Magyar News, 2002. szeptember-2003. augusztus (13. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2003-02-01 / 6. szám
cally in a high commercial area, therefor easy to sell, meaning that it would be tom down probably for a parking lot. The UCC of Bridgeport would stand on its own as a church. Linking the three churches together we are talking about six to eight million dollars in value. To sell them as churches at the same time would be very difficult because they are really just a few blocks from each other. I don’t see that much demand now-a-days for churches to be purchased, specially at the same time.. One thing is sure. If there is a merger then all the assets go into it. But if it will be closed down, what is more or less evident, then the assets go to the synod, or the Conference. Putting the hard earned pennies, and the many hours of work that was generated in the Greater Brigeport area, more precisely from its Hungarian community, will be taken away having the remaining church, and the whole community lose out. I am sure that many of our beloved ancestors will take a spin in their grave. The concept of having the door of a church open for anybody to walk in and worship just doesn’t cut it. Somebody said that people do not come to the church because it is ethnic. No question, it is Hungarian. The building was made by the Hungarians. The congregation, that is the church, was in existence by Hungarians. There are a few non Hungarians attending the services, and they also participate in the work in and around the church. They fit in very well and they don’t have any special ethnic affiliation, they are Americans. Probably there would be some problem if somebody with a different, strong ethnic background and tradition, also religious practice would knock on the door. This wouldn’t blend easily on either side. The Hungarians are known for their hospitality and they go out of their way to be friendly. Sometimes they find it easier to do it with total strangers. “Turáni átok.” I was trying to look back into our local history. The early immigrants built the churches and they utilized the basement for limited social activities. The more elaborate events took place in the Bridgeport area in the Rákóczi Hall. It was later when halls were built next to the churches. With this, a type of isolation occurred. Mixing the people took place only within the members of each church, just a segment of the Hungarian community. This step set the future of the churches, giving them a stronger ethnic appearance. Strangely enough the English language services became dominant but the connection with the ethnic social hall put the limiting stamp on it. As time passed the usage of the halls by Hungarians became less and less. The halls had to be managed as a renting business. The Rákóczi Hall lost large numbers of its members, lost the financial support, and ceased to be the drawing center of Hungarian social life. There are some European ethnic communities that were able to maintain a community building. In Connecticut, Wallingford has a Hungarian Community Club on its own. Their church doesn’t have a hall. The truth is that the Club does good service for the Hungarians, on the other hand the church is loosing the ethnic character. We see other nationality groups that were able to establish a cultural centers not In the center of the big rosette is the stainedglass image of the Sárospatak Theologian Collage connected to a church. The Italian community seems to be keeping their center functioning. But the Irish, somewhat the Polish and German communities also keep their social centers working. Our congregation members took measures (about the other congregations, saying: ’’They don’t come to our events, so we don’t go to theirs!” Naturally this deepens the isolation. It seems to be too late to follow on the suggestion made by the First UCC to build a new, reasonable size church that would include all the three congregations mentioned. Naturally a hall would be built with it. This would carry all the unsolved problems. On one hand, as we know, this is the road to isolation. On the other hand the parishioners are mostly on the side of old age, and this questions the amount of support that is available. To have two of the churches merge would be a temporary setting. One must look at the change in membership. There are already some who underlined their opinion by leaving their church and joining some without a Hungarian ethnic character. This trend is noticable already. This wouldn’t be the proper way. Common sense would suggest the merger of all three churches. This could bring up the financial value of the one church to 6-7 million dollars. Just by the savings on heat and air-conditioning, a bus could be purchased to serve the large number of elderly parishioners, and it would be an efficient instrument building up youth activities. There might be a possibility with a larger congregation to serve outreach programs going beyond the Hungarian community. This could pay back by receiving more recognition. Many other ideas linger in my head, but they all become theoretical. Am I pessimist? Not really. At this point I don’t see the end of the tunnel. I don’t see how each of these churches individually are capable to strengthen themselves for a prosperous future. I really hope that they could. Looking around for examples it is discouraging to notice that mergers, less complicated ones than these mentioned, faced deep problems, many unsolved questions, and in the process lost many of their parishioners. I really don't know what to do! Do you know what to do??? Joseph F. Balogh Photographs by author Page 3 The old Hungarian bell now stands in front of the church. It is called the “Rákóczi Harang ” It has been donated for the first anniversary of the new church in Bridgeport, Connecticut
