky having expired the congregations elected the Rev. Louis Nagy, Pastor in Mc- Keeesport as the new bishop. The office of Chief Elder of the Diocese was filled by Elder Sándor Kiss (New York, N.Y.) because of the same reason: Chief Elder János Darnay has completed six years of service.

The General Assembly whose constituent members came to McKeesport from as far as Los Angeles, Miami and New York, opened with Holy Communion followed by the detailed report of the outgoing bishop, Dr. Zoltán Béky. He reviewed the struggles, anxieties and victories of the 40 years since 1924 when the Free Magyar Reformed Church was established. Then he pointed at the denomination’s growth during the last 15 years when the number of its congregations almost doubled and the denomination became a constituent member of the various great national and international ecumenical church organizations.

The new bishop, in his acceptance speech, paid tribute to Dr. Béky, then pledged himself to keep the Hungarian Reformed Church in America free and independent.

Upon reports from the various assembly committees, the General Assembly passed several important resolutions. The full text of the Assembly’s policy statement on the race problem reads as follows:

“The Hungarian Reformed Church in America reaffirms the truth expressed in the Holy Scriptures and witnessed to by the time-honored confessional statements, to wit the Second Helvetic Confession (Art. XVII) and the Heidelberg Catechism (Question 54) that any segregation of races, any discrimination because of skin or color is in conflict with the Church’s teaching. The membership of the denomination should be taught and guided by this truth. The teaching of the Bible and the Church’s tradition would be violated if any kind of discrimination were permitted to exist in our churches.”

Among other resolutions the General Assembly of the Diocese:

APPROVED the denomination’s membership and continued service in the various national and international ecumenical organizations;

ASSURED of its continued support the following organizations: American Hungarian Reformed Ministerial Association, Elders’ Association, Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, American Hungarian Federation;

FAVORED organizational unity among Hungarian Reformed people in America and pledged its cooperation in working toward this goal;

PAID TRIBUTE to outgoing Bishop Dr. Zoltán Béky for his outstanding leadership of many years. In order to secure the benefits of his experienced churchrnanship and vision for the future, Bishop Béky will occupy a seat on the Bishop’s Council; also, in accordance with the Church’s theology, although retiring from active service he will retain the title of bishop.

Besides the Bishop and Chief Elder other officers of the Diocese, partly elected by the congregations, partly elected at the General Assembly, include the following: the Rev. Gábor Csordás (New York, N.Y.) ecclesiastical and Stephen Varga (Roebling, N.J.) lay recording secretary, Károly Kiss (Detroit, Mich.) treasurer, Dr. Andrew Harsányt (Carteret, N.J.), the Rev. Sándor Forró (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), the Rev. Stephen Kovács (Akron, Ohio) ecclesiastical, Anthony Beke (Trenton, N.J.), Lajos Yáger (New York, N.Y.), Károly Boné (Detroit, Mich.) lay members of the judicatory, Judge Aladár Fiók legal adviser (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Alexander B. Eger (Perth Amboy, N.J.), attorney.

The consecration of the new bishop took place at a special worship service following the traditional order of the Hungarian Reformed Church. Bishop Louis Nagy was sworn in by Bishop Béky and consecrated by the laying on of hands by Bishop Béky and Deans Dezső Abrahám (Eastern Classis), Gábor Csordás (New York Classis) and Tibor Tóth (Western Classis).

The program of the day ended with a banquet honoring Bishop Nagy. Greetings were brought by representatives of many church and civic organizations including the Mayor of McKeesport, Andrew Jakomas, the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America and the William Penn Fraternal Association. Professors Frank McCloy and Markus Barth