Armenian Apostolic Church of Crescenta Valley – Educational Committee
6252 Honolulu Ave.
La Crescenta, CA. 91214
Tel: 818-244-9645
E-mail: [email protected]
Deacon Khatchig Shannakian will be the guest speaker on the subject of
`Armenian Women’s Role in Sustaining the Armenian Apostolic Church and
Culture’ at the Armenian Apostolic Church of Crescenta Valley, located
at Western Prelacy’s “Dikran and Zarouhi Der Ghazarian” Hall, at 6252
Honolulu Ave., La Crescenta, California on Sunday, August 11, 2013 at
1pm, following the Divine liturgy, which starts at 11am.
This event is dedicated to His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the
Great House of Cilicia, declaring the year 2013 as `The Year of the
Armenian Mother.’
As the first Christian nation, the Armenian Apostolic Church has a
rich history and traditions. Throughout that history, women have
played an important role within our church and nation. We have had
deaconesses, nuns, saints, queens, princesses, and other national
servants. And let us not forget that the first martyr of the Armenian
Apostolic Church was indeed a woman, St. Santoukht the Virgin.
The contributions of women have certainly been exalted by our church
and nation. Armenian women have played a pivotal role in the
establishment, spread, and preservation of our Christian faith and
religious principles and traditions. They have served selflessly in
many capacities, but always with one purpose in mind, to serve to the
best of their abilities to keep our church and nation strong and
enduring, in Armenia and in the Diaspora alike.
Khatchig Shannakian was born in 1982, in Anjar, Lebanon. At the young
age of 4, his family moved to Toronto, Canada, where he lived his
youth, and after graduating high school he was accepted into the
Pre-Med program at the University of Toronto, where he completed his
Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and Psychology, graduating
with honors in 2007.
Since childhood he has served the Armenian Apostolic Church both in
Anjar, Lebanon and in Toronto, Canada, where he was ordained into the
deaconate by His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Hagopian. Upon completion
of his Bachelors of Science and despite being accepted into Medical
school, the calling to serve God was strong in his soul and he
continued his education in religious studies, graduating in 2011 with
a Masters of Divinity degree from the University of Toronto.
In 2011 he married his wife Roubina Shannakian in Anjar, Lebanon and
then moved to Los Angeles, California. Having applied to be ordained
into the priesthood at the Western Prelacy, His Eminence Archbishop
Moushegh Mardirossian accepted his application, and currently Deacon
Khatchig is working at the Prelacy as the Executive Secretary of the
Youth Department, awaiting his ordainment.
This event, which is organized by Crescenta Valley Church Education
Committee, is free and open to the public.