Magyar Egyház, 1970 (49. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1970-06-01 / 6-7. szám
12 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ guests. The following pastors and their church representatives were present: Dr. László Vatai, United Church of Christ, Detroit; — the Rev. Gyula Asboth, Lutheran Church; — the Rev. Bertalan Pajtás, Greek Catholic Church; — the Rev. Andrew Hartó, United Church of Christ, Toledo, Ohio; — the Rev. László Dienes, Free Magyar Reformed Church, Windsor, Canada. There were also many civic and fraternal organizations represented. The Detroit Church was organized in 1941, when the congregation huilt a church in the Delray — downtown section of the city for $100,000. In 1965 the present new church was built in Allen Park with a total cost of half a million dollars. The $300,000 mortgage has been reduced to $195,000 in five years and if the Lord will continue to bless this congregation, it will be paid within the next five years. A journalist in a fine article in one of the Hungarian weekly newspapers about the church said, what Almighty God has done in the past few years in the history of this church could be called the “miracle of Detroit”. Our prayer is that God would grant peace and understanding into the hearts of the members of this congregation and save them from discord, jelousy, hatred, ill will, and all evil. May God Almighty guide the leaders and members of our Detroit church from victory to victory in the building up of the kingdom of our Savior Jesus Christ, unto whom be all glory, majesty, dominion and power for ever. BISHOP BARTHA IN THE USA At the invitation of The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Dr. Tibor Bartha, bishop of the Transtibiscan District and president of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary spent four weeks in the United States. He was accompanied by Mrs. Bartha. Bishop Bartha attended the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church as a fraternal delegate in Chicago and, at the invitation of President McCord, the commencement exercises in Princeton. He also preached in several Hungarian Reformed Churches and met with groups of Hungarian Reformed ministers as well as with leaders of the United Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ, the Reformed Church in America, the National Council of Churches and the American Bible Society. His first hand report on the flood in Hungary was very timely, his report on the new Hungarian Bible translation was very informative. MIRACLE IN MIAMI We call it a miracle. A small Hungarian Reformed congregation — our First Hungarian United Church of Christ, the Rev. Stephen Szőke, Pastor — has built a 30 unit apartment house on the church grounds. The project needed leaders with vision, with dedication, with perseverance and, first of all, with faith. They were there: the highly competent Pastor Stephen Szőke; a hard working church council, headed by Charles Gyulay chief elder, Dr. Eugene Polgar elder, Tibor Revesz treasurer and Gyula Toth secretary; the contractor, Gaspar Nagymihaly (also a member of the council), not only excellent in his job but also dedicated to his church and to his Hungarian people; there was the Reformed Federation to provide the over $200 thousand loan. And there was the rich grace of God at all times. From 1. to r.: Pastor Szőke, Dean Harsanyi, contractor Gaspar Nagymihaly and Chief Elder Charles Gyulay. The foundations of the total church property—consisting of the church, parsonage, duplex apartment and Kossuth Hall—had been laid by the late Pastor Antal Peter 20 years ago. Now, with this new building, its worth will soon be close to a million. The beauty of this new project is that through rents it will pay for itself. It is not like the building of a church or an education building where the congregation has to conduct drive after drive for funds in order to meet the monthly mortgage payments. Any church which has a sizeable enough property on which to obtain the initial loan to finance the
