AZ Central.com, AZ
June 17 2005

Armenian community gets ready to build own church

Jessica Coomes
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 17, 2005 12:00 AM

SCOTTSDALE – Amid a chorus of prayers and in a cloud of incense,
the pontiff of the Armenian Church gave his blessing for the Armenian
community in Arizona to build a church for itself in Scottsdale.

His Holiness Karekin II stopped at the Armenian Apostolic Church of
Arizona on Thursday as part of a three-week U.S. tour. For Armenians,
the church is the foundation for community, and it’s something Arizona
doesn’t have.

Karekin II’s position, Catholicos of All Armenians, is the highest
title in the Armenian Church, and he leads about 7 million people
worldwide. advertisement

“I’m very proud of this,” said Ophelia Baghtchedjian, who left
Armenia in 1968. “He’s from Armenia, my country, where I grew up.
He’s very proud of our community here.”

Baghtchedjian, of Scottsdale, was blessed twice on Thursday by Karekin
II. She had practiced what to say when greeting him, but when the
catholicos approached her, she got tongue-tied. Her daughter, Victoria
Baghtchedjian, also was blessed.

“It gets to the core where you feel he is a representative of a higher
power,” Victoria said.

About 300 people attended the ceremony at the small Scottsdale church,
which has about 90 families.

“We’re hoping with the groundbreaking and the visit, more people
will become members,” said Donna Sirounian, the church’s fund-raising
chairwoman.

The new church will cost about $1.5 million, Sirounian said, and
about two-thirds of that has been raised. Groundbreaking is scheduled
for early next year, and the building process should take at least
eight months.

In 1992, church members built a cultural center at 8849 E. Cholla St.,
which now doubles as the church’s hub for religious and non-religious
activities. The planned 6,000-square-foot sanctuary would hold only
worship services.

The Armenian community has been in the area since the 1950s. But
before the cultural center was built, members would hold services at
homes or other churches.

The Scottsdale location is Arizona’s only Armenian Church and serves
the state’s 2,200 families of Armenian descent.

Since A.D. 301, Christianity has been the official religion of
Armenia, which is east of Turkey in southwestern Asia. In another
U.S. visit in 2001, Karekin II came to Scottsdale to celebrate that
1,700th anniversary.