Bethlen Almanac 1997 (Ligonier)
Kálvin Egyházkerület
MANVILLE, NJ Pastor: Rev. Steven G. P. Strickler Chief Elder: William Kovács, Jr. Manville Reformed Church Manville, New Jersey The emphasis at the Manville Reformed Church changed during the course of 1997. Whereas we had been working hard in the last couple of years to draft a plan for building expansion (Mission 2000), our focus shifted from the physical aspect of Mission 2000 to the spiritual. At the end of 1996, we took some steps to utilize more fully our space and found that for now our facility is adequate for our numbers. And so we found God leading us to attend to a spiritual awakening in our midst, a widespread sense of God doing a new thing in the Manville Reformed Church. This can be seen most readily in our worship services. We have now added a Prayer and Praise Service on Tuesday evenings. This is a lively, free moving, Spiritled praise and worship service which involves contemporary music and lay leadership and involvement. We have discontinued the second English language worship service Sunday morning and have settled into an adjusted schedule: 9 a.m. Living Stories (Sunday School); Parenting Forum (for adults); 9:45 a.m. Praise (similar to Tuesday evening); 10:15 a.m. Worship; 11:30 a.m. Hungarian Worship. Although not all our members are thrilled with the contemporary music of the Prayer and Praise service, we are so far managing to keep a unity in the midst of our diversity. The 10:15 a.m. worship service has not changed much in form and format. We are thus finding fulfillment in worshiping God in many different ways. This spiritual renewal can also be seen in men from our congregation attending Promise Keepers events and Bible studies. A handful of men and boys attended Stand in the Gap in Washington, D.C. on October 4th and were greatly enriched by that historic gathering. Finally, we have established ties with an African American church in a neighboring community. Together with those sisters and brothers of faith, we planned and executed a prayerwalk in July through Manville. Technically speaking it was more of a praise march. We walked through the streets of Manville praying and singing, stopping at churches and businesses to pray and ask God’s blessings upon the town. We prayed that God would soften hearts to the Gospel message. The spiritual renewal that is beginning in Manville can be seen happening all over the world. It is interdenominational, interracial and international. We are excited to be experiencing God’s move in our midst. Rev. Steven G.P Strickler, Pastor 58
