Calvin Synod Herald, 1981 (81. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1981-01-01 / 1-2. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 5 DR. IMRE VARGA, BISHOP 1905-1980 Imre Varga was born in Györke, Hungary, now Durkov, Czechoslovakia, on October 1, 1905. He attended the local Reformed Grammar School after which he continued his secondary studies in the famous High School and College of Sárospatak of the Reformed Church in Hungary. After graduating, he studied at the Reformed Theological Seminary of Losonc-Lucenec, Czechoslovakia. He spent a graduate year in the Theological Seminary of Halle, Germany. Returning to his homeland, he was assigned as assistant minister of the Reformed Church of Munkács. Following a year of internship, in 1932, he was elected pastor of the Reformed Church of Rimaszombat. During this time until 1938, he was professor of New Testament Studies at the Losonc Theological Seminary. In 1953, he was elected Rishop of the Reformed Church in Slovakia. He received his Doctor’s degree from Prague Theological Seminary. Rishop Varga attended the meetings of the World Council of Churches and of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches as a representative of his Church and was elected vice-president in both. In this capacity, he visited all over the world, including the United States. He is survived by his wife, Viola, five children: Csilla, Imre, Levente, Géza and Piroska, ten grandchildren and a sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Vitéz. He passed away on December 10th in Kassa and was buried on December 14th in the Reformed Church Cemetery in Zdana-Hernadzsadany. May he rest in peace. MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR BISHOP IMRE VARGA A Memorial Service for Rev. Dr. Imre Varga, Rishop of the Reformed Church in Slovakia was held in the John Calvin Magyar Reformed Church of Perth Amboy on Sunday, December 28th. The English Message was delivered by The Rev. Dr. James I. McCord, President of Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. McCord said that Bishop Varga’s “humanity and Christian faith enriched the lives of so many, not only in the Reformed Church, but those with whom he became in contact as an ecumenical pioneer and leader/’ He was ‘‘conducting himself always not merely correct but as a Reformed minister and brother Christian. Imre Varga was a great Church member because he was a Reformed Catholic. He understood that the Reformation gave us the catholicity of the Word, the catholicity of the Church and the catholicity of the world.” The Hungarian Message was delivered by the Rt. Rev. Louis Nagy who remembered Bishop Varga’s service in Hungarian Reformed ecumene. Rev. Dr. Andrew Harsanyi and Rev. Dr. John Butosi offered prayers and the local pastor, Rev. Dr. Francis Vitéz led the Service. At the end of the Service, the bells of Bishop Varga’s native church were sounded from a tape recording. His untimely death is a great loss not only to his family, but to his Church and all that knew him throughout the world. * Dr. Eugene J. Bard was born in Berend, Szatmár County and he came to the United States in 1922. He graduated from Columbia University and resides in Sayville, Long Island. His hobby is translating Endre Ady’s poems. ON ELIJAH'S CHARIOT As with Elijah, the Lord taketh Whom He wishes to love, or smite, For fiery carts He endows them With rapid and fiery hearts. Elijah’s tribes rush toward the Sky, Their blazing wagon clatters — and stops In regions of winters eternal, On the frozen Himalayan tops. Between Earth and Sky, homeless and sad, Driven they are by the winds of Fate. Towards strange, frigid, evil Beauties Sails the Prophet’s flaming cavalcade. Their hearts ablaze, their heads in the frost, From Earth, a smile, heartfelt and just, As their path by a merciful Sun Is covered by cold diamond dust. Trans. Dr. Eugene J. Bard
