Bethlen Almanac 2000 (Ligonier)
Közép Egyházmegye - Central Classis
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA First Hungarian Reformed Church of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Commissioned Minister: Ilona M. Komjáthy Chief Elder: Wilburn A. Roby, Jr. This first year of the new millennium was marked with a joyful time of celebration as we remembered with grateful hearts the one hundred and tenth anniversary of the founding of our church. Standing in our musical heritage we sang Psalm 98 of the Genevan Psalter in both Hungarian and English, “Sing a new song to Jehovah”. This became the Biblical framework of both remembrance and hope. Our festivities included two worship services, one on the actual date of founding April 6 and another on Saturday. The Rev. Dr. Samuel Calian, President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary preached on April 6, this was the actual founding of our church. His sermon was our “Unchanging Faith in a Changing World”. On Saturday, the presence of the Hungarian Reformed clergy and friends of Calvin Synod in addition to the local churches of our community enhanced our celebrations. Our Bishop Rt. Rev. Louis Medgyesi led the worship of the people of God through the preaching of the Word and Bishop Emeritus Zoltán Szucs liturgically led us in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Our pastor and Rev. Neomi Szőke from Slovakia assisted in the serving of the Lord’s Supper along with Bishop Medgyesi. Our chief elder, Wilburn Roby and our vice elder Frances Matthews removed the covers from the Lord’s Table. Our organist Audrey Showalter and our assistant organist Margaret McNellis beautifully embellished the solemnity of the occasion and our church choir sang in Hungarian. A successfully executed banquet included the organizing work of Mrs. Virginia Roby, beautified by the decorations of Mrs. Elsie Vargo and completed by the home-baked cookies provided by our church members insured the occasion will be remembered by all who attended. This spring in March we hosted the touring Concordia choir from S lovakia. The education work of the church is done through the faithful ministry of Cindy Toth and Patricia McClean. This year we also had our first annual Youth Rally Day and church picnic. Our young people did the entire service and Marianne Medgyesi preached the sermon. They were a joy to behold! Our church joined with the Lutheran church for Vacation 57
