By Vilma Novak —
PERTH AMBOY — The congregation of the Magyar Reformed Church on Kirkland Place, Perth Amboy, installed their new minister, Rev. András Szász, at the church on Sunday, June 9. Magyar Reformed clergy from several parishes were there to participate in the ceremony. The church was packed and the congregation was joyful. After the installation ceremony all proceeded to the Forge on Route 9 in Woodbridge for a banquet. Clergy, dignitaries and congregation were entertained by Hungarian Folk Dancers and a Hungarian Folk Music Band.
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- PERTH AMBOY – (Photo #2) 1st row: Oláh Kátoly, Rt.Rev. Poznán Béla, Szász András, Very Rev. Ujj Laszlo, Vásárhelyi József, 2nd row: Leslie E. Martin, Kovács Csongor, Ötvös Zsolt, Devecseri Tamás, Rőczey Barnabás, August J. Molnár, 3rd row: Király Tibor, Szuhoczki Lucskay Csilla, Fogarasi Anita and Török István. (As reflected above, except for August J. Molnár’s name, the last name comes before the first in the Hungarian language) *Photos by Vilma Novak
Rev. Szász was born in Szaszregen, Transylvania* (Erdely), Romania (Transylvania was called Erdely when the land was a province of Hungary), and came from a long line of Magyar Reformed ministers. He completed his studies at the Magyar Reformed High School and Seminary in Kolozsvar and was a student at the Evangelical Theology of Hermannstadt (Nagyszeben), where his classes were conducted in German. He served as the pastor in Kisborosnyo and later was elected pastor in Nagyteremi, he was ordained as a minister by the Transylvanian Reformed Bishopric.
Rev. Szász worked and traveled in the States while he was still a seminary student on summer break in 2003. He returned to Europe, worked and married his wife, Tunde Ilona Nagy; they were blessed with two sons, Andras, 4 and Adam, 2. Rev. and Mrs. Szász had long desired to serve a congregation in the United States and acquired permanent residency status here. After a time they received a call to be interviewed to fill an opening for Pastor at Perth Amboy’s Magyar Reformed Church. He was elected and delivered his first sermon on Christmas Eve 2011. He has served with wisdom, leads by example and inspires all during Sunday services.
Early last century there lived a large community of Hungarian immigrants in Perth Amboy and the surrounding area. The Magyar Church on Kirkland Place was a spiritual and cultural home to many of them. The church was established in 1903, they had a chapel on Cortlandt Street, and another chapel in Keasbey. Many in the Perth Amboy Hungarian community lived in the Hall Avenue area at that time.
* In 1920, the World War 1 Allies confirmed the union of Transylvania with Romania in the Treaty of Trianon. Hungary protested as over 1,600,000 Hungarian people were living in the area in question, mainly in Székely Land of Eastern Transylvania. There remains a large population of Hungarians in Székely Land and there is an active movement to obtain a higher level of self-governance and autonomy for this region within Romania.
