From the necrolog

Gellérd Imre's thinking was dialectical. In his lectures, sermons and pastoral counseilings he always opposed [contrasted] the two extremities of the theme. Emphasizing the contrasts, focusing on correlations and a rational organizing them, here what characterized him.

As a preacher he prepared for every service and he wrote always down his sermons in order to share with his colleagues. These sermons are typical, very characteristic on him. After hearing one or two of them, anybody could catch their sructure and later was able to recognize after a few sentences "the Gellérd Imre's sermons" even in other ministers' preaching. Nobody wrote similar sermons to his.

Before writing a sermon, he formulated for himself in writing the special, concrete goal he wanted to reach with that particular sermon. He emphasized that the goal must be a "homogenous rock". An on that point he was firm and consistent all long of the sermon. One of the temptations of the preachers is "letting the theme effuse" (get weedy)--he often said. One must resist every seducing thought that makes the preacher deviate from his goal. The topic must be "pegged out", must be deliniate in interest of the strict [straight] purpose [end]. He called this process "leading [directing, driving] inhibition". "From the limits of the driving inhibition must not let the thought [idea] out because it get weedy immediately."

Another characteristic of his preaching was highlighting the goal, the theme from all round [from more angles], making it so clear, so understandable that even a child was able to comprehend it. Everybody from his audience was able to give an account of the sermon because he "made it be visualized" through his illustrations.

With a distinct attention he turned toward the themes of the Old Testament because "the Old Testament is much more illustrative" than the New Testament". [He mastered boldly and with a great imagination [phantazy] the possibilities of the allegory, utilizing it for presentation of the divine call of Unitarians, for reaching value-mutations.]

In his essay "Text-likeness of the sermon" we read: "The Old Testament with its simple humanism, realistic ethical view, actional ethics serves with a more efficient text-source for people of today than the New Testament which requires high moral norms." "As my sermons are concerned, the text of three-quater of them is taken from the Old Testament. I like its realism, prolificacy [fertility] of its allegories, its life-like position concerning the relationship between God and human. I like its colourful language and dialectical social view, its almost rough sincerity."

Gellérd Imre tried to make his audience active participants of the sermon. He often refered to a conversation with his church-members at the past week. Only that person whom he really talked to knew alone what he speaks about. Besedes, he often puts the question: "What you would have done in the place of the prodigal son's father?"

One who often visited him, could always see his notebook on his desk in which he wrote the topics of the sermons in order of their occur. After he selected, elaborated and preached them according to the actuality. He had another notebook in which he collected the material for the themes. He wrote them in the order of their appearance as well, and then he turned it into an organized, final form, lasting until the moment of the worship service. In fact, sometimes it continued even after he had preached them, making corrections on it.

His church-members, both at Siménfalva and Homoródszentmárton could see their minister learning at the organ like a schoolboy (he had been a cantor at both places as well). His congregation knew that on Saturday their minister always studies, that is, he organizes then the gathered material.

He had a realitvely week physique and yet, he engaged himself to the hardest physical farming work and he remained a minister on the fields as well, working in the collective. While he had been the hardest worker, giving an example in this, too, he tried to heal himself and lectured us about occupational therapy [work-cure]. He spoke with such joy to his colleagues that in these hours he literally lives [is a part of] in the circuit starting from God and returning to him. A "high-voltage circuit" was inserted into his week body.

Gellérd Imre always tried to give others; he should have given more to himself in order to avoid breaks. He was alone among his colleages. There were of them who looked up to him, others were living from him; there were who disliked him but there were few who reached out their helping hands to him. This happened because everybody just expected from him, to accept from him and nobody ever thought of giving him as well. And still it is not sure that he would have accepted it.

"Gellérd Imre has taken his place among our great ones. His name and life have become a notion and if we will speak about our past, we can say that we also had a Gellérd Imre."