Sevan-2012 3 issue - Fall-Winter 1 - 2012-3... · 2013. 12. 17. · Newsletter Fall-Winter,...

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I T BEGAN WITH A STAR: one that had

never been seen before in the night sky, and so was by definition something mysterious and unex-pected. To the wise men, scanning the heavens far to the east of Bethlehem, the appearance of this new star was a summons to embark on a journey—although their final desti-nation was something which would reveal itself only later.

Perhaps it was the wise men’s habit of seeking that allowed them to per-ceive the star in the first place; to see it as something to follow, where oth-ers missed its significance. But for whatever reason, they were willing and ready to undertake this unex-

pected journey. We can imagine that with the star as their guide, every step along the way held a spe-cial meaning, a sense of anticipation, precisely be-cause of the mystery awaiting them at the end.

We who are so familiar with the Christmas story know where the wise men’s journey led them: to the infant Jesus Christ. We know from the Gospel that, finding themselves in

our Lord’s presence, they knelt in worship and opened their precious treasures to honor him.

And the Gospel also gives us a fasci-nating detail, which may resonate with our own spiritual journeys. After being in Christ’s presence, the wise

Fall-Winter, 2012-2013 Newsletter

What’s inside?

Parish Council Update

4

Women’s Guild Update

5

Sunday/Armenian

6

Avak Group Update

7

Parish Events 8

In Memoriam 10

Diocesan News 12

News from the Mother See

18

Calendar of Upcoming Events

22

From Armenian Education Center

23

Primate's Christmas Message

ENTERING THE HOUSE, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to

Herod, they left for their own country by another path. (Matthew 2:11-12)

St. James Armenian Church: Witnessing through faith, heritage, and hospitality.

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men were inspired to travel “by another path”: a path different from the one that they would ordinarily have chosen; different from the one that had led them to Bethlehem. Just as there had been a special significance in every step towards the star, so too was there an urgent new meaning in every step of the return journey. This time their destination was perfectly familiar, but the wise men would arrive home changed, having taken a different road in response to their encounter with Christ.

It’s an experience many of us can relate to: of being led to some situation we don’t expect, and then realizing that the unexpected event has changed us—taken us down a new path. My own path took just such a turn this year, when I led a pilgrimage to one of the most inspirational spots in historic Armenia: the Church of the Holy Cross on the island of Aghtamar.

Celebrating the holy badarak at Aghtamar was something I had never expected to do, given the realities of our time. And yet this summer, I found that I would have the pre-cious opportunity to do so, and the sense of anticipation gave new meaning to every step of my pilgrim’s journey towards Aghtamar island.

During the badarak—every badarak—we find ourselves in the presence of the Living Christ: we are, as it were, in the place of the wise men, coming before the Lord to wor-ship him. During the badarak at Aghtamar, that feeling bore down upon me with extra force. And having had this miraculous en-counter, I came away from Aghtamar with new eyes, seeing new paths open before me, and before all our people.

On my approach to the church, I found my-self remembering all the pilgrims of past ages who had come by the same path to wor-ship there. I thought of all the churches built by pious Armenians—from the great monu-ments of centuries ago, to the sanctuaries that have populated the world, wherever Armenian Christians have settled to live and worship together. I thought of the feelings of faith and foresight, and above all the feeling of love, that every Armenian Church repre-sents.

These were thoughts of the past. But as we sailed away from Aghtamar island, my mind was focused on the future, symbolized by the open horizon which lay ahead on Lake Van—a horizon filled with potential and hope. I envisioned our communities in America; our miraculous Republic of Arme-nia—realities of the present day that the pil-grims of former generations could not even have imagined. And I wondered to myself what other miracles the future might hold—new pathways that we today have not even dreamed of, but that God, in His good time, will make plain.

Such hopes are very much in the spirit of this season, beginning with Advent—the time of anticipation—and continuing after our cele-bration of Christmas, when we embark on a new year with renewed life and energy. In the coming year, our Diocese will explore these ideas through the theme, “Living the Gospel of Christ.” The life-in-Christ can be-gin with a spirit of humble seeking, which ultimately draws us into a deeper, personal encounter with our Lord. And having had that encounter, we find ourselves changed, and open to the unexpected new paths that

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Newsletter, Fall-Winter, 2012-2013

now appear before us.

Like the wise men on the first Christmas, we should approach Christ’s Nativity with a sense of anticipation and excitement over the mystery that lies ahead. When we reach our destination on January 6—which falls this year on the Lord’s Day, Sunday—it will be a chance for us to open the treasures of our hearts before him.

And it can also be a doorway to a new path: a path that may lead us to familiar places, but that leaves us fundamentally changed, having experienced the miraculous revela-

tion of Jesus Christ—born in the most unlikely of places, for the most unexpected and wonderful of reasons: God’s love for mankind. May we carry that precious mira-cle in our hearts throughout the coming year, along with the joyous refrain of the Arme-nian Church:

Krisdos dzunav yev haydnetzav! Orhnyal eh haydnootiunun Krisdosee! Christ is born and revealed! Blessed is the revelation of Christ! With prayers,

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate January 2013

Levon Bouroujian, a longtime member of our community, served as godfather (gunkahayr) of the

"Blessing of Water" service.

FEAST OF HOLY NATIVITY AND THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

BLESSING OF WATER CEREMONY

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Parish council update

T he St. James Parish Council wishes eve-ryone a Happy New Year. May 2013 be a

healthy and productive year for everyone. We have been planning and working with the direction of Der Mesrob to be more involved with all of the church organizations and to implement programs to bring more people into our church community. This not only includes church services, but getting more children to Sunday School and young people involved with St. James. The only way to grow successfully on a long term basis is to start with the youth and provide an environ-ment that encourages them to be involved for as long as they are in Richmond. This process is not quick and the parish council will be ask-ing for support and help from many of you. During the last year we have held three Inter-Organizational meetings during which, along with many ideas, we formed a Mission State-ment (see back) and Slogan (see cover). During the past few months we also had a

few renovations. Early in December Creative Con-tracting repaired the out-side columns at the front door of the church, re-stained the church en-trance doors and painted the entrance to the social hall. They also fixed

cracks that were in the sanctuary ceiling. For the past few years we have been talking about the bad shape of the windows of both social halls and the Educational building (Sunday School & offices). It was decided that replacement windows would be much better than repairing the old windows. Our appeal for donations, with Der Mesrob’s efforts, re-

sulted in our being able to replace all 26 windows with vinyl framed win-dows along with the exterior wood frame being co-vered. The new windows provide more light inside and we will not have to paint them again. Thank you to everyone who responded generously to our fundraiser for the windows. Our next fundraiser project will launch in a couple of weeks. Anyone who has been at the Food Festival during evening hours has probably experienced our electrical outages. Our electrical service needs to be upgraded to accommodate the load we put on it. This is a “must-do” project before our festival in Sep-tember 2013. We also need to have an automatic standby generator installed to safeguard our newly built walk-in cooler from power outrages which happened a couple of times because of storms. The walk-in coolers are used during the summer to freeze and store all the food and pastries prepared by our Women’s Guild prior to the Food Festival. The next important project is to have air-conditioning installed in our Educational building where we have the offices and Sun-day School classrooms. The building was built in the 1970’s with no central air-conditioning installed. If you have been on the second floor during the summer months you have proba-bly experienced the heat of the floor where the temperature rises to an intolerable 95-100


Women’s guild update

A ctivities since our food Festival in Sept. have been steady for the Women's

Guild. At our General Meeting on November 11, we welcomed Dale Baronian as our new Recording Secretary. We are pleased that Lucy Grey will continue as our Adviser. In finalizing this year's work as of Dec. 31, 2012, the Executive has worked hard to ac-complish the goals and ideas we set out to do. On November 30, 2012 we sponsored an-other Family Movie Night, showing the movie, My Armenia, a film that attempts to show what Armenia was in the historical past and what it is today. We will continue to have more Family Movie Night socials to encourage families to come together. Around Thanksgiving, we placed two large containers from the Central Virginia Food Bank in our church hall. On December 28th, with the help of Marni Pilafian, a total of 259 pounds of food items were delivered and donated to the Food Bank. We are very pleased with the generosity of anyone who donated for this project. The containers will remain in the church hall for further collec-tions throughout the Easter Season.

On December 8th we had our Annual Christ-mas Party. This year we planned a different type of party. Instead of a Potluck dinner, we decided to have a heavy hors d'oeuvres and cocktail party. It was most successful. A wonderful buffet of hors d'oeuvres, Christ-mas music, movie, and a Christmas Ex-change Gift Game—all contributed to a night of fun, laughter and Christmas Spirit. The proceeds of the night totaled $835.00 and was donated to the American Red Cross-Hurricane Sandy Relief. Thank you everyone for your support. Our annual donation of $230 was made to CASP (Children of Armenia Sponsorship Program). To date, we have purchased a new food processor as requested by the Food Fes-tival Committee. Also, a video camera was purchased to be used throughout the year at our church functions. We now look forward to a new year. A year of working together to serve our community, church and God.

Women's Guild Executive

degrees. We are planning to replace the old window air-conditioning units, which don’t help the situation, with central air-conditio-ning. The cost for all these projects will be approxi-mately $25,000 and your generosity for these projects would be greatly appreciated.

We always want to hear from anyone who has a suggestion or need, so please feel free to contact anyone on the Parish Council.

R.N.

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It was heartwarming to see the excite-ment of students seeing each other and

the teachers on September 30, as we wel-comed them back into the neat classrooms that were renovated over the summer.

The classes have been in their normal session with the school staff working hard and per-fect attendance on the part of the students. On October 28, after school we had our an-

nual Halloween party, which was a fun event for everyone. Special thanks to Steve and Dorian Bar-samian, Nune Karapetyan and everyone who helped to make it such a great suc-cess!

At the Armenian Christmas party, organized by the Women's guild, the children received special gifts from our guest from the North Pole as an award for working hard and being great Sunday school students.

We are proud to say that two of our stu-dents, Yesaie Saakian and Michael Karapet-yan are now serving on the altar, Anna Sa-akian and Mariam Avagyan have joined our choir.

The goal of St. James Sunday School is to educate the children in Armenian Christian spirit, teaching the language, the history and the rich heritage of the Armenian people. We are always open for enrollment and happy to accept new students!

Yn. R.H.

Sunday/Armenian school update


T he AVAK group came back together on October 18, 2012 after our summer hia-

tus for a luncheon at the church social hall. Chicken and pilaf was served as everyone relaxed and enjoyed talking and reminiscing about their summer events. On November 14, we met for our infamous BINGO Lunch-eon which brought the usual laughter and entertainment. This luncheon was sponsored by the ARS Hooys Chapter under the direc-tion of Stella Bandazian. The luncheon was prepared by Seran Kerneklian Taylor from her restaurant, Selosa. The pasta salad was delicious and her homemade cookies and brownies were to die for! Marni Pilafian brought chicken salad and tuna salad to add for the needed protein. Stella and Marni also organized all the BINGO prizes. We thank the Hooys Chapter for this very generous undertaking. Our Christmas Party was held December 20. A video of an Armenian Dance Troupe from Yerevan played as everyone enjoyed an assortment of appetizers with a

delicious holiday pilaf prepared by Geor-gette Chadoyan. We seem to eat very well at these gatherings.

Our upcoming dates and events include:

February 7 - BINGO Luncheon, Church Hall, 12:00 noon

March 21 - Olive Garden Restaurant, 11829 West Broad Street (Short Pump), 11:30 am

April 18 - BINGO Luncheon, Church Hall, 12:00 noon

May 16 - Chili’s Restaurant, 11720 West Broad Street (Short Pump), 11:30 am

June 20 - Annual Indoor Picnic, 12:00 noon

We look forward to more of you joining us. Please RSVP to Linda Sharigian (804)288-3162 to ensure your reservation especially for our restaurant outings. So, mark your calen-dars and join in the fun! Hope to see you then!

L.S.

Avak group update

NEW ARRIVALS

Kiriaki Nelia Suleyma-nian, daughter of Gagik & Toula Suleymanian,

was born on September 29, 2012.

Sevak Hovsepyan, son of Fr. Mesrob and Yn.

Ruzanna Hovsepyan, was born on

October 15, 2012.

Vahram Grigor Ghazarian,

son of Vahe Ghazarian and Ruzanna Tatoyan,

was born on November 1, 2012.

Dylan Arici, son of Numan & Sarah

Jacobe Arici, was born on November 15, 2012.

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P a r i s h E v e n t s

Fall—Winter, 2012-2013 • September 20–23 – The Armenian Food Festival, the largest event of our year takes months to prepare,

and almost as much time to recoup our energy. The weather co-operated and we had a successful year. It is an event that caters to families, especially with our fenced-in playground area. Our Hye bur-gers increased recognition as one of Richmond Magazine’s 5 Favorite Burgers. The reputation of our good food and our great food does not decrease the work load. So, consider joining the Food Festival Family of workers in 2013.

• September 30, Sunday – The Dudukner Ensemble performed at St. James and it was great! They played, sang, and charmed the audience with their performance. The Duduk instrument has a special haunting sound that entertained those of us who were there.

• October 7, Sunday - First day of Armenian/Sunday school. The students returned to their classes after the long summer break. It was good to see everyone back.

• November 15, Thursday – Life Line Screening set up their equipment in the church hall and screened people for possible health problems.

• November 16, Friday - Food Festival Appreciation Dinner was organized by Food Festival committee .

• January 1, Tuesday - ARS Richmond “Hooys” chapter & ANC sponsored New Year’s Day Basturma & Egg Buffet as a fundraiser to help Armenians in Syria.

• January 6 – Feast of the Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Badarak and Blessing of the Water Service was celebrated along with the faithful members of our commu-nity followed by Christmas Lunch hosted by the Women’s Guild.


Women’s Guild Annual Christmas Party, December 8, 2012

Armenian Christmas Lunch, January 6, 2013

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In Memoriam: Archbishop Torkom Manoogian (1919-2012)

With deep sorrow, the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America mourns the passing of His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, the 96th Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the long-serving former Primate of our own Diocese.

Patriarch Torkom passed away in the early morning hours of Oc-tober 12, 2012, at age 93. He was interred in Jerusalem, at the Patriarchal Cemetery, among the great Armenian churchmen of past ages, on Monday, October 22.

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, the Diocesan Primate, has asked parishes of the Eastern Diocese to con-duct a requiem service in the Patriarch's memory on Sunday, October 14.

Prior to his election as Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Torkom served for a quarter-century as Pri-mate of the Eastern Diocese. To thousands of people across this country—not only in our parishes, but in the surrounding society—he was the vigorous, compassionate, always impressive face of the Arme-nian Church of America. He was also the beautiful, poetic voice of our people, advocating in a principled and forceful way for our concerns and aspirations, while embodying the great Armenian civilization that had bestowed works of profound art and spirituality on world culture.

As we mourn his passing, we are consoled in the knowledge that Archbishop Torkom's gentle soul has found rest and peace in the welcoming arms of our Risen Lord, whom he loved and served with such distinction in life.

His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian 96th Armenian Patriarch of the Holy Apostolic See of Jerusalem

His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian was born in 1919 near Baghdad, Iraq, where his parents had sought refuge from the mass exterminations of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey known as the Armenian Genocide. As a boy he was enrolled in the Monastery of St. James in Jerusalem, and was ordained a priest of the Armenian Church in 1939.

He arrived in the United States in 1946, to serve as pastor of the Holy Trinity Church in Phila-delphia. Continuing his education at the graduate and post-graduate levels in America and Jerusalem, he was made a bishop in 1962, shortly after his election as Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. In 1966, Bishop Manoogian was elected as Pri-mate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America—the largest Armenian Church diocese outside of Armenia itself—and two years later was elevated to the rank of archbishop.

During his quarter-century as Primate, Archbishop Manoogian became a recognized and re-


spected figure in ecumenical and civic settings, serving in an executive capacity for various ecumenical and interfaith organizations. As a survivor of religious and ethnic persecution, he was an outspoken champion of human rights. His energetic and confident leadership was es-pecially vital in 1988, when the Diocese became a focal point for the huge outpouring of hu-manitarian concern following the devastating Armenian earthquake.

In April of 1990, after the passing of the previous patriarch, Archbishop Manoogian was elected as the 96th Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem by the members of the St. James Brother-hood, and was officially enthroned on October 27, 1990. In his two decades serving on the pa-triarchal throne, Archbishop Torkom took steps to revitalize the Patriarchate, and to preserve and extend its age-old role as a center for learning, pilgrimage, and scholarship for the Arme-nian Church.

When His Holiness Vasken I, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, passed away on August 18, 1994, the church's bishops and archbishops elected Archbishop Manoogian as the "Locum Tenens," or interim leader, who would serve as head of the Church until the election of a new Catholicos of All Armenians. Under the Patriarch's leadership, the proceedings for the history-making election of a new Catholicos were organized; with the se-lection of a successor, Patriarch Torkom returned to the Holy City, to continue his own historic effort in the Armenian holdings of Jerusalem.

In 2012, the 93-year-old Patriarch suffered a serious decline in health. In January he was admit-ted to a hospital in Jerusalem, and subsequently was cared for in the city's Franciscan hospice, close by to the Armenian Patriarchate, where he was visited by friends and relatives. It was there that he expired on October 12, 2012.

Alongside his pastoral, administrative, and ecumenical duties, Archbishop Manoogian was well known as one of the world's leading authorities on Armenian sacred music, and on its guiding spirit, the great 19th-century musician-priest Gomidas Vartabed. He was a poet of considerable distinction, writing under the pen name Shen Mah, who in addition to his own meditative poems completed an Armenian translation of the sonnets of Shakespeare.

In Memoriam: Rev. Fr. Papken Maksoudian (1909-2012)

With deep sorrow, the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America mourns the passing of the Rev. Fr. Papken Maksoudian. Fr. Maksoudian passed away on October 15, 2012, in Arlington, Mass., at age 103.

Fr. Maksoudian was married for 50 years to Azadouhi Kassabian, who passed away in 1986.

He is survived by thier two children—the Very Rev. Fr. Krikor Maksoudian and Arpie Maksoudian Highgas—and four grandchildren.

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Diocese Hosts Taner Akçam’s Lecture on Groundbreaking New Book

T he groundwork for the Armenian

Genocide of 1915 was laid in a carefully worked out demo-graphic policy imple-mented by the Otto-

man government, argues historian Taner Akçam in his new book "The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Otto-man Empire."

Professor Akçam—an international authority on the Armenian Genocide, and one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and openly discuss it—introduced his book at the Diocesan Center in New York on Thursday, October 18, during an evening co-sponsored by the Eastern Diocese and other Armenian organizations.

Peter Balakian, the leading public voice of Armenian Genocide advocacy and the au-thor of several books on the subject, intro-duced Professor Akçam last Thursday.

Mining some 600 documents from the Otto-

man archives—many of them previously un-studied—Professor Akçam outlines how the Ottoman government aimed to reshape the population of the empire in the wake of the Balkan War of 1912-13. He argues that the ruling Committee of Union and Progress, having suffered large territorial loses in the Balkan War, concluded that tolerating the empire's Christian minority—which made up 30 percent of the total population—would lead to the unraveling of the Ottoman state.

In response, the CUP embarked on a policy of resettling and assimilating Christian fami-lies to ensure that the Christian population in a given town or village would not exceed 5 to 10 percent of the local Muslim population. This policy, Professor Akçam said, was closely tied to the notion that the Christian minority posed a serious threat to the em-pire's existence. "The impetus was less about a well-developed ideological mindset, and more about anxiety about security," he said.

According to Professor Akçam, this new re-search expands the understanding of geno-cide by shedding light on social engineering


Ecumenical Director Visits Iraq

A rchbishop Vicken Aykazian, the Dio-cese's Ecumenical Director, joined U.S.

church leaders on a visit to Iraq earlier this month, where the delegation met with gov-ernment officials to discuss Christian-Kurdish relations in Iraq’s northern region.

The visit, which took place from November 3 to 10, was led by Cardinal Theodore McCar-rick, the retired Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington. Participants also included Evangelical and Episcopalian church leaders.

practices designed to strip Christian minori-ties—especially the Armenians—of their identity. It shows that "genocide is broader than the mere physical destruction and anni-hilation of a group of people," Professor Akçam said.

Of course, ultimately, the homogenization policy became just that. By the spring of 1915, the Committee of Union and Progress gave up its resettlement policy and turned to the more familiar destruction of the Arme-nian population—killing orders, massacres, and desert death camps.

Professor Akçam added that he hopes his findings will help to establish the Ottoman archives as reliable sources, which can be used alongside materials available in the West. "Taken in their entirety, the Ottoman and Western archives jointly confirm that the ruling party CUP did deliberately implement a policy of ethnoreligious homogenization of Anatolia that aimed to destroy the Armenian population," he writes in the book.

He acknowledged that while "there is practi-cally no chance of finding records of the plans for annihilation...among the Ottoman state documents....such an enormous crime left traces among official state documents...[and] the genocidal policy against the Arme-

nians can be demonstrated through these documents alone."

Professor Balakian recounted how Professor Akçam began his career as a student activist in Ankara. Imprisoned for his ideas about Turkish identity, he escaped and subse-quently made his way to Germany, where he studied sociology at Hanover University and began his research on the Armenian Geno-cide.

"What has been missing throughout the dec-ades [from discussions of the Armenian Genocide] is a Turkish voice," Professor Balakian said. "Taner's work has helped add that crucial piece to the evolving discourse on the Armenian Genocide."

More than 100 people gathered for the lec-ture. Diocesan Council chair Oscar Tatosian gave opening remarks. The Very Rev. Fr. Simeon Odabashian closed the evening with a prayer.

The book talk was organized by the Eastern Diocese, with the participation of AGBU Ara-rat, the Knights and Daughters of Vartan, Tekeyan Cultural Association, C.A.R.S., Ti-brevank Alumni, Hye Doon, and Eseyan-Getronagan Alumni.

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The church leaders met with govern-ment officials of the Kurdish autono-mous region, in-cluding its Presi-dent Massoud Bar-zani, Prime Minis-ter Nechervan Idris

Barzani, and head of the Security Council Masrour Barzani. They also met with local church leaders in Iraq. Conversations fo-cused on the difficulties facing Christian families in the region, and on ways the gov-

ernment could reach out to support this mi-nority population.

Archbishop Aykazian also had an opportu-nity to meet with Archbishop Avak Asadou-rian, the Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Iraq, and to visit the Armenian Church in Dohuk. In addition, he spoke with govern-ment officials about the possibility of build-ing a new Armenian Church in nearby Erbil, where some 250 Armenian families reside. Officials promised to clear the way for the construction project.

Ecumenical Gathering Held at the Diocese

On F r i d a y , N ov em -

ber 30, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Dio-cese of the Arme-nian Church of America (Eastern), hosted an ecu-

menical gathering at the Diocesan Center in honor of the elevation of Archbishop Timo-thy Dolan, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, to the rank of Cardinal.

Leaders of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Or-thodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches came together at St. Vartan Armenian Cathe-dral for a prayer service, followed by a recep-tion to honor Cardinal Dolan. Also attending

the afternoon gathering was Rab-bi Arthur Schneier, the Founder and Presi-dent of the Appeal of Conscience Founda-tion.

In addition to Archbishop Barsamian, repre-senting the Eastern Diocese at Friday's event were Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, the Dio-cese's Ecumenical Director; Archbishop Yeghishe Gizirian; Very Rev. Fr. Simeon Od-abashian, Diocesan Vicar; Very Rev. Fr. Ma-migon Kiledjian, Dean of St. Vartan Arme-nian Cathedral; Very Rev. Fr. Daniel Fin-dikyan, Director of the Diocese's Zohrab Center; and the Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian, Dean of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary. Bishop Armash Nalbandian, Primate of Da-mascus, who is visiting New York, also took part in the gathering.


New appointments

New Pastor in Bayside, NY

The Eastern Diocese is pleased to announce that the Rev. Fr. Abra-ham Malkhasyan has been assigned as the

new pastor of the Church of the Holy Mar-tyrs of Bayside, NY, on September 2.

In his directive announcing the appointment, Diocesan Primate Archbishop Khajag Bar-samian conveyed good wishes to Fr. Malkha-syan and his family, and also to all the pa-rishioners of the Holy Martyrs Church.

May our Lord guide his people as they em-bark upon this new chapter in parish life

St. Sahag Church

Welcomes New Pastor, Looks Forward to Future

A rchbishop Khajag Barsamian, Pri-

mate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), visited St. Sahag Church of St. Paul, Minn., on December 1-

2, as the parish marked the 10th anniversary of the church's consecration and welcomed its new pastor, the Rev. Fr. Tadeos Barsegh-yan.

On Saturday, December 1, Archbishop Bar-samian and Diocesan Council members the Very Rev. Fr. Aren Jebejian and Lisa Esayian

met with the pastor, parish council chair Avo Toghramadjian, and parish council members to help the parish create a strategic plan.

The meeting began with a prayer service and Bible study on First Corinthians ("one body, many members”). Participants reflected on the importance of unity and the significance of each member's contribution of his or her unique skills to the healthy functioning of the parish.

Fr. Jebejian then outlined some elements of a "model parish," and Ms. Esayian presented ways in which the parish council might at-tract new members to St. Sahag Church and stressed the importance of communication between the council and the pastor.

The highlight of the day-long session was the development of a multi-faceted strategic plan for St. Sahag Church, which built on the vi-sion of Fr. Barseghyan with input from all parish council members. The strategic plan promotes community outreach and commu-nication, leadership development, multi-generational education, and the parish's fi-nancial stability.

The day concluded with a reception in ap-preciation of the supporters of St. Sahag Church.

On Sunday, December 2, Archbishop Bar-samian celebrated the Divine Liturgy and elevated two young parishioners to the sub-diaconate.

The Primate also formally introduced Fr. Barseghyan to the community, and wished him a fruitful ministry at St. Sahag Church.

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New Seminary Dean: Fr. Mardiros Chevian

W hen Arch-b i s h o p

Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eas-tern), invited Fr. Mardiros Chevian to return to St. Nersess Armenian Seminary as its new Dean, he ac-

cepted the invitation after much consideration.

“Although I have enjoyed immensely being the Dean of St. Vartan Cathedral for the past 19 years, I am excited to return to St. Nersess and direct the expanded mission of the seminary at its new cam-pus in Armonk, NY”, stated Fr. Mardiros recently.

This is not the first time he has answered the call to serve at St. Nersess. In 1978, after returning from his studies in Holy Etchmiadzin, he went to St. George Armenian Church in Waukegan, IL, as the Deacon-in-Charge where he was very happy to start his ministry. But not soon after, in 1981, he re-ceived a call from Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, of blessed memory, to be the Director of Recruit-ment and Programs at the newly purchased St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in New Rochelle, NY. Fr. Mardiros later became the Rector of the Semi-nary where he served until 1991. Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian, a St. Nersess alumnus, was ordained in 1985.

The Very Rev. Fr. Daniel Findikyan, who served as the St. Nersess Dean for the past 12 years, will re-main on as a professor and key faculty member. In order for St. Nersess to succeed in the future, it plans to work closely with the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. “These relations are extremely important

to St. Nersess,” according to Fr. Chevian. Also important is that Fr. Mardiros will reside on the new campus, just as he did when he directed St. Nersess throughout the 1980s. According to the St. Nersess Board of Directors, “it is important for the dean to oversee and supervise the daily life of the St. Nersess campus by living on the campus.”

But for now, as he took the helm on November 15, Fr. Mardiros’ primary mission has been to oversee the training of young men to become parish priests—what Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan envi-sioned when St. Nersess was founded in 1961.

Modern New Seminary Campus in Armonk

St. Nersess Armenian Seminary is more relevant today than ever before. The new 5.5 acre Armonk campus, located approximately 16 miles north of the New Rochelle location, will be better equipped to serve the growing needs of the dioceses in North America. By staying in Westchester County, St. Nersess will maintain important ties with St. Vladi-mir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, as well as remain close to the Diocesan headquarters in New York City. The new site will be a sustainable cam-pus to better prepare future priests and lay leaders for service in the Armenian Church. And with the ultimate sale of New Rochelle, St. Nersess will have a more sound financial foundation. St. Nersess remains the only Armenian seminary in the West-ern hemisphere that has prepared leaders for the Armenian Church for the past 50 years.

Currently, a fundraising campaign is underway for the renovation of buildings on the new campus. In addition to the renovations, a new 8,400-square-foot His Holiness Karekin I Theological Center, which will include a chapel, library, classrooms, and offices, will be constructed. The Theological Cen-ter, as well as the purchase of the property, has been made possible by the generous donation of Haig and Elsa Didizian of London, England.

Fr. Daniel Findikyan (left) and Fr. Mardiros Chevian will con-tinue working closely to ensure

the mission of the Seminary continues successfully.


Young Clergy Meet to Build "Model" Parishes

T hirteen clergymen from parishes across the Eastern Diocese met at the Diocesan

Center in New York on November 12-14, for an innovative three-day exercise in envision-ing and building towards a “model” parish. The conference was geared towards new, young clergymen in the Eastern Diocese.

Taking inspira-tion from a dis-cussion of what a “model” parish might be like, the clergymen were encouraged to create their own visions of what their respective parishes could become. With the help of Di-ocesan administrators, leaders, and staff, the clergymen then developed strategic action plans to guide their practical efforts to strengthen and enrich the local churches.

In remarks offering his vision for the confer-ence, Diocesan Primate Archbishop Khajag Barsamian said that he wanted to give new pastors the tools to be successful and creative in their ministries. The Primate presided over the entire gathering, sharing his ideas and experience with the young clergymen, and emphasizing that they needed to be proac-tive and accountable.

During Tuesday’s session the gathering was graced by the presence of His Holiness Kare-kin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos

of All Armenians, who has been visiting the U.S.

Each of the three conference days began with a reflection on a pertinent text from the Bible or from Armenian Church history. The

clergy also heard p r e s e n t a t i o n s from Diocesan departments and organizations on subjects like Christian educa-tion, Armenian language and culture, youth outreach through c a m p s a n d ACYOA, com-m u n i c a t i o n s ,

stewardship, sacred music, and upcoming plans for St. Nersess Seminary.

By the conclusion of the conference, each of the clergymen had developed a vision of fu-ture parish progress, which they will now share with their parish councils. Plans call for the group to reconvene in a year to evaluate progress. This conference was the latest in a series of workshops organized by the Dio-cese to educate and energize young clergy and to familiarize them with Diocesan re-sources.

Archbishop Barsamian, Diocesan Vicar the Very Rev. Fr. Simeon Odabashian, Diocesan Council chair Oscar Tatosian, and executive director Michael Guglielmo organized the workshop.

His Holiness Karekin II and Archbishop Khajag Barsamian along with the participants of the workshop

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13th Anniversary of Enthronement of His Holiness Karekin II

On November 4, 2012 following the celebration of Divine Li-turgy at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, a special Pon-

tifical Blessing service was offered before the Holy Altar of Descent in the Mother Cathedral, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of En-thronement of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Ca-tholicos of All Armenians.

Among the faithful attending the service were delegates to the Dioce-san Representative Assembly, who visited the Mother See from No-vember 1-3, 2012. The delegates were comprised of representatives from the Armenian Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople, 32 Diocesan Primates from Armenia and the Diaspora, Pontifical delega-

tions, Diocesan lay representatives, members of the Supreme Spiritual Council and other pil-grims.

His Grace Bishop Sahak Mashalian, from the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople; offered the Divine Liturgy, and on behalf of the clergy and lay representatives of the Armenian Church, congratulated the Pontiff of All Armenians on the occasion of His Enthronement.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence Archbishop Aris Shirvanian; Vicar Ge-neral of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, offered a Pontifical Blessing service in front of the Holy Altar or Descent, during which the faithful offered a prayer to the Heavenly Father, asking for strength and vibrancy for the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, and many years of life, good health and a successful reign for the Ca-tholicos of All Armenians.

His Holiness closed the service with a prayer of blessing, after which a Pontifical procession walked to the garden of the Holy Archangel Church of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary. Three new cross-stones (khachkars) which were carved based on patterns from cross-stones of New Jughah of the 16-17th century, were installed. His Holiness offered a service of blessing for the new cross-stones. The benefactor is Mr. Hrachya Poghossian of Saint Petersburg, Russia, and are in memory of those Armenian heroes who died during the battle of Artsakh and in the Great Patriotic war, as well as those who perished in the Spitak, Armenia earthquake.


Catholicos of All Armenians Congratulated Newly Appointed

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the east

On December 18, 2012, from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme

Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, sent a letter of congratulations to His Holiness Youhanna X, the newly ap-

pointed Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East.

The Pontifical letter states in part: “By God’s will, you were entrusted with this unique leader-ship role of Patriarch in the ancient See of Antioch at this critical time for Syria and the Middle East. Your election as the first servant of our sister Church at the threshold of the New Year and Christmas is a sign of hope as the Church in the Middle East overcomes the grief following the death of your predecessor. Now as good shepherd you are called to serve with all your strength the needs of the faithful in cooperation with the other churches and religions in Syria. May God inspire you to continue the tireless work of your predecessors in fulfilling the spiri-tual needs of His people, by encouraging reconciliation in the face of conflicts and by promot-ing on-going inter-religious dialogues.”

The Pontiff of All Armenians also stated that the relationship between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch would continue to “blossom and bear new fruits for the glory of God and for the sake of peace and stability in Syria and in the Mid-dle East.”

Armenian Church Launches Rapid Response Program for Syrian Armenians

W ith the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and in conjunction with the Armenia Round Table Charitable Foundation,

a Rapid Response Program to aid Syrian Armenians has been launched in Yerevan. The pro-gram is being funded by Acting Churches Together (ACT Alliance), an ecumenical network of churches and aid organizations that combine their efforts to address problems and challenges for people affected by poverty and injustice.

The program is designed as a rapid response effort to aid recently relocated Armenians of the Syrian Republic who are now living in Armenia. The purpose of the program is to deliver food, first aid, and hygienic items to the 200 families who are most in need.

The humanitarian aid and food delivery program was launched on December 10, 2012. The

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program is first being implemented through the Araratian Pontifical Diocese with the initiation of a "Yerevan City" shopping program. From December 11-17 the Diocese distributed special shopping cards to the beneficiary families, which allowed them to obtain basic necessities from the "Yerevan City" city stores.

Divine Liturgy Celebrated in Newly Established Artik Diocese

On December 9, 2012, Divine Liturgy was offered in the "St. Greg-ory the Illuminator" Church of Artik, near the St. Mary Basi-

lica. The celebrant was His Grace Bishop Hovakim Manukyan; Director of the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

During the Divine Liturgy, following the prayer "Yevs Aravel", the Pontifical Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, was brought to the altar. It was read by His Grace Bishop Hovnan Hakobian, the Grand Sacristan of the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, and was for the establishment of the

new Diocese and appointment of a Primate.

His Grace Bishop Mikael Ajapahian, Primate of the Diocese of Shirak, of which Artik was for-merly part of, delivered remarks as the outgoing Primate, where he said in part "…The result of 13 years of work is that the region of Artik has now grown into a separate Diocese, and to-day with pride and also sadness in our hearts, we depart from Artik..."

The remarks of His Grace Mikael was followed by the remarks of the new Primate of the Dio-cese, His Grace Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, who thanked Bishop Mikael and all those people who had taken care of the religious life of the Artik region in the past. Bishop Hovakim ex-pressed his satisfaction for the pious and willing faithful of Artik, as well as spoke on the issue of building new churches, upcoming activities of the Diocese and the major focus of all those activities.

Mr. Seyran Petrossian, Vice Governor of Artik, Mr. Moushegh Petrossian, Member of Parlia-ment of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Arsen Abrahamian, Mayor of the City of Artik, represen-tatives of local government, philanthropists, benefactors, guests and members of sister Churches, where in attendance for the services.

Following the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, a reception was held for those in attendance, who had the opportunity to meet with the new Primate of the Diocese.


New Primate Appointed for the Armenian Diocese of Australia and New Zealand

By Pontifical Order of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, His Grace Bishop Haykazun

Najarian, has resigned his service as the Pontifical Legate of Central Europe and Sweden, and as of January 1, 2013. His Grace will serve as the Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Australia and New Zealand.

His Grace Bishop Haigazun Najarian was appointed to serve as the Vicar General for the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of North

America by the order of His Holiness Karekin I of blessed memory and served in that position from 1986-1988. From 1988 to 1991 he served as the Spiritual Pastor of the Church of St. Ste-panos in New Jersey. In 1991, he returned to serve at the headquarters of the Eastern Diocese and was reappointed to serve as the Vicar General until 1995.

From 1995 to 1999 by the Order of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, he returned to Armenia and served as the Dean of the Gevorkian Theologi-cal Seminary, and as professor of New Testament of the Seminary.

He returned to the United States in 2000, and served as the spiritual pastor of the St. Sarkis Ar-menian Church of Dallas, Texas, until 2002. In 2002 he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and served as the pastor of the St. Sahak and St. Mesrop Church in Philadelphia until 2007. He concurrently served as the Vicar General of the Eastern Diocese, ending his service as Vicar General in 2010. He moved to Sweden in 2010, and by Pontifical Order of His Holiness Karekin II, served as Pontifical Legate of Central Europe and Sweden until December 2012.

On November 6, 2011 he was consecrated as a Bishop by His Holiness Karekin II, in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin.

His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian Enters Eternal Rest

It is with deep regret that the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin an-nounces the death of His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian. His Eminence entered his eternal rest on September 22, while in Sydney Australia. He died suddenly of a heart attack at 66 years old. His Emi-nence was the Primate of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand.

Our Holy Armenian Apostolic Church and distinguished clergyman mourn the untimely and unexpected loss to the Armenian Apostolic Church, our clerical ranks, the faithful and the children of our Church.

Blessed be the memory of the righteous.

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Calendar of Upcoming Events • February 3, Sunday—Women’s Guild General Meeing, 12:15 pm • February 7, Thursday—AVAK BINGO Luncheon, Church Hall, 12:00 noon • February 10, Sunday – Poon Paregentan Sunday. Great Lent starts on Monday. • February 15, Friday—First Lenten Friday. Prayer Service - 6:00 pm; Lenten Dinner - 6:30 pm • February 17, Sunday—Annual Parish Assembly, 12:15 pm • February 22, Friday—Lenten Friday. Prayer Service - 6:00 pm; Lenten Dinner - 6:30 pm • February 23, Saturday—Spring Clean-up. Join and help us to clean-up the social halls from un-

necessary items. • March 1, Friday—Lenten Friday. Prayer Service - 6:00 pm; Lenten Dinner - 6:30 pm • March 8, Friday—Lenten Friday. Prayer Service - 6:00 pm; Lenten Dinner - 6:30 pm • March 15, Friday—Lenten Friday. Prayer Service - 6:00 pm; Lenten Dinner - 6:30 pm • March 21,Thursday—AVAK Luncheon at Olive Garden Restaurant, 11:30 am • March 22, Friday—Lenten Friday. Prayer Service - 6:00 pm; Lenten Dinner - 6:30 pm • March 24, Sunday—Palm Sunday. • March 31, Sunday— Easter Sunday. Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ • April 18, Thursday—AVAK BINGO Luncheon, Church Hall, 12:00 noon

For the complete list of the events, check the Calendar of Events on our website at ww.stjamesva.org

Sevan Publication Deadlines Sevan Newsletter is a publication of St. James Armenian Church. Submissions are welcomed and should be sent to the church of-fice or emailed to Fr. Mesrob at [email protected]. All texts should be electronic format, preferably MS Word. Editorial board reserves the right to modify or reject any submis-sions. All materials must be received no later than the published deadlines below:

Winter-Spring, 2013 Articles Deadline March 15, 2013

Layout & Proofreading March 18-30, 2013

To Printer April 3, 2013


Beatrice Darhanian Soudjian - August 31, 2012 Antonios “Tony” Velegris - September 24, 2012 Caroline Hall Tatian - December 4, 2012 Martha Wolfe (mother of Pam Little) - January 3, 2013 John Allan LeVay, Jr. - January 10, 2013

We would like to express our heart-felt appreciation to the family of

Barkev Baronian and to everyone who made a contribution in memory of Barkev to the Armenian Education Center. As most of you know, Barkev felt very strongly about educating the youth and doing all that can be done to have the Armenian Genocide recognized.

He felt that offering the scho-larship essay was one of the most effective ways to get the attention of students to actually learn about the Armenian Genocide and Turkey’s conti-nued denial. In the process of researching and writing, students not only learn about the Genocide but also discuss what they are learning with their families, friends and even their teachers, some of whom have admitted to knowing very little about the Armenian Genocide prior to their students’ research. It is not the teachers’ fault since during their own education, no one mentioned much less taught the Armenian Genocide.

In addition to educating the youth, Barkev was very devoted to seeing the Genocide exhibit open at the Virginia Holocaust Mu-seum. We are working very hard with the staff at the Virginia Holocaust Museum to

make Barkev’s last wish be-come a reality. We know this will take a lot of work and dedication on the part of every-one in the Armenian commu-nity. We are still looking for and requesting donations of letters, pictures, clothing and other items from the time frame of 1890 to 1925. Please contact Anne Norris, Linda Sharigian or Arpi Bouroujian if you have any items that you believe we

can use in the exhibit.

In addition, we are currently working with the Virginia Holocaust Museum on a presen-tation titled Orphans of Genocide, which will take place on April 14. More details to follow soon.

From Armenian Education Center

May God rest their souls in His eternal peace and presence ...

SEVAN

For: Taquhi & Manoog Girgosian By: Haike & Betty Giragosian,

John & Ruby Giragosian

For: Atanas Kibinian By: Esther & Diran Bezirdjian

For: Archalouys & Antranig

Bouroujian By: Bouroujian, Kevorkian, Carden

& Thomas Families

For: Betty Carden By: Douglas & Maria Carden

For: Vahram Movsesyan & Ro-

xanna Parvanyan By: Nouneh Karapetyan & Family

For: Ohanes Shadoyan By: Georgette Shadoyan & Family

For: Barkev B. Baronian (40 days) By: Dale Baronian & Family; John

Baronian & Nancy Avakian; Hilda Ford; David & Vicki Ar-mentrout; Sam & Marian Baron-ian; Sam Baronian III; Levon Bouroujian

For: Margie Baronian & John

Baronian, Jr. By John Baronian & Family

For: Wilfrid Schein, Serbouhi Var-

tanian, Archalouyse & Ara Garabedian

By: Hasmig Schein & Family

For: His Eminence Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian (9 years)

By: Lucy Papazian & the Dean Family

For: The Kainakian Family By: Mary Ann Pedigo

For: Elton Ford By: Dale F. Baronian Family For: Deceased members of the

Berberian, Haboush, Deker-menjian Families

By: Nerses & Anahid Berberian & Family

Hokehankist - Requiem

John & Ardemis Jerikian (Vienna, VA)

Carolyn & Claiborne Johnson, Jr. Randolph Jones

(White Stone, VA) Susan P. Jones

Murad & Melanie Kerneklian Mickie & Clara Kerneklian

(Ocean View, DE) Richard, Salpi & Serar Kevorkian

Roxie Kricorian Alice & John LeVay Irving & Edith Levin

Pamela Little Peruz Manoukian

Mrs. Mildred Marton Paul & Pamela Mazmanian

Pam & Keith McCarty Cynthia Maghakian William H. Mears

Armen & Denise Melikian (Williamsburg, VA)

Mark & Paula Miller

Maria & Douglas Carden Mrs. Mary Chookazian

(Paramus, NJ) Annette & Bary Dalton Charles & Sue Dedian

Paris Dedeian Donald & Shayne Delaurier

Jerry & Susan Dooley Charles & Susan Eacho

Walton & Frances Egelanian (Easton, MD)

Beverly & Thomas Evans Mr. & Mrs. Donald Fergusson

Craig & Mary Ford Hilda Ford

Anahid Ghazarian & Family Betty & Haike Giragosian

Chris & Lucy Grey James Holden

Fr. Mesrob & Yn. Ruzan Hovsepyan Jay M. Ipson

Angeline Jamjamian (St. Lewis, MO)

Barkev Baronian Hugh & Virginia Abernathy Jamie & Margaret Accashian Gerrard & Kathleen Albanese

David & Vicki Armentrout Charles Ashjian

Bedros & Stella Bandazian Dale Baronian & Family

Alex & Stacy Baronian & Family Nick & Jennifer Baronian & Family

Sam & Elizabeth Baronian Samuel & Marion Baronian, Jr.

Samuel Baronian, III Theodore Baronian

John Baronian & Nancy Avakian Steven & Dorian Barsamian

Marci Bernstein Levon Bouroujian

Yeghia & Leiza Bouroujian Gregory Boyajian

Ligon Briaha John & Kim Broniek

(Pittsburg, PA)

In lieu of flowers


Censer (Purvar) Donated by William & Joanne

Vasselian Shelton in loving memory of John Vasselian

Boat (Dabanag) Donated by Sam & Maral

Haboush in honor of the birth of Sevak Hovsepyan

Pedestal Bookstand for Sanctuary (Grakal)

Donated by Seta, Joshua Murad, & Shane Aram Michel in loving memory of Khoren & Virginia Bandazian, Krikor Bandazian,

and Ohannes & Arshalous Kerneklian

Fan or Flabellum (Kshots) Donated by Berberian & Dekirmenjian Families

New set of Altar cloths

Donated by St. James Women’s Guild

Wedding Crowns Donated by Levon Bouroujian

in loving memory of Alice Bouroujian

Book Case for Choir Books Donated by Jamie & Margaret

Accashian in loving memory of Ann Maghakian Purcell

Wish list of st. james - 2012

Virginia & Hugh Abernathy Linda Sharigian

Women’s Guild of St. James Jerome Kambourian

Roxie Kricorian Peruz Manoukian

Walter & Frances Egelanian Anahid Ghazarian John & Alice LeVay

Pam Little

Carolyn Tatian Karen & Jack Dorian

(Fresno, CA) Rose & Florence Soghoian

Alice LeVay Pamela Little

Roxie Kricorian Elizabeth Tootelian

Servart Ovigian

(continued from the last issue) Samuel Baronian III

Mrs. Mary Chookazian (Paramus, NJ)

Mannie Kainakian (continued from the last issue)

John & Alice LeVay Mary Ann Pedigo

Nubar & Janet Ozbalik David Livingstone

(Janesville, WI) Betty H. Taylor Charles Ashjian Charles Dedian

Clement & Betty Woodward David Soudjian & Family Dianne & Tony Velegris

E. F. Wenzel Elizabeth Tootelian

Florence & Rose Soghoian Frona & Alan Colker

Fr. Mesrob & Yn. Ruzan Hovsepyan Ginna Minasian Dalton

Huy G. Nguyen James & Elizabeth Pettit, Jr.

Joyce Soghoian K & B Jones

Linda Sharigian Lisa L. Gibbs

Margaret Butler Mildred & E. T. Spevak

Pam Little Richard & Margaret Owen Robert & Anne Norris III

Roxie Kricorian Steven & Dorian Barsamian Virginia & Hugh Abernathy William & Elizabeth McLarin

Tony Velegris Hugh & Virginia Abernathy

Charles Ashjian Mrs. Mary Chookazian

(Paramus, NJ)

Mr. & Mrs. William Nevina (Hannacroix, NY)

Rob & Anne Norris George Ovigian

Richard & Margaret Owen Nubar & Janet Ozbalik &

Arshalouse Zerukoglu Marni Pilafian

Richard & Linda Page Alissa & William Pool

Edward Sanders (Peseux, Switzerland)

Hasmig Schein Linda Sharigian

Rose & Florence Soghoian Joyce Soghoian

Paul & Mary Srabian (Orlando , FL)

Gatewood H. Stoneman Robert & Lilly Thomas

Elizabeth Tootelian Dennis A. & Cynthia S. Urich

Donna P. Wright Sirvart & Krikor Zurnacian

Mrs. Dianne Velegris Women’s Guild of St. James

Judith Yeatts ( Palm Beach Gardens FL)

Alan & Halina Zimm

Beatrice Soudjian Alice & John LeVay

Anahid Ghazarian & Family Barbara H. Cox

SEVAN

Altar Flowers Dale Baronian in loving memory of Barkev Baronian Bouroujian, Kevorkian, Carden, & Thomas Families in loving memory of Archalouys & Antranig Bouroujian Patricia Davidson in loving mem-ory of Elizabeth Pattinian

Grapes

(Assumption of St. Mary) Janet & Nubar Ozbalik Joyce Soghoian

Christmas Poinsettias Joyce Soghoian Sam & Maral Haboush

Discretionary Fund Roxie Kricorian Rose & Florence Soghoian Karen & Nouneh Karapetyan

Christmas Yughakin Elizabeth Tootelian

Haike & Betty Giragosian Roman Krzysztofowicz Charles Moogalian Annie B. Bickers Roxie Kricorian Sirvart T. Sabounjian Fr. Mesrob & Ruzan Hovsepyan Avetik Topchyan George Donigian Dianne Velegris & Family John & Ruby Giragosian Peruz Manoukian Ann Markarian Margaret Butler Abraham & Helen Enfiedjian Dikran & Hermine Kabbendjian Sam & Maral Haboush Zadig & Lucille Setian John & Ardemis Jerikian Pam Little Queen M. Benson Dennis & Barbara Ourlian Asdghik Keshishian Robert & Lilly Thomas

Ensemble DUDUKNER performance Sponsors

Harry Deloian In Memory of Zarouhi DerKrikorian Deloian & Anna DerKrikorian Virginia M. Diradour David Livingstone Richard & Salpy Kevorkian Diran & Esther Bezirdjian Robert & Lilly Thomas Haig & Betty Jamgochian

Sevan Donations John & Louise Kimbler Sam & Maral Haboush Hugh & Virginia Abernathy Dean V. Shahinian Robert & Martha Garian Annie B. Bickers Haike Giragosian John & Pam Mardigian Chris & Lucy Grey Walton & Frances Egelanian Mary & Joseph Melton

(continued on the next page)

Special donations

Chest of Drawer (vestry) Donated by Alex & Stacy Baro-

nian in loving memory of Barkev Baronian

We have received donations from the following people for

replacing the windows in Main and Small Social Halls,

Sunday School and offices (27 windows - $8100)

Karen & Nouneh Karapetyan (13 windows)

John Baronian & Family In loving memory of

Margie Baronian John Baronian & Family

In Loving Memory of John Baronian Jr.

John, Sam & Barkev Baronian In loving memory of

Nick & Elizabeth Baronian Dale, Sam & John Baronian

In loving memory of Barkev Baronian

Dale, Alex and Nick Baronian In loving memory of

Barkev Baronian

Rose & Florence Soghoian In loving memory of

Zadoor & Shnorhig Soghoian (2 windows)

Hugh & Virginia Abernathy In loving memory of

Harry & Arshalous Darhanian Elizabeth Tootelian In loving memory of

Harry & Arshalous Darhanian Suren & Tereza Paravyan

(3 windows) Joyce Soghoian Marni Pilafian


Sevan Donations

We thank the donors who answered our call this month to help offset the costs of our newsletter. A total of $995 was received from the following (begins on p. 26):

Milton & Margaret Owen Andre & Diane Karakashian

Suren & Tereza Paravyan (Fayetteville, NC)

Harry & Marian Eritzian (Fresno, CA) Marilynn & Philip Guzelian

(Englewood, CO) Tigran Ananian (Silver Spring, MD)

Arnold & Dorothy Koresian (Chicago, IL) Craig Koresian (Chicago, IL)

We thank you for your generosity. Please feel free to send us also your comments and suggestions regarding our publication.

PLEASE NOTE: There is an expense of approximately $700 for pub-lishing and mailing each issue of the SEVAN. Any contributions sent to defray part of this cost are greatly appreciated. Please use this form to send your donation for this purpose. Please feel free to send us also your comments and suggestions regarding our publication.

St. James Armenian Church 834 Pepper Avenue, Richmond, VA 23226

Donation for Sevan in the amount of $ _______________

Name: _________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________

City: ___________________ State _______ ZIP _______

Please list occasion if any: ________________________

________________________________________________

Dr. Jeffrey Norrgard John Baronian & Nancy Avakian Dr. Richard & Mrs. Stephanie Sog-hoian Chuck Ashjian Annie Bickers Linda Sharigian/Sharigian family Optima Health Paul & Pam Mazmanian/Continuing Professional Education Inc. Jamie & Margaret Accashian Chris & Lucy Grey Steven & Dorian Barsamian Dr. Cynthia Maghakian Veronica & Alan Arikian Ruben & Yelena Avagyan Aram & Knarik Arkun Charles Moogalian Rose & Flo Soghoian

Diran & Esther Bezirdjian Marni and Shocky Pilafian Ron Greene/ Seltek Technology Solu-tions Studio K Kambourian Jewlery Creative Contracting/ Telfian family Cantor, Stoneburner, Ford, Grana & Buckner Pam Little H. H. Alexander Rob & Anne Norris Karen & Nouneh Karapetian Bandazian & Holden Nubar & Janet Ozbalik Tom & Judy Warren Michael & Son Services Inc. World Foreign Car Services Arshalouys Zerukoghlu Graham Gardner

54th annual food festival sponsors list

ANNUAL STEWARDSHIP PLEDGE Thank you to those who have made their 2011 Annual Stewardship Pledges! Stewards are members who contribute to the church over and beyond the standard membership dues. Members are those who pay the standard membership dues of $200. Both stewards and members are considered part of the Stewardship Program. We thank you in advance for your continued support of St. James.

John & Alice Levay John & Ruby Giragosian Isabel Vartanian Vahe & Ruzanna Ghazarian Audrey & Harry Pilafian Robert & Martha Garian Joyce Soghoian Dikran & Hermine Kabbendjian Elizabeth Tootelian Garabed Akseraylian Becky Greene Sirvart Sabounjian Asdghik Keshishian Der Mesrob & Ruzan Hovsepyan Virginia M. Diradour George H. Donigian Stepan Stepanyan Roxie Kricorian

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ST. JAMES ARMENIAN CHURCH 834 Pepper Avenue

Richmond, VA 23226

(ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED) Please Rush, Dated Material

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Parish Administrative Directory

WORSHIP HOURS Sunday Morning Service 10:00 a.m. Sunday Divine Liturgy 10:30 a.m. PASTOR Rev. Fr. Mesrob Hovsepyan Res: 9604 Craigs Mill Dr., Glen Allen, VA 23060 Home Phone/Fax: 804-270-3189 Direct: 804-405-9399 Email: [email protected] PARISH COUNCIL Rev. Fr. Mesrob Hovsepyan Rob M. Norris, Chairman Leiza Bouroujian, Vice-Chairperson Dale Baronian, Treasurer Steve Barsamian, Co-Treasurer Gregory Boyajian, Secretary Jamie Accashian, Adviser Nubar Ozbalik, Adviser John Baronian, Senior Adviser CHURCH OFFICE Office Hours: 8:30-11:30am, 12:30-3:00pm Office closed on Monday. Phone: 804-282-3818 Fax: 804-282-2330 Email: [email protected] www.stjamesva.org

WOMEN’S GUILD Stella Bandazian [email protected] ARMENIAN/SUNDAY SCHOOL Nouneh Karapetian [email protected], Yn. Ruzanna Hovsepyan [email protected] CHOIR DIRECTOR Peruz Manoukian [email protected] SEVAN EDITORIAL BOARD Rev. Fr. Mesrob Hovsepyan Roxie Kricorian Linda Sharigian MISSION STATEMENT OF ST. JAMES St. James Armenian Church of Richmond brings together the faithful of Central Virginia in the tra-dition of the Armenian Apostolic Church to glorify Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to proclaim His Gospel. This mission is fulfilled by welcoming God’s people with warm hospitality; by embracing our diverse backgrounds; by sowing seeds for con-tinued growth and ever-increasing faith; and by participating actively in worship, education, ser-vice, cultural enrichment, and fellowship.

Sevan-2012 3 issue - Fall-Winter 1 - 2012-3... · 2013. 12. 17. · Newsletter Fall-Winter,...

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Transcript of Sevan-2012 3 issue - Fall-Winter 1 - 2012-3... · 2013. 12. 17. · Newsletter Fall-Winter,...