Magyar Egyház, 1993 (72. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)

1993-02-01 / 1. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

9. oldal

MEETING OF THE BISHOPS’ COUNCIL

Our Church in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, hosted the meeting of the Bishop’s Council of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America, held on Friday and Saturday, January 29 and 30 of this year.

Representatives of the elected leadership throughout the United States and Canada had been arriving since Thursday. Early on Friday the meeting started on time.

On Friday, January 29, 10:00 a.m., Dr. Andrew Harsanyi, Bishop, called the meeting to order. Opening devotions were delivered by Dr. Harsanyi on the text of Zachariah 3. The meditation and hymns were held in Hungarian and prayer was offered in English.

The bishop asked the two secretaries to take the roll call establisliing a quorum. The following members were present: Bishop Dr. Andrew Harsanyi, Chief-Elder of the Synod Mr. Stephen Szabó, General Secretaries, Ecclesiastical Rev. Pal Mezo, Lay Secretary Mr. Zoltán Ambrus, Treasurer Miss Priscilla Hunyady. The latter had indicated that she could only attend our Saturday session, due to work-related obligations. The Deans and Chief Elders of the Classis (Rev. István Torok, Rev. Alexander Forro, Rev. Andor Demeter, Mr. Balint Balogh, Mr. László Vanyi), Counselor Julius Furrier, Bishop Emeritus Rev. Dezső Abraham and former Chief Elder Mr. Anthony C. Beke, as advisory members were present. Rev. Barnabas Roczey, Treasurer of the Magyar Egyház Publications was absent. Among the invited guests, we greeted Mr. András Schilling and the guests included Mrs. Margaret Harsanyi, Rev. Joseph Vásárhelyi and Mrs. Eva Szabó.

The meeting proceeded with the reading of the last Bishop’s Council minutes, prepared by Mr. Stephen Szabó. He has since been elected chief-elder of the Synod. With some corrections, the minutes were unanimously accepted.

Bishop Harsanyi at this time requested the Rev. Vásárhelyi to inform us about the up-coming visit of the Rt. Rev. Bishop László Tokes. The following information was given. Bishop Tokes will be in our midst on February 21st, in New York, where He will attend Divine Worship Services held at 10:30 a.m., in the First Hungarian Church on 69th Street, followed by another worship service at 11:30 a.m. in the 82nd Street Church. After a lunch, at 3:00 p.m., Ecumenical Service will be held with the participation of various church representatives from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. At 4:00 p.m., an opportunity will be given for a questions and answers period and at 6:00 p.m., an honorary banquet will be held in honor of the visiting bishop at the 69th street church. On behalf of the two congregations, invitations were extended to all congregations and organizations on the East Coast. We were also informed that special donations can be made to benefit various church-sponsored activities in the Kiralyhagomellek

in Transylvania. The Bishop’s Council encouraged our help.

The meeting continued with the report of the Deans front their respective classis. First to report was Rev. István Torok from the Eastern Classis, second was Rev. Sándor Forro from the New York Classis and last to report was Rev. Andor Demeter from the Western Classis. Since no major problems were brought before the Council from the first two reports, and upon the arrival of the Synod attorney, Mr. Julius Furrier, a lengthy report was made of the situation in Ontario, Calif, where a few lawsuits are pending. After the report, the counselor made recommendations in solving these problems. It is our hope that all personal feelings put aside, a solution can be found and the peace and tranquillity of the congregational life will return to normal.

On the second day of the meeting, Miss Priscilla Hunyady made her financial report, which was handed out to all participants. The Council accepted the report and commended Miss Hunyady for her work.

The meeting continued with a discussion on the amendments to the By-Laws and Constitution. Rev. Torok and Miss Hunyady were appointed by the Council to open the votes of the congregations. Twenty two congregations returned their votes and with great majority, all amendments were approved and will take effect immediately. The Council appointed Rev. Torok, Miss Hunyady and Mr. Anthony C. Beke to prepare a new copy of the By-Laws and submit it for printing 1000 copies, making it available to the member congregations.

The meeting was continued with the subject of the proposed Declaration of Union between the Calvin Synod of the United Church of Christ and the Hungarian Refonned Church in America. After a long discussion, the following motion was made by Rev. Sándor Forro and seconded by Rev. Andor Demeter: The Bishop’s Council of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America desires to seek exploratory discussions that could lead toward an eventual union with all Hungarian Reformed Churches in America. To expedite the above decision, the Bishop appoints the following individuals to initiate discussions in the above matter with interested congregations or denominations. The appointed committee will report periodically on their progress to the members of the Bishop’s Council. Committee members: Rev. Sándor Forro, Mr. Anthony C. Beke and Rev. Stefan Torok. Bishop Harsanyi, Chief Elder, Stephen Szabó, ex-officio members. The motion was unanimously passed. The Council also instructed Bishop Harsanyi to discuss our decision, namely that the Calvin Synod and other congregations should set up a meeting for these discussions.

The Bishop’s Council also paid tribute to our deceased members with a memorial service, commemorating the