Magyar Egyház, 1989 (63. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1989-07-01 / 4. szám

10. oldal

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

Free Hungarian Reformed Church on the east coast. After seminary he worked for the Presbytery of Philadelphia, PA, till his election as Pastor of St. Georges & Delaware City Presbyterian Churhes, Delaware. He served as Pastor there until 1973. During this time he worked for a year as Senate Chaplain of the State Senate of Delaware; as Chaplain Counselor for two years at Governor Bacon Health Center, Delaware City, Delaware; and Adjunct Professor of Psychology for three years at Wilmington College, New Castle, Delaware. He also received his M.Ed. Degree in Counseling Psychology from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA in 1959.

In the summer of 1973 he was elected as Director of Campus Ministry at Texas A. & M. University, College Station, Texas, where he served for five years. While at College Station he completed his course work and examinations for a Ph.D. degree in Counseling and Social Psychology and the Almighty also granted him two beautiful daughters Ildikó and Anikó. His wife is a teacher of English and Fine Arts, the former Barbara Cecil Kizer of St. George, South Carolina. During this time he also served as interim pastor at The First Presbyterian Church of Sealy, Texas.

In the beginning of 1978 his dream came true when a Hungarian church, The Southsidc Presbyterian Church in Niles, Ohio called him to be their pastor. He served there for two years when on November 25, 1979 The Lorain Hungarian Reformed Church, Lorain, Ohio elected him to be their Pastor, where he is serving since. The Lorain church was part of the local Western Reserve Association of the UCC and transfered its membership to The Calvin Synod by the unanimous vote of the congregation in February of 1983. At the 47th Annual Meeting of the Calvin Synod, in May of 1985 Pastor Szűcs was elected as General Secretary of The Synod, serving for four years. On May 25, 1989, at the 51st Annual Meeting of The Calvin Synod the delegates honored and entrusted Pastor Szűcs with the responsibility and trust of electing him Bishop of The Calvin Synod Conference. He was sworn in at that date together with the other officers of The Synod, the oath being administered by The Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Szabó, but his ordination will be on September 17, 1989 at 4:30 p.m. at The Lorain Hungarian Reformed Church, due to the fact that the Rt. Rev. Dr. Elemer Kocsis, Presiding Bishop of The Hungarian Reformed Church, Hungary will be here for this occasion. It is a very great honor for the totality of The Calvin Synod, for in the life of the Hungarian Reformed churches in the United States this is the first occasion hat he Presiding Bishop of Hungary will be a part of the ordination of a Hungarian Reformed Bishop in the United States.

VACANT CHURCHES

CARTERET, New Jersey; pulpit vacant by November 1, 1989.

WINDSOR, Ontario, Canada; pulpit vacant August, 1989.

Interested applicant Hungarian Reformed ministers should get in touch with the respective pulpit committees, or Dean Török (for Carteret) or Dean Demeter (for Windsor).

An applicant if not a former minister of a congregation of our Synod must he qualified by our Committee of Eligibility, Dean Csordás, chairman.

LESSONS FROM THE LAKESIDE

The reader of the following meditation must first read from the Gospel of John, Chapter 20:30-31 and Chapter 21:1-13.

The Scripture portion requested above to be read is not a continuous one. After the first sentence — verses 20:30-31. — it breaks. Here was apparently the end of the Gospel of John. He told the story of Jesus that the readers and hearers may believe in him and have life in his name.

After this a new story begins. Bible scholars consider it genuine written by the same Apostle John as an epilogue, a postscript. As if the writer after having finished his original story would say: “Listen, there are thousands of stories about Jesus I could have told you and here is one of them. I just cannot keep it from you.” And so comes the additional story as we have it in Chapter 21 telling the story of the scene on the lakeside. Here we want to examine the first half of Chapter 21.

If we think of it carefully we find that the extraordinary about is that it is not extraordinary at all. Nothing really miraculous in it. Maybe this was the reason why John picked this one and added it to his Gospel. Remember, it was the turn of the century, some 70 years after the resurrection. At this time Jesus had followers all over the world in many congregations, among them in lands of Greek culture; not in Judea or Galilee, not in Jerusalem. These congregations were more or less organized fellowship of believers. The everyday life of these congregations was not a succession of miracles. It was just everyday life listening to the teaching of their leaders, praying, singing hymns, and gathering for the sacred meal of bread and wine. Oh yes, there were miraculous changes in some persons’ lives as they became followers of Christ. But there were no sensational apparitions of Jesus anymore nor any other miraculous events. Yet, there surely were people who were asking and waiting for excitement, some new members, new converts who remembering the mysteries of their past religion were expecting new and more exciting mysteries and were disappointed when such did not come.

It is proper to assume that the Apostle John added his epilogue to his Gospel for such people pointing to the routine life of Christ’s disciples which was still different from the life of ordinary people.

In the story at the Lakeside John wanted to tell some important lessons to his readers. What are these Lessons from the Lakeside? We may want to learn them, too.

As the story goes the disciples are back in Galilee at the Sea of Gennesareth. The scene is almost like three years before: the evening is near, it is soon time to go fishing. The difference between then and now is that then they were fishing partners only, now they belong to the fellowship of Christ’s disciples; there is a new bond between them: the common Master, the Lord Jesus.

Here is Lesson Number One. Outwardly a Christian fellowship is pretty much the same as any other group of people: family, friends, neighbors, business partners, fellowworkers in an office or in a plant. These human relationships do not disappear through being Christians. But they are and must be qualified, deepened by the bond of common faith. Let people look at each other, think of each other, be concerned for each other beyond and above their relationships as family, friends, neighbors, fellow-workers in the consciousness of being disciples of Christ.

We must also remember that the time was after the