Magyar Egyház, 1992 (71. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)
1992-04-01 / 4. szám
12. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ of our sister church in Trenton, and our Bishop R. Rev. Dr. Andrew Harsanyi had made a request we interviewed Rev. Karla on behalf of our denomination, and he was videotaped confirming his wish to serve as a minister in USA. By this interview we bore witness to our reformed Christian unity and opportunity of mutual help. After the pleasant impressions and the good lunch provided by our host in Verőce we visited Esztergom. Budapest was waiting for us with her night lights, with the wondrous view of her bridges over the Danube. In the morning we started to Zsámbék where a genuine church ruin exhibits the architecture of its age. Then we visited Rev. Geza Tisler, minister of the neighboring Gyermely, who opened up a young pastor’s clerical perspectives before us speaking of his fresh, vital ideas. Next we visited Tarján and Hereg, where I had been pastor before I came to Carteret. It was a pleasure to see the reconstruction work going on the church of Tarján. I could get Billy Grahams support for this project during my scholarship at the Princeton Seminary. After a short Chief Elders' council we went to see Bajna the ruins of Metternich castle were clearly speaking of the communist destruction in Hungary. On the way back to Budapest we made a stop at one of the British War Cemeteries where we commemorated the heroes of World War II. On Sunday, listening to an invitation of Rev. Péter Kálmán, we went to Kelenföld to rejoice at the Gospel of our Lord where Lenny greeted the congregation, and I proclaimed the word of God. The next day we spent in Budapest. We met more ministers of Transylvania and Hungary, then we visited the National Museum to see the symbol of Hungary, the crown of Stephen I., and the “History of Hungarians” exhibition. Of course we saw great many other things, from among I mention the Heroes’ Square where beside the numerous monuments we stopped at the tumb of the Unknown Soldier. Our next destination was Balatonalmádi, where I am from. Meeting my parents and brother provided further experiences. In this city we founded our headquarters from where we organized our tourist combats around the fabulous lake Balaton. Among others we visited the ancient monastery of Tihany, then we went to Veszprém, where artistic children just practiced a passion play (crucifixion of Jesus). The next stop was Herend to see the famous porcelain manufacturer and museum. From here we were in a hurry to drop in the lately reopened Reformed College of Pápa. R. Rev. Zsolt Kövy president guided us around and showed us the great renovation work, and even under this circumstances the classes were on. They have been fighting with permanent financial shortages - but they hope that in spite of all these, Pápa should become a Mighty (Educational) Fortress of the Reformation. Our next stop was Pannonhalma, the first Christian Monastery of Hungary, then we visited Réde where we met V. Rev. Miklós Batky, the father of Anna-our guest minister at Easter, the dean of the Komárom Classis. V. Rev. Batky spoke of the shortage of ministers in Hungary, and timely tasks of church leadership. Getting close to the end of our trip we arrived in Miskolc, the center of our East Hungarian tour. Here we were received by R. Rev. László Kiirthy who informed us about the church life. During the last years of his office as bishop he was the manager who made many arrangements to reorganize the Reformed College of Sárospatak. Of course we visited the College reopened a year ago, where a part of the education - according to traditions - is in English. In Sárospatak we had our pilgrimage to the statue of Zsolt Harsányi, writer, and commemorated the father of our bishop. Among the ancient walls of the College Rev. Dávid Pándi Szekeres, a Hungarian Reformed minister, who teaches English here, received us. He mentioned to us, that just at the time of our visitations there were the admission exams to the newly reopened Theological Seminary here. In the archives we met Prof. Kálmán Újszaszi who spoke of the struggles of reformed intellectuals to keep the special spirituality vital during the communist period. From among the present challenges of the church he mentioned the dividedness of the people. From here we traveled to Debrecen, however we stopped in Tokaj to have a sip of its famous wine. In Debrecen we visited the well known Reformed College, which included the only reformed high school until the political changes - since the government gradually has been giving the other high schools back to the church. Arriving back to Miskolc, we attended a worship service there and after the sermon of R.Rev. István Mészáros both, Lenny and I greeted the congregation. Bishop Mészáros had good memories of his this year’s trip to USA, and spoke of the hope that the Hungarian Reformed bridges would tie the shores of the ocean. Finally we visited Eger Where Rev. Zsolt Kádár was our guide. He studied in Princeton last year and was our guest minister at Christmas. He spoke about that heroic fight when the fortress of Eger defended the well being of the Western Culture against the ten time greater Turkish army - successfully. CARTERET, NJ Lelkész: Rev. Tóth L. Péter 175 Pershing Avenue, Carteret, NJ 07008 Telefon: (201)541-5051 Már a Hűsvét időszaka mozgalmas volt gyülekezetünkben, amikor mind amerikai, mind magyarországi igehírdetők és vendégek megfordultaknálunk. Rövid ideig meglátogatott bennünket Nt. dr. Széchey Béla evangélikus lelkész, minisztériumi főosztályvezető, majd Nt. Boross Géza, a Magyarországi Református Egyház elnökségi szóvivője volt vendégünk, aki presbiteri gyűlésünkön egyházpolitikai tájékoztatót tartott.
