Magyar Egyház, 1968 (47. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1968-02-01 / 2-3. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

13

MAGYAR

CHURCH

GENERAL ASSEMBLY of The Hungarian Reformed Church In America

The General Assembly of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America began with a service of Holy Communion conducted by Bishop Louis Nagy Monday morning, February 19, in the Trenton church.

After the introductory address of Dr. Sándor Kiss, chief elder and co-chairman of the General Assembly, Bishop Nagy presented a large-scale report on the “state of the Church in the world” and “the world’s presence in the Church”. The G. A. received the 5,000 word “profound and thorough-going report” with appreciation and in a resolution expressed its conviction that in all his actions and undertakings the Bishop had been guided by his love for the Reformed Church and for the Hungarian people and by his endeavor to help and serve the same, this having been the avowed purpose of all his 18 years of pastoral and ecclesiastical services in building the Hungarian Reformed Church in America.

Since the three-year term of office of the Bishop and other office-bearers of the Church have expired, the report of the Committee on Elections was the most eagerly awaited item on the agenda of the G. A. Chief Elder Kiss submitted this report. The G. A., after thorough deliberation, on the grounds that many votes have been received after the dead-line, also that several congregations have not properly fulfilled their apportionment-obligations so that—in strict adherence to the constitution—these votes would have been considered as not valid, invalidated the election and called for a new vote in regard to the office of bishop. The congregations must return their votes on or before April 1, 1968. Bishop Louis Nagy declared that, on account of poor health, he will not be a candidate for this office. He suggested that the Rev. Dezső Ábrahám he recommended to the congregations.

Among various administrative measures, the General Assembly

• confirmed the transfer of the Miami Church to the Eastern Classis;

• approved that the denominational monthly magazine, Magyar Egyház, he printed by the

newly established Bethlen Freedom Press;

@ voted donations toward the Hungarian Reformed church buildings in Geneva (Switzerland) and Montevideo (Uruguay) as well as toward the new Hungarian Bible translation;

® commissioned Dr. Andrew Harsanyi, dean of the Eastern Classis, to co-ordinate the work concerning the reform and unification of the Church’s liturgy;

@ was gratified by the report that the fall meeting of the national Roman Catholic-Reformed/Presbyterian conversation will be held in the Hungarian Reformed Church of Allen Park, Michigan (Dean Tibor Toth, Pastor).

The General Assembly was adjourned with Bishop Nagy’s closing remarks and with a prayer by General Secretary Gabor Csordás until a date in April when the result of the new vote will be announced. Magyar Egyház will publish the full list of all elected officials after that announcement.

/ LOVE THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED FAITH

A Seminarian Speaks Out on the Ministry in Hungarian Reformed Churches in America

The Church today is faced with a great many problems, and one of the most serious is the growing shortage of ministers. This is becoming a special problem in our Hungarian congregations. It is not that we have no young men going into the ministry. There are a good many, but most of them seem to be attracted to American congregations.

I am a Senior at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary (N. J.) and I write this out of love and devotion to the Hungarian Reformed Church, and with deep concern for its future here in America.

As I said, many of the young men in our churches do not go into Hungarian congregations when they are ordained. I myself have talked with several who plan to enter seminary, hut do not intend to serve in a Hungarian congregation. Their explanation for this is that they don’t know our language well enough to serve a bilingual congregation.

I know that Hungarian is not an easy language to learn. I was born here and I am of the fourth generation of my family to live in America. My Hungarian is not very good, and what I know was learned at home, and under the guidance of a good minister