Bethlen Naptár, 1986 (Ligonier)
Kálvin Egyházkerület
120 BETHLEN NAPTÁR MANVILLE, NJ Lelkipásztor: Strickler, Steven G.P. Active Members: 67 Total Affiliation: 117 The year 1985 marked the 70th anniversary of ministry for the Manville Reformed Church. Although we did not celebrate this occasion officially, our activities and directions may be seen to reflect our deep joy and gratitude for God’s rich blessings upon us in the past and our overwhelming conviction of his presence with us and purpose for us in the future. Worship continues to be the center of the life of the congregation with children playing an ever greater role. A regular children’s sermon has been brought into the order of worship for the English language service; thus children are encouraged to attend worship services and to remain afterward for Sunday School classes. Adult education has also been introduced this year to be held during the Sunday School hour so that parents and children alike may be in Bible classes simultaneously. The Hungarian language worship service follows the Christian Education hour each Sunday. Sunday School attendance nearly doubled in the fall, due in large part to our church’s first ever Vacation Bible School which was held in August. Thirty children between the ages of 3 and 12, both Reformed and Catholic, attended the weeklong Bible school which was taught and staffed by fifteen adults. We look forward with excitement and anticipation to next summer’s Bible school. As a worshipping fellowship we have begun to look into the needs of our community. We are now bringing as an act of worship cans of soup each Sunday to church which are then collected in baskets and taken to the Foodbank Network of Somerset County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in Somerset County. Our general stewardship direction was determined this year primarily by our Talentums project. Based on Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25, our Ladies Aid Society entrusted ten dollars’ worth of “talent” to each member of our congregation. Beginning in May we were called upon to make our talentums grow by use of the creative talents God has entrusted to us. Members knitted, crocheted and crafted various items for sale at church dinners or after church or in their neighborhoods. They made noodles, fudge, jam, held dinners and “szalonnasütés”. The project involved the
