Magyar Egyház, 2009 (88. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2009-07-01 / 3-4. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 13. oldal 1 .The Calvin anniversary year was opened jointly on the East-Coast at the two New York congregations in Oct of 2008, Bishop Bölcskei providing the service. This was and will continue in other congregations, where it is possible the congregations are holding these events jointly with the last event on the West Coast, to be held in Ontario on Nov 1, 2009. Pastors and congregations are very welcome. 2. In honor of the Calvin anniversary, the two church bodies will edit a joint publication during the year 2009. 3. The elders of the two church bodies came to agreement and established a Ministerial Qualifying Committee to allow for better job placement for the pastors arriving from abroad. 4. There are discussions about to hold a joint Synod meeting, where both entities can discuss issues related to service, mission and church politics. 5. Throu a common decision both church bodies were represented at the Diaspora Conference in Budapest, on November 17- 18, 2008. During my Bishop’s visitations I always inform our congregations of the possibility of this union, which our leaders endorse and promote as well. The promotion and support of the Hungarian reformed union is a mission and a duty of all reformed Hungarians. This work was taken on many decades ago by the World Federation of the Hungarian Reformed Churches and the Consultative Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Churches and is being continued by the General Convent of the Carpathian Basin. We were glad to attend the 2008 Diaspora Conference in Hungary, which pointed out how dispersed we are in the world and how little we know of each other. We need to encourage each other, pray for one another, because we are all one in Christ. We have waited a long and were finally able to experience the embrace of the mother church on May 22 in Debrecen. On May 14, at the Special Bishop's Council meeting, our church has officially voted to join the Hungarian Reformed Church. At the historic meeting of the Constituting Synod, the Rev.Dr.Attila Kocsis, Dean and 1 represented our church and declared our intention to join the Hungarian Reformed Church with our signatures. The decision has to be confirmed by the 2010 General Assembly of course. During my service I have visited congregations, and held services at Staten Island, NY; Carteret, NJ; Washington,D.C; Chicago,IL; Toronto,ON; Windsor,ON; Honolulu,HI; Houston,TX; (3 times) Denver,CO. I attended the meeting of the Consultative Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Churches in Balatonszárszó and later in Budapest. I held services at the reformed congregations of Üllő, Hajdúnánás, Budapest-Klauzál tér. I was took part on the Eastern Classis meeting in New York,NY. I represented our church at the Calvin Synod UCC yearly meeting in Somerset, PA. I was in Ligonier,PA three times for various Bethlen Home and other church meetings. I also represented our church at the anniversary celebrations of the Grace Hungarian Reformed Church in Tarzana,CA. I served at the funeral of the Reverend Dr. Imre Bertalan in Washington,D.C. along with the opening of the Calvin year in New York,NY. I attended the Diaspora Conference in Budapest along with the three day long meeting of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church and on May 22 the meeting of the Constituting Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Debrecen. On May 14 at a Special teleconference meeting, our Bishop’s Council has voted on the subject of joining the Hungarian Reformed Church. Due to his appointment in the Calvin Synod, the Bishop's Council has accepted the resignation of Rt.Rev.Stefan M.Török, from the office of the Ecclesiastical Secretary. Rev.Ferenc Varga, Dean was appointed to continue the duties of the Ecclesiastical Secretary. May God bless his service. We thank Rt.Rev.Stefan M. Török for his many decade long services in our denomination. Important information regarding the life of our congregations: Eastern Classis: 15 congregations The Cliffside, NJ congregation disbanded, the assets have gone to the Eastern Classis and will be used for missionary expenses. Three mission congregations have been established, Atlanta,GA with Rev.Csaba Szilágyi's service and Charlotte,NC and Columbia,SC with the service of Rev.András Debreczeni. In the last year Rev.Imre Bertalan has passed away, we are grateful for his long service in our denomination and in the Washington,D.C. congregation. The congregation which he has established will be served by Rev.Judit Mayer and Rev.László Petró. Rev.Bamabas Rőczey has retired from New Brunswick,NJ, the congregation elected Rev.Zsolt Ötvös as new pastor. Rt.Rev.Stefan M. Török left the Carteret,NJ congregation, but he continue his service in the Staten Island,NY congregation. Central Classis: 6 congregations In the Windsor,ONT congregation the new pastor is Rev.Zoltán Lizik from Hungary. The Chicago,IL congregation has admitted to our denomination. Interesting to note that 50 years ago at one of the Central Classis congregation in Duquesne,PA, the first bishop of our denomination Rt.Rev.Zoltán Béky was elected on February 21, 1958 until then only the “Senior Dean” “főesperes” was the highest title and office. Western Classis: 13 congregations Its important to recognize some of our new congregations in the Western Classis: Seattle,WA, Denver,CO, Houston,TX, Dallas,TX, Honolulu,TX, Austin,TX, Portland,OR. Those congregations what I did not mention may serve with faith and I ask God to give them strength so they can continue to fight our battles and so that their efforts may come to result for the glory of God. The Ministerial Qualifying Committee accepted Rev.Judit Mayer and Rev.András Balogh pastors. God bless their services. The Youth Camp was a success last year and this year as well. Thank for the service of Mr.Gabor Csapó. May God’s bless follow their work. Three volumes of the past due editions of the Magyar Egyház-Magyar Church newspaper are now ready and copies are available at the meeting. I accept responsibility for the delay, part of the problem was my busy schedule and the other a miscommunication with the co-editor who expected more material from me, while I was under the impression that the material I sent was sufficient. However, the old issue - that the pastors are not contributing materials for the newspaper - is still a problem, making the work of the editor harder than it has to be. I thank my colleagues for supporting my work and services in the last year, Mr.Anthony C. Beke, Chief Elder, Rt.Rev.Stefan M. Török, Ecclesiastical Secretary, Dr.Zoltán Mester, Lay Secretary, Mrs.Szilvia Russell, Treasurer, Mr.Károly Okos, Controller, Rev.Dr.Attila Kocsis, Rev.Ferenc Varga, Rev.Balint Nagy, Deans and every other officer for their faithful service. God bless the service of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America Respectfully submitted, Sándor Szabó, Bishop
