Dear Friends and Fellow Hungarians,
Recently, the Hungarian Reformed Church of San Francisco and Vicinity sold their church building in Redwood City with the goal of obtaining a new, more suitable location.
Additionally, the Bay Area Hungarian community has been trying to re-establish a Hungarian-owned Cultural Center for the last 40 years, in order to preserve our culture and traditions into the future.
Together, we can turn both dreams into reality! The Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church in Newark is now up for sale. The facility has a sanctuary, separate social hall, full kitchen, picnic area, fenced-in areas for children and lots of parking. With your generous support we can acquire this property which will be ideal as a new home for our church and to establish a Hungarian Cultural Center. This would be the only Hungarian-owned establishment in the San Francisco Bay Area.
We have been conducting Sunday services and hosting community events at this site for the last 8 months, such as the 1956 Revolution Memorial Dinner, “Stephen, the King” Day, Father’s Day picnic and St. Nicholas Sausage Dinner. Everyone who attended the various events was very excited about the potential acquisition of this desirable site.
We need your help to make a competitive offer by December 31, 2023!
We are $500,000 short and it’s going to take a village to raise this amount. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today so we can secure a new home for our church and the Hungarian Cultural Center for our entire Hungarian community to own and enjoy for generations to come!
These donations will be restricted for this purpose.
Please spread the word and encourage your family and friends to also make a donation.
PayPal – click HERE
GoFundMe – click HERE
Zelle – email: zoltangode@reformatustemplom.
You can also donate by checks, payable to Hungarian Reformed Church, PO Box 2727, Redwood City, CA 94064-2727
We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and hope your holiday season is full of peace, joy and happiness!
With gratitude,
Gabor Magyari-Kope, Pastor, and Zoltan Gode, Chief Elder and Treasurer,
Hungarian Reformed Church of San Francisco and Vicinity
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. “ – 2 Corinthians 9:7
Update (12/26/2023):
With heartfelt gratitude, we are happy to report that there are already pledges and donations totaling over $300,000 towards our goal to purchase the Lutheran Church property in Newark. We are almost there, let’s keep up the momentum! The money we are raising will make the difference as to whether we could be competitive with our bid.
We took stewardship of the money from the disbanded Hungarian House and managed it responsibly, generating significant growth. We have always kept this money separate from our General Funds. Now all of it will go towards the purchase of this property.
The donations are restricted solely for the purchase of this property. Should this purchase fail, we will continue our search for a new site. In that case, we will hold the funds; the monies donated will be kept separate and not used for anything else. However, we will refund any donations, upon request.
Update 12/30/2023: New Developments on our Fundraising Efforts
We are happy to report that our congregation unanimously voted to submit an offer to purchase the Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church property in Newark. We are awaiting a response.
However, we haven’t reached our fundraising goal yet. If our offer is accepted, we would be compelled to take out loans to complete the purchase. This could put our congregation in a challenging financial position which we hope to avoid. Therefore, we are asking that you continue to donate for this important cause.
We will carry on with our fundraising efforts into the New Year as we strive to reach our goal. We are counting on your generosity to make our community’s dream a reality.
We would like to thank you for your ongoing support and to wish you and your loved ones a Happy and Successful New Year.
