Bethlen Almanac 1998 (Ligonier)

Tóparti Egyházmegye - Lakeside Classis

Candlelight preacher; his wife, Judit, President of the National Hungarian Reformed Women’s Guild, was a worship participant. We had a successful drive in our church to purchase 200 copies of the New Hungarian Reformed World Hymnal. Unfortunately, by the time, we were ready to place our order, all the hymnals were sold, and no new printing is planned. We are in the process of finding a solution, so we can continue to sing the psalms in a rhythmic way. We also conducted drives to benefit the Szentes church, the arson damaged Miskolc “deszka-templom”, and Bishop László Tőkés’ cause in Erdély. Dr. Attila Kálmán, Synod Presbyter of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Hungary, (he happens to be our pastor’s younger brother), visited us twice (in 1997 & 1998), both times with wellreceived presentations. The Reverends Gyula Barta of Csenger, and Zsigmond Vad of Debrecen were guest preachers from Hungary.

Several Hungarian cultural programs highlighted the year; such as Béla Pomogáts, President of the Hungarian Writers’ Guild, Budapest, László Siklós, poet from Mátészalka, Hungary, or the cabaret artist, Zoltán Gulyás of Budapest. We conducted several major social events: such as dinner-dances, Mother’s Day dinner, picnic, and a Harvest Festival. A first in our history was a four-day May Festival on Memorial Day weekend, 1998. As the enclosed photo shows, our parking lot was turned into a carnival with several kiddies’ rides. Close to 100 volunteers served food to the hundreds of visitors for the four days. We are grateful to the many people whose participation made those events possible.

In 1997, our pastor was guest-speaker or conducted services at the Ohio ITT-OTT Hungarian Conference, and in Toronto at their anniversary worship and banquet. In May 1998, he received his Doctor of Ministry Degree from Ashland Theological Seminary. The title of his project was: “Problem or Opportunity? A Proposal for a Model for Bilingual Ethnic Ministry at West Side Hungarian Reformed Church in Cleveland, Ohio. ” The 600-page study shortly will be available at the Hungarian theological academies, some selected libraries in the USA, and also on the Internet. We also congratulate the Rev. Sára Katócz of Erdély, who in 1997, received a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Counseling from Ashland Theological Seminary.

In 1997, our total income was $168,821, (contributions from individuals 48.3%, donations from church organizations 28.6%, from cultural & social activities 20.2%, miscellaneous 2.9%). Our total expenses amounted to $173,216, (real estate 31.1%, payroll 35.4%, church administration 11.4%, cultural & social events 10.1%, mission giving 12%).

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