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: info@armenianprelacy.org
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian
MAY 11, 2006
NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
WILL CONVENE IN NEW JERSEY NEXT WEEK
Plans are complete and the New Jersey community of Sts. Vartanantz
Church is prepared to welcome delegates and guests to the Eastern Prelacy’s
National Representative Assembly next week. Clergy conference begins on
Tuesday, May 16. The general assembly will begin Wednesday afternoon, May 17
and conclude on Friday, May 19.
The concluding reception and banquet will take place Friday evening, May
19, at the Fort Lee Hilton, Route 4 East, Fort Lee, New Jersey. During the
banquet program a number of individuals will be honored including “Persons
of the Year,” and “Youth Leadership” awards. “Certificates of Merit” will be
presented to deserving members of the local host community. To make
reservations for the banquet ($75. per person) contact any of the following:
Sts. Vartanantz Church, 201-943-2950; Bea Movsesian, 201-445-6867; Sonia
Setrakian, 201-313-7157; Lynn Mahlebjian, 201-440-3018.
The following four items all pertain to special events during the
Assembly.
CONFERENCE FOR YERETZGEENS
Archbishop Oshagan and the Religious and Executive Council are pleased
to announce that a conference for Yeretzgeens of the Eastern Prelacy will be
held in New Jersey on May 16-17, in conjunction with the National
Representative Assembly. All Yeretzgeens are invited to attend the
conference. Archbishop Oshagan will open the session with a prayer and
deliver the opening message. The remainder of the conference will feature
two sessions on various aspects of the life of a priest’s wife (family,
parish life, work) by Presvytera Athanasia Papademetriou of the Greek
Orthodox faith and one session titled, “Women of Noble Character,” by
Yeretzgeen Joanna Baghsarian.
VESPERS AND BOOK PRESENTATION
TUESDAY EVENING
Clergymen serving the Prelacy will begin their conference on Tuesday,
May 16, at 8 a.m. and continue through the day. The public is invited to
attend the Vespers service at 7:30 pm, and the book presentation that will
follow in the church’s large hall, 461 Bergen Blvd., Ridgefield, New Jersey.
The newly published Light from Light: An Introduction to the History and
Theology of the Armenian Church, by Professor Michael B. Papazian, will be
introduced with a wine and cheese reception at 8 pm, immediately following
Vespers. Archbishop Oshagan will present the book and the author, who will
be available to autograph copies of his book.
VISIT TO CATHEDRAL, PRELACY AND
ANOTHER BOOK PRESENTATION
On Wednesday evening, delegates and guests will cross the Hudson River
to visit St. Illuminator’s Cathedral, 221 E. 27th Street, where Vespers
service will take place. Immediately afterward they will go northward to the
Prelacy office on 39th Street for a reception and introduction of another
newly published book, “The Historiography of Fifth Century Armenia,” by
Archbishop Hrant Khatchadourian, of blessed memory. This work is the
doctoral dissertation of the late Archbishop, the first Prelate of the
Prelacy. It has never been published in book form. Archbishop Oshagan will
make the presentation in the presence of members of Archbishop Hrant’s
immediate family, including his brother, Antranig Khatchadourian, from
Providence, Rhode Island.
DELEGATES AND GUESTS WILL VISIT HOVNANIAN SCHOOL
On Thursday evening, May 18, delegates and guests will visit the
Hovnanian School in New Milford, New Jersey. The Hovnanian School, which
started at Sts. Vartanantz Church, is celebrating its 30th anniversary and
was recently featured in The Record, one of New Jersey’s major newspapers.
The students will make a presentation including their acclaimed Dzalabadig,
a rendition of a moving story of school children in Aleppo after the
Genocide, reading and writing while sitting cross-legged (dzalabadig). Since
the students’ original presentation in 2004 it has been repeated several
times by popular demand.
PRELATE ATTENDS JOINT MEETING TODAY
Archbishop Oshagan attended the third meeting of “Christian, Arab and
Middle Eastern Churches Together” today, at the Eparchy of St. Maron in
Brooklyn, hosted by Archbishop Gregory Marsour.
VICAR IS ATTENDING POST-ASSEMBLY WCC EVENT
V. Rev. Fr. Anoushavan Tanielian, Vicar General of the Eastern Prelacy
and Ecumenical Officer for the Eastern and Western Prelacies, is attending
the U.S. Conference for the World Council of Churches Post Assembly Event in
San Jose, California, today and tomorrow, May 11 and 12. The Conference will
focus on a discussion of the 9th Assembly of the WCC which took place in
Brazil in February.
On Sunday, May 14, Father Anoushavan will officiate at the Divine
Liturgy and deliver the sermon at St. Gregory Armenian Church in San
Francisco, California.
PRELATE WILL PRESIDE AT ST. ILLUMINATOR CATHEDRAL
Archbishop Oshagan will preside over the Divine Liturgy this Sunday, May
14-Mothers’ Day-at St. Illuminator’s Cathedral, 221 East 27th Street, New
York City.
REGISTER NOW FOR DATEV SUMMER PROGRAM
Urge your teenagers to enroll in the St. Gregory of Datev Summer
Institute. The weeklong program will take place July 2 to 9 at the St. Mary
of Providence Center in Elverson, Pennsylvania. This year the Institute is
marking its 20th anniversary and various commemorative events are being
planned. Watch the Prelacy’s web site for details.
EMMA GREGORYAN EXHIBIT OPENS TOMORROW
An exhibit of the works of noted artist, Emma Gregoryan, will open
tomorrow evening, Friday, May 12, at the Prelacy’s Vahakn and Hasmig
Hovnanian Hall, 138 E. 39th Street, New York City. The opening reception
will begin at 7 pm. The artist will be present to welcome guests.
Refreshments will be served.
Ms. Gregoryan’s works are currently being shown at the Susquehanna Art
Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as part of an exhibition of the Armenian
art collection of the late John Vartan.
Born in Gumri, Armenia, Emma Grigoryan graduated from the Fine Arts and
Theatrical Institute of Yerevan. Her paintings have been exhibited in
Yerevan, Paris, Beirut, New York, Washington and throughout Canada.
PLG MOTHERS DAY LUNCHEON BIG HIT
The Prelacy Ladies Guild’s Mothers Day luncheon this past Monday was a
crowd pleaser on many different levels. The Roof Garden of The St. Regis was
the site of the annual luncheon, which attracted many attendees from near
and far.
Archbishop Oshagan presented the Mother of the Year award to Mrs. Araxie
Varjabedian in the presence of members of her family and friends. Mrs.
Varjabedian accepted the award with humility and thankfulness. At the
conclusion of the event a gift of $5,000 from Mrs. Varjabedian to the
Prelacy Ladies Guild was announced.
Entertainment this year included a wonderful musical interlude entitled
“Voices of Spring.” The program was put together specially for this event by
the vocalists, Ross Chitwood, Jeanette Vecchione, and Solange Merdinian,
with Vlad Iftinka on the piano.
CAMP HAIASTAN EXTENDS CAMPERSHIPS
TO EASTERN PRELACY PARISHES
Archbishop Oshagan and the Board of Directors of the AYF Camp Haiastan
of Franklin, Massachusetts, recently announced a joint program. Each parish
in the Eastern Prelacy is extended one two-week fully paid campership by
Camp Haiastan. Eastern Prelacy clergymen will select a boy or girl in their
Sunday School or church community who have never attended the camp. The
sessions being offered for the camperships are the Teen Session for 15 and
16 year olds, or Session 3 for 8 to 14 year olds.
TWO NEW VOLUMES IN KAREKIN I SERIES ARE PUBLISHED
Two new volumes in the “Karekin I Theological and Armenological Studies
Series,” were issued last week. Volume six of the series, “The Council of
Chalcedon and the Armenian Church,” is a new edition of the classic work
which was the late Catholicos’ thesis at Oxford University. Although
faithful to the original, this new edition includes translations of the many
long passages in Greek, Latin, French and German.
The seventh volume (in Armenian) is titled “Encyclicals and Messages,”
and includes the Catholicos’s major pontifical encyclicals and messages.
The series editors are Dr. Vazken Ghougassian and Iris Papazian. The
sponsor of the series is “The Haig and Elza Didizian Fund.”
The next volume (number eight in the series) is “Think and Enter,” a
translation of His Holiness’s early work in Armenian, Khorheh yev Medir.
Translated by Iris Papazian, this volume is expected to be issued later this
year.
FEAST OF THE APPARITION OF THE HOLY CROSS
This Sunday, May 14, is the Feast of the Apparition of the Holy Cross
(Yerevman Khach), which is celebrated on the fifth Sunday of Easter in
remembrance of the sign of the cross that stretched in the sky over the city
of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives to Golgotha in 351 A.D. This cross in
the sky remained for hours and was seen by the people in Jerusalem, many of
whom rushed to church to glorify God and give thanks.
SUNDAY IS MOTHERS’ DAY
This Sunday, May 14, is Mothers’ Day. Mothers’ Day was first celebrated
in 1907 when Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia persuaded her mother’s church in
West Virginia to celebrate Mothers’ Day on the second anniversary of her
mother’s death.
It was an idea that took on a life of its own. By 1911 Mothers’ Day was
being celebrated in nearly every state. Three years later, in 1914,
President Woodrow Wilson made it official, by proclamation, that Mothers’
Day would be a national holiday to be celebrated each year on the second
Sunday of May.
HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY!
Calendar of Event
May 12-Exhibition of the works of artist Emma Gregoryan at the Prelacy, 138
E. 39th Street, New York City.
May 13-Dinner-Dance organized by the St. Sarkis Church Ping-Pong Club. For
details 718-224-2275.
May 17-19-National Representative Assembly (NRA), hosted by Sts. Vartanantz
Church, Ridgefield, New Jersey. Concluding reception and banquet will take
place Friday, May 19, at the Fort Lee Hilton, Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Reception at 7 pm, followed by dinner. For information/reservations: Sts.
Vartanantz Church office, 201-943-2950.
May 16 and 17-Conference of Yeretzgeens in conjunction with the National
Representative Assembly, hosted by Sts. Vartanantz Church, Ridgefield, New
Jersey.
May 20-Year-end Hantes for Sunday School and Saturday School, St. Sarkis
Church, Douglaston, New York. For information, 718-224-2275.
June 4-16th Anniversary Celebration of the new St. Sarkis Church,
Douglaston, New York. For information, 718-224-2275.
July 22-Ladies Guild of Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode Island,
and Ani Chapter of Armenian Relief Society co-host gala dance at Greek
Orthodox Annunciation Church. For information, 401-286-8107.
September 28-4th Annual Golf Outing hosted by Sts. Vartanantz Church,
Ridgefield, New Jersey. Bergen Hills Country Club, River Vale, New Jersey.
For reservations and/or information: 201-943-2950.
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