Fraternity-Testvériség, 2002 (80. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2002-01-01 / 1. szám

Page 16

The First Hungarian Reformed Church of Los Angeles Our History and the 75-Year Jubilee

TESTVÉRISÉG

The First Hungarian Reformed Church of Los Angeles is the first Hungarian church of any denomination west of the Mississippi. It was founded in 1926, and on November 11, 2001, our church celebrated its 75 Year Jubilee. Although our church was officially founded on August 1, 1926, it was actually in 1924 that the first attempts were made to organize a Hungarian Reformed Church in Los Angeles. The Reverend István Csépke came to the city that year and brought with him 125 Hungarian Reformed hymnals. He stayed only a few months, but left the hymnals behind and agreed to let them be used by those who came after him. It was those hymnals that became the foundation of what was to come.

In 1925, at the urging of an official with the Reformed Church in the United States (now the United Church of Christ) a young theologian named Albert Hady came to Los Angeles from Buffalo, NY to build a church. Albert Hady, from Szatmármegye, had only been in the US for 5 years and spoke little English. But he worked very hard in Los Angeles to pull together a core group of Hungarians of different faiths. This group of individuals, led by János Décsmán who was a former Chief Elder from the Buffalo Hungarian church, petitioned the Home Mission Board of the Reformed Church in the United States to help establish and sustain a Hungarian church in Los Angeles. They also petitioned that Albert Hady be named pastor of the church upon the completion of his theological studies in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Home Mission Board granted both requests and in June of 1926 Albert Hady returned.

On August 1, 1926, Reformed, Catholic, Lutheran and Hungarians of other faiths stood together at a service - an Istentisztelet - in Los Angeles to sing - Örül mi szívünk, mikor ezt halljuk: A templomba megyünk, Hol Istennek Szent Igéjét Halljuk. The group rejoiced and the young Albert Hady encouraged them - ...Erezzétek, és lássátok meg, hogy jó az Ur! Afterwards, 42 people of different faiths - egy szívvel, egy lélekkel - proclaimed the founding of the First Hungarian Reformed Church in Los Angeles. Albert Hady worked very hard to build the church during his 20 years of service to the congregation.

The congregation of the First Hungarian Reformed Church has been served by a number of tremendously respected and much-loved pastors since the pioneering Albert Hady. Alajos Krisik served for 7 months in 1932, while Reverend Hady was called to temporarily serve at the Fairport Harbor, Ohio Hungarian Reformed Church. The Reverend Antal Szabó worked very hard for the congregation from 1946 until his retirement in 1969. In the 1950s the First Church was served by several very capable Youth Pastors - Reverend Knut Gundersen and the Reverend Frank Juhász Shepherd.

After Reverend Szabó retired, the Reverend Gyula Paál served the congregation from 1969 to 1981. Reverend Paál

preached relevant, strong, scholarly sermons based on important Biblical teachings. Sándor Patócs served from 1982 to 1987, a time of more change for the congregation. After 1987, several pastors served for a short time - György Nagy, and Ferenc Gaál. There were a number of guest pastors after that, and in 1991 Reverend Dr. Béla Bónis, became our permanent part-time pastor. He has provided our congregation with the stability that it has needed to keep going.

Many things have happened to our congregation during the 75 years since its founding. The original group of buildings that the early congregation bought and improved so many times over, was sold in 1987 under distressing circumstances. After the sale, worship services were held for 6 years in a small upstairs room of a UCC sister church. The entire congregation, but especially then-Chief Elders Mrs. Margaret Saltzer and Dr. Béla Biró worked incredibly hard to keep the congregation together. In May of 1992 then-Chief Elder Dr. Biró found a building that at first was beyond our budget, but then became miraculously affordable. The purchase was made, and in the nearly ten years since, we have been at our current location. Our congregation constructed a Fellowship Hall, and more recently re-carpeted and re-painted most of the interior. We break bread regularly, celebrate holidays with music, poems and song. We continue to hold the Bazaars with the hurkakolbász dinners - a tradition that has been going strong since at least 1938. We attend Istentisztelet and remember Matthew 28: 18-20: “Where two or three are gathered in my name....”. Through our regular mission programs we try to serve the Lord in the tradition of our forefathers.

Our 75 Year Jubilee was celebrated on November 11, 2001, at an Ecumenical Worship Service (Istentisztelet).

The Istentisztelet was standing-room only and the sound of the voices singing the Magyar hymns floated out into the street. Those who took part in the special Ecumenical English and Hungarian Worship Service were the pastors of the 5 younger Hungarian churches of various faiths that sprang up after us here in Los Angeles - the Reverends Zsolt Attila Jakabfíy, Bálint Nagy, József Novák, Sándor Szabolcs, Father Hermann József Rettig, as well as Reverends István Danyi and Róbert Szép. The sermon was preached in Hungarian and English by the Calvin Synod Bishop Rt. Reverend Lajos Medgyesi who came from Ohio to be with us for the Jubilee.

There were two guest choirs - the Kodály Kórus led by Miss Emőke Érseki, and the Baptista Magyar Egyház Kórus, led by Mrs. Gyöngyi Kovács. Irene and Frank Zizda, children of two of our founding members from 1926 also came, which brought us great joy. After a service, a number of individuals greeted us with memorable speeches and words of encouragement - Mr. Szabolcs Kerék-Bárczy who is the Hungarian Consul in Los Angeles, also the Reverend