PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian
CROSSROAD E-NEWSLETTER: May 13, 2004
CRITICAL ISSUES OF LIFE & FAITH
WILL BE DISCUSSED IN MID-ATLANTIC
ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION PROGRAM
The Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC) has planned a unique
program for adults in the mid-atlantic region. The Adult Christian Education
program will include lectures, Bible studies, panel discussions, small group
discussions, and worship services over the weekend of June 25 to 27, 2004.
The seminar will take place at St. Mary of Providence Center in Elverson,
Pennsylvania, beginning Friday evening, June 25 and continue through Sunday
afternoon, June 27.
The main portion of the program will take place on Saturday and those
who do not wish to stay the entire weekend can attend the Saturday session
only. The main speaker on Saturday will be Dr. Vigen Guroian, Professor of
Theology and Ethics at Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland. Professor
Guroian is the first Armenian theologian ever elected to the American
Theological Society and the Orthodox Theological Society of America. He has
served on the Board of Directors of the Society of Christian Ethics, has
been active in both the National Council of Churches and the World Council
of Churches, and is a member on numerous editorial boards. His published
works include nearly 150 articles, and six books with three more scheduled
to be published later this year.
Professor Guroian will provide an Armenian Orthodox Perspective to many
issues that are currently in the headlines. His presentation will focus
issues like marriage, gay marriage, abortion, euthanasia, cremation, suicide
and reproductive technologies.
Complete information about the seminar, registration form, and
directions to the Center are on the Prelacy web page,
or you may contact Archdeacon Shant Kazanjian at
the AREC office, 212-689-7810.
EARLY REGISTRATION FOR
DATEV INSTITUTE SAVES $$$
A reminder that the deadline for the early-bird registration for the St.
Gregory of Datev Institute Summer program is this Saturday, May 15. Register
by this Saturday and save $50. To register, just go to the Prelacy website
(), print the registration form,
fill it out and sent it in with your payment.
The Datev Summer Program will take place June 27 to July 4, 2004, for
junior and senior high school students, at the St. Mary of Providence
Center, Elverson, Pennsylvania.
JEOPARDY TOURNAMENTS CONTINUE
St. Stephen’s Saturday School team won the New England area Jeopardy
Tournament organized by the Armenian National Education Committee (ANEC).
The Mourad School of Rhode Island was the runner-up.
A capacity audience attended the competition, which took place at St.
Stephen Church, Watertown, MA, on May 8. Five teams from the following
schools participated: St. Stephen Elementary School, St. Stephen Saturday
School (Watertown), Armenian Sisters Academy (Lexington), Mourad Armenian
School (Providence) and St. Gregory School (North Andover).
The next regional competition will take place this Saturday, May 15, in
Chicago for the Midwestern Armenian schools.
THEATRE WORKSHOP AT SIAMANTO ACADEMY
Nora Armani, renowned Armenian stage, TV, radio and film actress, has
been invited to conduct a theatre workshop with the students of the Siamanto
Academy, this Saturday, May 15, 2004. The multi-lingual, award-winning Ms
Armani will share her experiences growing up as an Armenian in Egypt and her
theatrical experiences in London and Paris.
The Siamanto Academy meets every Saturday at the Armenian Center, 69-23
47th Avenue, Woodside, New York, 11 am to 2:30 pm. The college-accredited
Academy offers Armenian language, history and Christian studies for high
school students. For information contact Gilda B. Kupelian, Director of the
Armenian National Education Committee (ANEC): [email protected]
PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN VISITS ANTELIAS
Armenia’s president, Robert Kocharian, is visiting Lebanon upon the
invitation of President Lahoud. Yesterday, May 12, President Kocharian met
with His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, at the
Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia. Clergy serving the Catholicosate and
members of the Executive Council attended the meeting.
On the first day of his visit to Lebanon, the President and His Holiness
had a breakfast meeting at which time they discussed issues pertaining to
Armenia and Diaspora-Armenia relations. They both emphasized the importance
of strengthening the national unity at this critical point of the history of
the Armenian people.
OUTREACH ISSUE DEDICATED TO
ARCHBISHOP MESROB ASHJIAN
The special issue of Outreach, dedicated to the late Archbishop Mesrob
Ashjian, is complete and can be seen on line by visiting the Prelacy web
site,
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
FEATURES ARTICLE BY PETER BALAKIAN
The May 7, 2004 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education features an
article written by Peter Balakian, entitled How a Poet Writes History
Without Going Mad. Balakian, the author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian
Genocide and America’s Response, as well as numerous books of poetry and the
highly-acclaimed memoir, Black Dog of Fate, notes that a prominent Armenian
psychiatrist asked how he is able to write about massacre, deportation,
rape, and torture without becoming depressed or even incapacitated. Balakian
then goes on to describe how he came to write The Burning Tigris.
Balakian writes, In the face of such horror, can a writer even suggest
there is pleasure and excitement in doing the work, in the act of writing? I
came to The Burning Tigris as someone who has spent most of his life writing
in the rhythms and image language of the lyric poem and, at the time, was
finishing a book of new poems. In the 1990s I wrote a memoir, Black Dog of
Fate, about growing up Armenian American in the suburbs of Northern New
Jersey in the 1950s and 60s and gradually awakening to the history of the
Armenian Genocide my grandparents had lived through. One of the challenges
for me in crossing genre boundaries was to find the ways I could bring along
the appropriate aspects of my craft. In writing a memoir, I discovered that
the past could be opened up by finding images in memory that, like a thread,
could unravel into a once-forgotten experience.
Balakian concludes his long article with the observation that the
artistic challenges of locating the events, the characters, and their voices
in sensory, human time was an energizing force that kept me writing when the
darkness of the subjects could have shut me down.
ALMOST SISTERS, NEARLY BROTHERS
BY SUSAN ARPAJIAN JOLLEY
The current issue of TRANSFORMATIONS, The Journal of Inclusive
Scholarship and Pedagogy, includes a beautifully written article by Susan
Arpajian Jolley, titled Almost Sisters, Nearly Brothers.
Susan, a high school teacher in Delran, New Jersey, in a moving
narrative relates her emotionally charged experiences during her teaching of
English to a group of students, including several students from Turkey. Her
ambivalent feelings at the beginning of the journey become as much a
learning experience for her as for her students. She remembers the stories
of her childhood told by her grandparents and the images they conjure. She
writes, I hold these images in my mind because Agyuls country and my
grandparents land are the same. But Agyul is Turkish, and I am Armenian. If
you know the history that many people do not, the story of what has been
termed the first genocide of the modern age, you will understand.
Susan gives poignant, if different, voices to her grandmothers. Both are
survivors. Both have experienced unbelievable losses. Her maternal
grandmother withdraws and the full extent of her story goes with her to the
grave. Her paternal grandmother becomes a highly respected leader in the
Philadelphia Armenian community, an activist, a teacher of the Armenian
language.
Susan concludes, This teaching and learning experience brought us
together in ways that never would have happened otherwise, and we’re all
better for it. My new perspective will not solve any political problems
between our two nationalities, but, at least on a personal level, it is a
step.
Susan is the daughter of Vazken and Rose Arpajian, active members of St.
Gregory Church in Philadelphia, and the granddaughter of the late Kevork and
Ardemis Arpajian and Movses and Arek Zakarian.
The full article will be published in a forthcoming issue of Outreach.
NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
WILL CONVENE NEXT WEEK
The National Representative Assembly (NRA) of the Eastern Prelacy will
convene in Philadelphia, May 19 through 21. The host parish is St. Gregory
the Illuminator. For more details visit the Prelacy web-site:
ST. ILLUMINATORS ARMENIAN DAY SCHOOL
ANNUAL DINNER DANCE TOMORROW EVENING
The annual dinner-dance of St. Illuminators Armenian Day School will
take place tomorrow evening, Friday, May 14, 2004, at the Terrace on the
Park, Flushing, NY, at 8 p.m. Archbishop Oshagan will honor Mrs. Anna
Kayaloff with a special certificate of merit for her many years of dedicated
service to the Armenian Church and the school. For details contact the
school office, 718-478-4073.
PRELATE WILL VISIT BOSTON, WHITINSVILLE
Saturday, May 15, the Prelate will travel to Boston where he will meet
with the board of St. Stephen Elementary School to discuss the proposed
addition to the school. St. Stephen School was recently rated as one of the
best in the area.
From Boston, Archbishop Oshagan will go to Whitinsville where on Sunday,
May 16, he will officiate at the Divine Liturgy and deliver the Sermon at
St. Asdvadzadzin Church. He will also officiate at the ordination of Diran
Der Khosrofian to the rank of deacon and Hratch Simonian to the rank of
acolyte. Following the services His Eminence will preside over the annual
anniversary banquet of the church where His Eminence will award a special
Certificate of Merit to Alan Goshgarian for his many years of dedicated
service to the Armenian Church.
ASCENSION DAY
Next Thursday, May 20, 2004, is Holy Ascension Day (Hampartzoum). The
Prelate will celebrate this Feast in Philadelphia during the National
Representative Assembly at St. Gregory Church. The faithful of the
Philadelphia community are expected to celebrate this joyous feast-the last
of the dominical events of the life of Jesus as written in the Gospels, by
attending the Divine Liturgy on Thursday evening, 7:30 p.m., officiated by
V. Rev. Fr. Anoushavan Tanielian, Vicar of the Prelacy.
After the miraculous Resurrection, Jesus appeared before the Disciples
numerous times. On Ascension Day, forty days after the Resurrection, Jesus
met with his disciples and gave final instructions. He advised them not to
begin widespread teaching until the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost)
when they would be empowered with new power and ability. Two of the
evangelists, Mark and Luke, conclude their writings with the Ascension.
The Ascension took place at the village of Bethany, on the Mount of
Olives. After his final instructions, according to the Gospel, Jesus was
received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God.
There are many Armenian traditions associated with the commemoration of
Ascension Day. One tradition that has remained active is the telling of
fortunes for young women (Vijakahanoutiun), which has been immortalized in a
famous scene in the opera Anoush.
The Ascension is described in the New Testament in Mark 16:19; Luke
24:50-51; and Acts 1:9-11.
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
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