William Penn Life, 1980 (15. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1980-07-01 / 3. szám
1980 Youth Camp From July 20 to 26 the Youth Camp of the Calvin Synod Conference (United Church of Christ) and of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America was held at the Laurelville Mennonite Church Center in Pennsylvania. 85 boys and girls took part in the camp, most of them in the 13 to 18-year old age group. 16 adults provided leadership and supervision virtually around the clock every day. ' The theme of this year’s camp was: “Our Christian Roots”. Under this general title five lectures were presented by the main speaker, Rev. Nicholas Novák of Pittsburgh. The Monday through Friday morning sessions comprised the review of some 3000 years of Christian history under the headings: The Old Testament Church, The New Testament Church, The Medieval Church, The Age of Reformation, and The Church in Our Century. Devotional periods of prayer and song were conducted by the camp director, Rev. László Medgyessy and his wife Rev. Coralyn Medgyessy, as well as by Mrs. Elizabeth Turrell of Fairport and Mrs. Kathy Maday of Springdale. The afternoons were free for swimming and other recreational sports. In charge of the evening worship services were Bishop Desmond Parragh and, on one occasion, senior members of the camping youths. In the early evening the campers were free to choose between six workshops. Stained-glass design was taught by Rev. László Medgyessy, Hungarian folkdances by Mrs. Szabó of Detroit. The group of Spiritual Interests was led by Rev. Coralyn Medgyessy, the Hungarian Heritage group by Rev. Paul Mező of Toronto, Canada. A LeaderL. to R.: Camp Director Rev. László Medgyessy, Elmer Charles, Bishop Desmond Parragh and Camp Registrar Rev. Nicholas Novak. ship Seminar was conducted by Miss Ethel Molnár and Principal Frank Nagy of Toledo. Teacher of the Dramatic Photography class was Rev. Louis Illés of Duquesne, who also served as associate camp director. After dark representative arrays of color slides were shown of the Holy Land and of Hungary. One film, dealing with juvenile delinquency, was projected — at the request of the 16-andover group — at 4 o’clock in the morning! (How about that for a dramatic effect!) Wednesday we visited the Bethlen Home in Ligonier. Thanks to the hotdog and hamburger barbecue there, plus the huge scoops of icecreams on the Ligonier Square, the tasty, solid and plentiful Mennonite supper at the camp was less than fully attended. At any rate, the recently completed Meeting Hall was packed to capacity when Árpád George and Elmer Varga, chief executives of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America presented their donation for the much needed and appreciated support of our youth work: $1,000.00 each for the two participating sister-denominations. The donation of the William Penn Association, $1,500.00, has been presented to the camp leaders by president Elmer Charles and vice-president Stephen Szilágyi. They also took some of the advisors for a conducted tour of the Scenic View project of the Association. And there was the Talent Show on Thursday evening. It turned out to be a truly international event. Because, just the day before, 52 Japanese children arrived to the camp from Tokyo, as participants of a student exchange program. We invited them to our Talent Show, and they all came. Hungarian dances, American favorites mingled with Japanese songs, and with tunes of Bach and Beethoven, played by Japanese girls on the piano. The most moving highlight of the week was, however, the service of dedication on Friday night. Bishop Parragh conducted the open-air service, Rev. Louis Illés the communion. Group by group, from East and West, from North and South, our youths came to stand around the bonfire and cast their twigs of pledge and friendship onto the flames. In a pilgrim procession they carried the flame down the mountainside to the chapel. Beautiful little candles they were, bravely flickering in the hushed silence of the summer night. Saturday morning came. Packing. Clean-up the cabins. Friendship circle: hands holding all around. Drivers announcing: Detroit-Toledo, all aboard . . . Bridgeport-Wallingford, all aboard . . . Smiles and tears of farewell . . . See you next year . . . May this brief account give our members a glimpse of a happy and successful camping, and expression of our sincere thanks to the Association and the Federation for their gifts. Without their generous help this memorable event could not have happened. Rev. Nicholas Novák Camp Registrar AN AMERICAN MESSAGE The word AMERICAN starts with A, the first letter of the alphabet. It continues with ME followed by the letter R, which represents a state of being. But the word’s most important message is the conclusion: I CAN. 22 1980 YOUTH CAMP
