Magyar Egyház, 1978 (57. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1978-01-01 / 1-2. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

9

REV. TIBOR TOTH 50th ANNIVERSARY

On Thanksgiving Day of last year, in the quiet and loving atmosphere of his family and relatives, Rev. Tibor Toth celebrated the 50th Anniversary of his ordination into the Christian ministry.

Rev. Toth was born in Hajdú County, Nádudvar, Hungary. He is a graduate of Bloomfield College and Seminary and was ordained by the Toledo Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church. The ordination service took place on April 13, 1927 in the Hungarian Reformed Church of Toledo with Rev. Dr. Lincoln Long. Rev. Louis Bogár, Rev. Michael Toth, Rev. Gero Garay and Rev. Charles Krivulka officiating.

Rev. Toth served pastorates in Beaver Falls, Elyria, East Chicago and Allen Park-Detroit. He was the founding pastor of the Allen Park-Detroit congregation which he served for 32 years. During his pastorate the church in Detroit and the present edifice in Allen Park were built and the congregation grew to become the largest in the Hungarian Reformed Church in America. Rev. Toth served 11 years as Dean of the Western Classis and also participated in the civic, fraternal and religious life of the community. For 16 years he was a Board member and later a Vice-president of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America. The last convention honored him by making him an Honorary Vice-President.

On August 1, 1971 Rev. Toth retired from the pastorate of the Allen Park-Detroit congregation and has since made his home, with his wife Lilly, in sunny Florida. The congregation in appreciation of his services, honored him by naming him Pastor Emeritus.

Magyar Egyház congratulates Rev. Tibor Toth on his 50th Anniversary and wishes him and his wife a long, happy, healthy and peaceful life in sunny Florida.

☆ ☆

HUNGARIAN BISHOP ISSUES CALL TO EVANGELISM

Budapest — A call to evangelism, biblical and apostolic spirituality was the main emphasis in his end-of-the-year report to the 1977 synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary by its president, Bishop Tibor Bartha.

WORLD ALLIANCE MEETING HELD JANUARY 6 AT PRINCETON, N. J.

Common understandings about the meaning, purpose, and basic doctrine of the Lord’s Supper have been reached by representatives of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Vatican’s Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity. The understandings are the result of seven years of conversations by the two groups, said Dr. E. David Willis, professor of theology at San Francisco Theological Seminary. Professor Willis was co-chairman of the inter-confessional dialogue.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the North American Council of the World Alliance here this week, Dr. Willis said that the “agreaments reached reverse misunderstandings about the Eucharist that have helped to keep Roman Catholic and Reformed Churches separated and often antagonistic for four hundred years.”

In presenting the official report of the conversations, “The Presence of Christ in Church and World,” Dr. Willis warned that the two bodies “cannot envisage an immediate possibility of inter-communion.”

He also noted that there still remain some unresolved disagreements on what is required for ordination of ministers and priests to make eucharistic fellowship possible.

“We gratefully acknowledge that both traditions, Reformed and Roman Catholic, hold to the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist; and both hold at least that the Eucharist is, among other things: a memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord; a source of loving communion with him in the power of the Spirit... ; and a source of eschatalogical hope for his coming again,” the report states.

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, represents 143 churches with a constituent membership of more than 60 million in all parts of the world.

The Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity is a direct result of Vatican II, designed to implement the ecumenical council’s history-making decision to engage in official consultations with non-Roman Christians.

Bishop D. Abraham and Dr. A. Harsanyi represented our denomination at the meeting. Among the delegates were Dr. John Bütösi of Bridgeport, representing the United Church of Christ, and Dr. Aurelia T. Füle of the United Presbyterian Church.