Magyar Egyház, 1997 (76. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1997 / 4. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11. oldal — NEWS FROM OUR CONGREGATIONS — — EGYHÁZI HÍREK — BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA Pastor: Ronald R. Hari 635 High Street, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18017 Telephone: (610) 838-8203 Chief Elder: Robert F. Csizma Telephone: (610) 866-1156 It is with great pleasure that our “robust” congregation of 35 active members celebrated the confirmation of two communicants on Pentecost. Miss Meghan R. Rohrbach, great-grandchild of John and Elizabeth Mihály, grandchild of Robert and Jolán Csizma and daughter of Kerry and RobertAnn (Csizma) Rohrbach, is a fifth generation of our Hungarian Evangelical Reformed Church of Bethlehem and Miss Amanda Boyer from Christ United Church of Christ, great-grandchild of Mrs. Mary Shuch, a member of our church. We also celebrated the Rev. Mr. Ronald R. Hari’s first confirmation class in our church social hall with a luncheon sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Csizma. This milestone in our church is one of reaffirmation of our congregation’s dedication to continuing the presence of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Bethlehem and their untiring, dedicated efforts. They actively work to support our church morally, spiritually, financially and with true friendship among all of us with the continued dedication of Rev. Hari. We will be pleased to host the meeting of the Presbyter Association in March, 1998 to allow all of our members to give of themselves for a successful conference. Our church service on Sunday, July 13, 1997— celebrated by Robert Csizma in the absence of Rev. Hari, who was on vacation—was dedicated to the Rt. Reverend Dezső Abraham, Bishop Emeritus, who died unexpectedly on the Thursday before our Sunday service. Mr. Balint Balogh, Chief Elder Emeritus, and Mr. Robert F. Csizma, Chief Elder of our church attended his funeral. Mr. Balogh has written in Hungarian about his personal relationship with Dr. Abraham as well as expressing our thanks for his many visits to our church as minister, bishop and above all, a real friend of the Bethlehem church. * * * Szomorúan érintett úgy jómagámat, mint a bethelehemi gyülekezetei az a hír, hogy Dr. Abrahám Dezső volt esperesünk és püspökünk hirtelen eltávozott közülünk. Midőn hosszú időn át voltam a bethlehemi egyház és a keleti egyházmegye gondnoka, személyesen is közeli kapcsolatban voltam vele, mert a bethlehemi egyház ügyét mindig a szívén viselte. Rendszeresen érdeklődött felőlünk még az utolsó püspöki tanács gyűlésén is. Allen Park-i szolgálata idején egy találkozásunk alkalmával felvetette: „Bálint, hogyha nyugdíjba megyek, eljövök hozzátok Bethlehembe.” De nem így történt, Isten keze másként döntött és New Jersey-ben telepedett le. Továbbra is szolgálta a Magyar Református Egyházat. Ahol csak szükség volt reá, New York-ban, Trentonban prédikált az utolsó vasárnapig is, mielőtt az Űr magához szólította. Július 13-án, a bethelehemi gyülekezetben az istentiszteletet az ő emlékezetére tartottuk. Isten adjon az ittmaradottaknak vigasztalást és őneki örök nyugalmat. Robert F. Csizma, Chief Elder Balogh Bálint, a Keleti E. megye Főgondnoka CARTERET, NEW JERSEY Pastor: Peter L. Toth 175 Pershing Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey 07008 Telephone: (732) 381-7109 Chief Elder: Leonard Sendelsky A NOTE FROM OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL It has been a very good year. Our prayers have been answered. For the first time we have a Nursery Class of 2-5 year old. This means that we can now offer the parents the opportunity to drop off their infants, while they attend worship services. We have 13 students enrolled. Our past students come to visit, and even more importantly, our students bring visiting friends to our Sunday School. We have studied several stories of the Old Testament: Abraham & Sarah, Ruth, Jacob, and many more. The spring semester brought some of Jesus’ parables closer to home. We tried to emphasize how they can apply even today. Does a “Good Samaritan” only help the injured? If we don’t have oil lamps, as in the story of the “Ten Virgins”, how can we be prepared for the wedding feast? These are some of the topics that we have discussed. This year with Miss Debbie, Jennifer, we had the opportunity to go to Philadelphia to a Sunday School Teachers’ Conference. There we were able to get