Magyar Egyház, 1998 (77. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1998 / 2. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11. oldal 39TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF CHURCH WOMEN UNITED The thirty-ninth Annual Conference of Church Women United - Eastern Division, of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America was held on Sunday, may 3, 1998 at the Hungarian Reformed Church in Perth Amboy, NJ, the same place where the first meeting was held in 1969. Registration and an informal reception took place at 2:30 PM. Opening devotions were held with Rev. Stefan Torok of Perth Amboy giving the invocation, followed by the opening hymn “Lord speak to me”. The scripture reading (2 Timothy 1:3-9) was read in English by Helen Cutler, Staten Island, and in Hungarian by Giselle Bertha, Perth Amboy. The singing of the hymn “How great thou art” followed. The prayer and Lord’s prayer were lead by Jeannie Talbott, Perth Amboy, in English, and Zsuzsanna Prundl, Carteret, in Hungarian, followed by a Hungarian hymn “Áldjátok az Úr nevét”. Rev. Barnabas Roczey, New Brunswick, gave the benediction. Mrs. Elsie Loki, Perth Amboy, President of Church Women United, welcomed everyone, and introduced our speaker, Rev. Ollie Benko-Hall of Perth Amboy, who presented the conference theme, “How the positions of women in our church life have changed”. In doing so, Rev. Hall also asked the delegates to offer stories of the history of our women in the church, and to share their thoughts on the ever-changing role of church women. In researching the topic, Rev. Hall spoke to some members of the Perth Amboy church, such as Helen Seemann, who filled her in on the life of the early church women. Their role was very important, but very much “behind the scenes”. Rev. Torok especially thanked the women from Roebling, Mrs. Margaret Abraham in particular, for their assistance in welcoming him to this country when he arrived from Europe not knowing the language and feeling very alone. These women, behind the scenes, took it upon themselves to break down the language barrier for him. It is no wonder that the Roebling Church is home to so many new pastors arriving from Europe. These ladies are proud that they have done their parts to make the transition easier for these new church leaders, and are proud to see these pastors move on to permanent positions in other churches. Some delegates shared interesting stories and thoughts on the important job women have always had in the church, be it quietly helping mostly doing “kitchen duties” as it used to be, or now, when we see women taking on the role of Chief Elder and other offices. A show of hands indicated many women are actively involved as officers and leaders in today’s church. We still have a way to go, but are making headway. Another important point brought up was a reminder that we women should also not forget to keep our Hungarian heritage alive in the church, to always remember our roots, and to pass on the Hungarian traditions to the younger generations. At 5:10 PM, Mrs. Loki opened the business meeting, thanking everyone for coming, and gave an especially warm welcome to the newcomers in our midst, the Woodbridge delegation. Roll call showed 61 delegates participating as follows: Carteret 6, Cliffside Park 3, Linden 4, New Brunswick 6, Perth Amboy 22, Poughkeepsie 4, Roebling 8, Staten Island 4, Woodbridge 4 and the following clergy: Bishop Alexander Forro, Poughkeepsie, NY; Rev. Edwin Stern, Roebling, NJ; Rev. Peter Toth, Carteret, NJ; Rev. Csilla Spelda, Wharton, NJ; Rev. Ollie Benko-Hall, Perth Amboy, Rev. Barnabas Roczey, New Brunswick, NJ, Rev. Ambrus Batiz, Linden NJ and Rev. Stefan Torok, Perth Amboy, NJ. Also present was Mr. Stephen Szabó, Chief Elder of the Synod, and some gentlemen guests. The Secretary, Priscilla Jenkins of Perth Amboy, and Zsuzsanna Prundl, Carteret, read the minutes of the May 4, 1997 meeting in Staten Island. The minutes were approved as read. The Treasurer, Piroska Hunyady gave her report. A motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report was made by Jeannie Talbott, seconded by Zsuzsanna Prundl and carried. A discussion was held as to the lack of response to the invitation to the conference by so many churches. It was suggested that in the future more phone call follow-ups be made to these churches to attempt to get them involved. Helen Dodge brought up a suggestion made in prior years that each church women’s group should have a fundraiser for the benefit of Church Women
