The
Reverend Albert Hady was the first pastor of the First
Church, and officially served from August 1, 1926 until
ill health forced him to retire 20 years later in 1946.
He
was born in 1895 in Szatmármegye, and it was in the
1920's that he came to the United States. At that time,
the Hungarian economy was in chaos and life and the
future
seemed bleak. Many Hungarians left their homeland for
America to try and make a better life. Such was the
case with Albert Hady.
Before
coming to Los Angeles for during the summer of 1925,
he taught at the church school
at the Hungarian
Reformed Church in Buffalo, New York. As a seminary
student on vacation but also with the notion of church-planting,
he spent the entire summer of 1925 in Los Angeles meeting
and contacting other Hungarians. His persistence paid
off and he quickly pulled together a group of Hungarians
of all denominations, and every Sunday throughout the
summer, he conducted Istentisztelet in Hungarian. At
summer’s end, he returned to Lancaster, Pennsylvania
to complete his studies and degree. Before he left,
the
small group of Hungarians made him absolutely promise
- Igérje meg! - that he would return to become their
pastor once he finished school. His studies in Lancaster
were not easy - he was still learning English while
completing his Bachelor of Arts, then his Master of Theology.
It
was with this degree in hand that he returned to Los
Angeles in June of 1926, and on August 1, 1926 he and
the people he had left behind the previous year formally
organized the First Hungarian Reformed Church of Los
Angeles. He was officially installed as pastor in a
formal ceremony in front of his congregation, on June
28, 1928.
 Albert
Hady was a pioneering Hungarian pastor who successfully
planted a church and spent his entire 20-year pastoral
call building the congregation and nurturing Magyar culture
and the Magyar Reformed faith. Almost immediately upon
the founding of the church, he worked to establish a
Choir, a Women's Guild, a Bible Group and a Youth Group,
and also began publication of the Church newspaper -
all of which served to preserve Hungarian spiritual and
cultural life among his flock in their adopted homeland.
It was under his leadership in 1930 that the congregation
purchased their first home at 1101 West Florence Avenue.
In 1946, again under his leadership, the congregation
purchased a parsonage. It was because of Albert Hady's
successful church-planting efforts that other Hungarian
churches, including Hungarian churches of other denominations,
were founded later in California. It was under Albert
Hady's pastoral care that the congregation generated
and fulfilled an action program to help Hungary during
WW II. The work of the church was so successful, that
it was recognized by the Los Angeles chapter of the Red
Cross for raising the most funds from all of LA’s participating
churches.
After
several years of declining health, Albert Hady retired
in June of 1946. He passed away in April
of 1970
after a lengthy illness. He and his wife, Ilona Décsmán
Hady were much loved by the congregation as well as
the entire Magyar Los Angeles community. Reverend Hady's
years of hard work won him many friends and admirers
both Hungarian as well as American. He preached dynamic
sermons and was a man of tremendous faith and energy
who successfully inspired others to work alongside
him
in building a future for the First Church and the community.
Mrs. Hady actively worked with Reverend Hady during
his entire 20-year service to the First Church. She served
as Choir Director and Organist for 2 decades, and remained
an active member of the congregation until she passed
away in 1998 at the age of 92.
The
congregation's second long-time pastor was a classmate
and good friend of Reverend
Albert Hady. Reverend Antal
Szabó received his call from the First Hungarian Reformed
Church in January of 1946, and began serving in June
of that year. He served the congregation 23 years.
He
was born on May 29, 1900 in Szatmármegye, which became
part of Romania in 1920. In 1921 he and his wife, Mária
Bakk Szabó left their home for the United States. He
attended seminary with Albert Hady in Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
then in Dayton, Ohio. He was installed as pastor in
1927 at the McKeesport First Hungarian Reformed Church.
He
came to Northern California shortly thereafter, and
worked hard to plant churches in the San Francisco-Oakland
area.
In the meantime, he obtained a Master of Theology at
the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. In 1931,
he went to Perth Amboy, New Jersey as a substitute
pastor and at the request of the congregation there,
ended up
staying 10 years. He went to Homestead, Pennsylvania
for 2 years, but returned to Perth Amboy, where he
felt the need seemed greater. In 1946, he was called
to the
First Hungarian Reformed Church of Los Angeles until
his retirement in 1969. After his retirement, from
1971 until 1974, he served as the pastor of the San Fernando
Valley Hungarian Reformed Church. He was instrumental
in keeping that church going through a period of great
difficulty, and retired finally in 1974.
 It
was under Reverend Szabó's leadership that the First
Church on Florence Avenue underwent many improvement
and expansion projects, including the installation of
the beautiful stained glass windows. Among many improvements,
the congregation during these years also purchased a
modern Baldwin organ to replace the ancient foot-pump
organ that Mrs. Hady had toiled on for 20 years. Reverend
Szabó in 1963 visited a remarkable 518 people - in fact,
many people can still recall his caring home visits.
He baptized, confirmed, married and said funeral prayers
for countless Hungarians in Los Angeles during his 23
years as pastor. The Christmas and Easter services required
that extra chairs be set up for the overflow crowds that
would come to hear his meaningful and carefully crafted
sermons. In addition to the Hungarian services, he instituted
English services for members of the congregation who
spoke better English than Hungarian, but who in their
hearts remained Magyar and wanted to attend a Magyar
church.
Reverend
Szabó and the congregation welcomed the Hungarian refugees
from WW II, then 10 years later, the
refugees
from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. English services
were expanded, the Youth Groups and Choir flourished
and other fellowship groups like the Harmony Club,
and the Martha Circle were founded.
Reverend
Antal Szabó is remembered in the 1990 Calvin Synod Herald
by Reverend
Szabolcs Kálmán as a pastor
who served. Reverend Szabó was a Magyar pastor who
studied theology in the United States, but remained a
part of
and served among the Magyar community. Reverend Szabolcs
writes that Reverend Antal Szabó was not argumentative,
did not create dissent, did not offend - he served.
He was the person who listened patiently to everyone,
made
peace, and did not put his concerns above those of
others. With the active assistance of his wife, Mrs.
Szabó, Reverend
Szabó served his community faithfully and effectively.
He stayed fresh and current in theological matters
until the very end. He and his wife were much loved and
tremendously
respected by the community. He passed away in 1990
after a brief illness. Mrs. Szabó passed away October
of 1996.
Other
pastors who served the First Church were Alajos Krisik,
who served for 7 months in 1932, while
Reverend
Hady was called to serve temporarily at a Hungarian
Reformed Church in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. In the 1950's,
the First
Church was served by several very capable Youth Pastors
- Reverend Knut Gundersen, from 1954-1955 and Reverend
Frank Juhász Shepherd from 1955-1957.
After
Reverend Szabó retired, Reverend Gyula Paál served the
congregation
from 1969-1981. The 1970's were times
of great change. Reverend Paál was a recognized scholar
during his seminary days in Hungary and later studied
at Princeton and Lehigh University in the US. A serious
theologian, he preached strong, scholarly and relevant
sermons based on important Biblical teachings. He passed
away on November 18, 2001 in Pennsylvania. Reverend
Sándor Patócs served from 1982-1987, times of more change
for
the congregation. After March of 1987 several pastors
served the congregation for short periods - György
Nagy, for three months at the end of 1989. Ferenc Gaál
for
from 1990-1991. A number of guest pastors have served
the congregation, among them the Reverends Sándor and
Mária Babos, Dr. Lászlo Berzeviczy, István Danyi, Szabolcs
Kálmán, Héthalmi Páth Károly, Dr. Jakab Morásk, Bálint
Nagy, Sándor Németi, Sándor Oláh, Sándor Szabo, and
Dezső Trombitás.
 In
1991, the Reverend Dr. Béla Bónis began serving our congregation
as Supply Pastor. During that time, also purchased and
moved into our new church home here in Hawthorne. Our
congregation was blessed to have been able to serve God
for more than a decade with Dr. Béla Bónis, who retired
at the end of 2002 at the age of 85.
In
2003, after a long pastoral search process and with the
assistance
of our Hungarian Calvin Synod, our congregation
elected a new pastor - the Reverend István Kacsó. We
are elated to have Reverend Kacsó with us. This heralds
a fresh and blessed period in our history, as Reverend
Kacsó follows a tradition of the much-loved and respected
pastors who have served our congregation and the Los
Angeles community.
Reverend
Kacsó has pastoral experience with Hungarian congregations
in Hungary, Erdély, Serbia
and other places in Europe, and more recently was a
pastor of The American Hungarian Reformed Church in
Allen Park,
Michigan. He has a broad-based educational background
that includes several advanced degrees in Theology,
Philosophy, and American Studies from universities
in Europe and
the USA. He is well known for his inspirational, powerful
and compelling sermons based on deeply rooted Biblical
teachings. Each Sunday, he preaches two different sermons
both in English and in Hungarian that reflect issues
that are applicable to our daily lives, and seek to
nurture a balanced way of living in today's world that
is pleasing
to God.
We
are tremendously grateful to God for giving our congregation
and Reverend Kacsó this opportunity
to serve. We hope
that He will continue to abundantly bless the work
that we do together, and that everyone who worships with
us
will come to share our joy in serving Him and each
other. In the process, we hope that each one of us will
be able
to answer our deepest inner call and discover who God
calls us to be.
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