Bethlen Almanac 1997 (Ligonier)
Kálvin Egyházkerület
. the host. We were honored by the Rt. Rev. Alexander Forro, Bishop of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America, who addressed the session. The Dean and Secretary-Treasurer were re-elected, and churches given the opportunity to speak about their life and concerns. A plenary session was held to review the churches’ concerns about the continuing relationship of Calvin Synod to the United Church of Christ. The Dean reminded the churches of the Calvin Synod Annual Meeting and noted that “each church is required to send a delegate and its pastor, according to Reformed policy and our rule. Let us not give away by apathy the right and importance of lay participation in the governance of the churches, won at great cost by the Reformers and our golden heritage of Elders past.” In the face of divided opinions upon the Synod’s denominational situation, the Dean urged unity in the Classis and Synod: “Let us grow together in helpfulness, according to the Scriptures, building up one another in the faith. Let us do it all by first giving Christ our hearts and living to the Glory of God.” Rev. Albert W. Kovács, Dean BRIDGEPORT, CT Pastor: Rev. Thomas Karla* Chief Elder: Joseph C. Poruban United Church of Christ Bridgeport, Connecticut The Bridgeport congregation is currently without a pastor, and we are actively seeking a pastor to lead our church into the 21 st century. Our church has confirmed 6 young people. Rev. Thomas Karla instructed the class, and the confirmation was held in May 1997. The boys were: Ricky Visinski, Paul Dumas and Joseph Erdos, Jr. The girls were: Bethany Cook, Stephanie Falsetti and Lauren Roche. We buried 8 church members, one being our oldest member, Helen Csigay, who was 94 years old when she died in September. There were no baptisms and no weddings. In the fall, we began a major restoration project which includes repairs to the church roof, stone work and spires to be rebuilt. These repairs will exceed $40,000. We were able to supplement our income by holding church luncheons and our annual Hungarian Rose Ball in June. In addition to these activities, we had several flea markets arranged by our chairperson, Barbara 56
