PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
June 9, 2005
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DIOCESE PLAYS LEADERSHIP ROLE IN NEW CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION
During a closed-doors meeting in the first week of June, the new
ecumenical organization — called Christian Churches Together — took
its first formal steps towards organizing. The new group seeks to bring
together the “five families” of Christian churches: mainline Protestant,
Catholic, Orthodox, racial/ethnic and evangelical/Pentecostal churches.
The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), through its
legate, is deeply involved in this effort, which is making historic
inroads in the Catholic and evangelical churches, which have
traditionally not been associated with national ecumenical groups such
as the National Council of Churches. While the new Christian Churches
Together has been well received by leaders of the Catholic and
evangelical churches, no official endorsement from world-wide leaders
has come yet.
“This is going to be the first time in the history of United States that
the ‘five families’ of churches are coming together to jointly create
such an organization,” said Bishop Vicken Aykazian, diocesan legate and
ecumenical officer, who has served on the group’s steering committee
since it was proposed in 2001. “We have to express ourselves with the
same voice about the social problems, political problems, and
theological problems.”
About two dozen church leaders attended the steering committee gathering
from June 1 to 3 in Los Altos Hills, CA, during which they talked about
the final shape of the organization, and the goal to officially launch
the new effort in 2006.
Participants in the group’s initial meetings the past few years have
spent much of their time praying together and getting acquainted with
one another’s traditions. Organizers of the group say such
trust-building sessions are critical to building consensus between
churches during future discussions of moral and social issues.
During the most recent meeting, Bishop Aykazian shared an Orthodox view
of ecumenicalism with the participants by reading remarks written by
Chris Zakian, coordinator of public relations at the Diocese.
“What we regard today as the modern ecumenical movement saw its birth in
the middle years of the 20th century. For most of the ensuing period,
the Armenian Church has played a role in ecumenical gatherings on the
world and various national stages, under the support and blessing of
three catholicoi of the worldwide Armenian Church, centered at our
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, in today’s Republic of Armenia,” the
remarks read.
“The idea of an ‘ecumenical’ Christianity — that is, a Christianity
that encompasses all the world’s human habitations — is much older, of
course, having received its most elaborate expression in the 4th
century, under the Council of Nicaea. Astonishingly, all of us gathered
here today still live in the shadow of that great gathering — and not
simply those of us who explicitly adhere to the Nicene Creed. By the
very fact of our coming together, we are in some measure seeking to
continue, or perhaps complete, the project begun 1,680 years ago.”
— 6/9/05
From: Baghdasarian