Bethlen Naptár, 1989 (Ligonier)
Kálvin Egyházkerület
Chief Elder: Earl V. Jones. In all the years until now we wrote our reports in Hungarian. At this one time, however, we hope that an English language resume will have a wider readership both in our congregation and elsewhere in America. We are on the threshold of our 100th anniversary! By now the great majority of our members are the third and fourth generation descendents of the founding fathers. Indeed we have faithful leaders and members among us who have no Hungarian background at all. For them it is the cherished family ties, an unpretentious Christian atmosphere and, amidst so much diluted, two-percent religion in America — the living traditions of the European Reformation which appeal to them and evoke their loyalty. Our regular Sunday and festival schedule is: worship service in English at 10 a.m. and in Hungarian at 11:15. The Sunday is held during the second service. Exceptions are the few occasions when, for practical reasons we hold joint, bilingual services: Good Friday, Annual Meeting, Christmas Eve, etc. We celebrate Holy Communion seven times a year: Lent, Easter, Pentecost, New Bread, World, Reformation and Christmas. We serve individual communion to our elderly and hospitalized at Easter and Christmas. Currently we have 166 communicant members; there are some 210 households on our mailing list. — Looking at these members one must keep in mind that there are six Hungarian Reformed congregations in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area — some of them less than a couple of miles away from the other! And Hazelwood is not the almost-exclusive territory of our membership, like it was for generations. Many of our people come to church from far away suburbs. Elderly who don’t drive cars anymore must rely on the city bus service, which is limited to an every-second hour timetable on Sundays. Accordingly — our church attendance ranges from poor to average to excellent. „It all depends...” Most of our members have a set pattern both in their attendance and financial support. Some of them come every Sunday, some once a month, and others twice a year. And sit in the same pew, at the same place, and give the same amount like they always did. Could it be that our church building is too big for the twilight years of the 20th century? *** Consistory meetings are held every month, except in July and August. Of the 21 elders on the Board ten are under 50 years 154 PITTSBURGH, PA Minister: Rev. Nicholas Novak
