Magyar Egyház, 2003 (82. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)

2003-04-01 / 2. szám

10. oldal

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

Church Women United of the Hungarian Reformed Church, Eastern Division

A very successful gathering of the Church Women United was held on May 4, 2003, at the Magyar Reformed Church in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Registration showed 69 women in attendance, as well as ten clergy and 6 guests. Piroska Hunyady and Arlene Sabo conducted registration beginning at 2:30 p.m. The guests were greeted by Helen Bercik and Carolyn Puhán, and the hospitality table was hosted by Julie Kopko and Lisa Metzger. The afternoon opened with the invocation by the host pastor, Rev. Attila A. Kocsis. The Star Spangled Banner and the Hungarian Hymnusz were sung, followed by the reading of Psalm 98, “Sing Praises to the Lord”, in English by Rose Bartha of Roebling and in Hungarian by Enikő Hanzely of Trenton. Mrs. Gizell Bertha, of the Perth Amboy church, then sang “How Great Thou Art” in Hungarian, accompanied by Mrs. Lillian Banyacski, Church Organist. Prayers and the Lord’s Prayer were led by Mrs. Linda Hauck, of Staten Island, NY, in English, followed by Rev. Ollie Benko-Hall, of Perth Amboy, NJ, in Hungarian. The closing hymn in Hungarian was “Kövesd a Jézust”. Rev. Csilla Lucskay of Carteret, NJ offered the Benediction.

The President, Priscilla Jenkins, then welcomed the attendees and explained that we were concentrating on singing because the Hungarian Reformed Churches are noted for their love of singing praises to the Lord. This also ties in with the theme of the conference, “Keeping our Hungarian Heritage Alive”. Mrs. Jenkins also was happy to relate that there were three women in attendance who were members of the clergy, and she was very pleased to introduce the speaker for the day, Rev. Anikó Kocsis, who is the wife of the Perth Amboy Pastor, and also is advisor to the Women’s Guild, a mother of five, and an ordained minister. Rev. Kocsis spoke, in both English and Hungarian, on the theme, stressing the importance of remembering who we are and passing on to our children the important messages of our heritage. She related interesting stories from her various experiences in Hungary. Her remarks were summed up in three words: REMEMBER, TEACH and ACT. Following her message, Mrs. Jenkins led the gathering in a very spirited discussion, and many women, as well as clergy, spoke up on their thoughts and ideas regarding the necessity for keeping our Hungarian background alive, including the importance of teaching the Hungarian language to our young people. We trust that they took many ideas back to their home churches after the discussions.

The business meeting was opened by Mrs. Jenkins, who called for a reading by the Secretary, Mrs. Arlene Sabo, of the minutes of the May 2002 meeting held in Carteret, New Jersey. The Treasurer, Piroska Hunyady, then gave her report. The clergy were introduced and wel

corned. That group included Dean Barnabas Roczey of New Brunswick; Dean Emeritus Imre Bertalan of Washington, DC; Bishop Emeritus Alexander Forro of Poughkeepsie, New York; Rev. August Molnár of the American Hungarian Foundation in New Brunswick, NJ; Rev. Albert Kovács of Woodbridge, NJ; Rev. Francis Vitéz of Perth Amboy, NJ; Rev. Csilla Lucskay of Carteret, NJ; and Rev. Attila A. Kocsis, Rev. Anikó Kocsis, and Rev. Ollie Hall, all of the Perth Amboy host church.

The CWU voted to make donations to the American Hungarian Foundation, Magyar Egyház, Bethlen Home, Youth Camp Transportation, and also to a school for handicapped students in Mezőtúr, Hungary, as well as to a fund for needy children in Oradea, Romania, the latter being the subject of a story written by Magdolna Visky in the Winter 2002 issue of the Magyar Egyház.

Announcements included activities for the coming year in various churches, including the news that the 100th anniversary is being celebrated in 2003 in Perth Amboy on September 21st, and in Woodbridge and Carteret on September 14th, when these two churches will celebrate with a joint dinner at Bethlen Hall in Carteret.

Election of officers for 2003/2004 resulted in the following: President, Linda Hauck of Staten Island, NY; Vice-President, Evelyn Fodor of New Brunswick, NJ; Secretary, Helen Cutler of Staten Island, NY; Treasurer, Piroska Hunyady, Linden, NJ; Chaplain, Priscilla Jenkins, Perth Amboy, NJ; Delegates-at-Large - Nancy Chester of Poughkeepsie, NY, Audrey Marciniak of Woodbridge, NJ, Helen Dodge of Carteret, NJ, Rose Bartha of Roebling, NJ, and Elizabeth Ujj of Trenton, NJ. Dean Roczey conducted the installation of the new officers.

Remembered in our prayers were former CWU President Margaret Kramer Conners of Trenton and Chief Elder Al Berkholz of Roebling, both of whom passed away in the last year.

The meeting concluded with the closing prayer by Chaplain Helen Dodge of Carteret, NJ followed by the singing of God Be With You ‘til We Meet Again.

The gathering then continued at the Church Center, where a Hungarian meal, including kolbász made by church members, and pork and sour kraut, had been prepared by Mrs. Elsie Loki and Mr. Chris Blaho, and served by the Perth Amboy Women’s Guild. The tables, as well as the Lord’s Table in Church, were decorated in the Hungarian colors of red, white and green, to further carry out the Hungarian Heritage theme. This was a pleasing conclusion to this yearly meeting. The next conference will be held on May 2, 2004 in Staten Island, New York.

Priscilla A. Jenkins, Outgoing President, CWU