AZ Central.com, Arizona
Sept 20 2009

Armenian Apostolic Church to open first Ariz. sanctuary

Building’s consecration set to take place today after a 6-year journey

by Sean Crandall – Sept. 20, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic .

St. Apkar, the only Armenian Apostolic Church in Arizona, will open
its first and long-awaited sanctuary in Scottsdale today after a
six-year journey.

For the Armenian community of Arizona, it is a triumphant end to an
effort that began in 2003 when they decided to build the church and
started fundraising.

In 2005, His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos
of all Armenians, came to Scottsdale to bless the ground for the new
sanctuary. Construction began last year, and today, the
7,000-square-foot sanctuary will be consecrated at 10 a.m. next to the
Armenian Church Cultural Center, 8849 E. Cholla St., Scottsdale.

The Armenian Church is only one of the Valley’s many cultural
churches.

With religious centers as diverse as a Jain temple recently built in
Phoenix, an Albanian Islamic center and the only Coptic Orthodox
Church in Arizona, the idea of America as a "melting pot" is evident.

But Paul Eppinger, executive director of the Arizona Interfaith
Movement, doesn’t like to think of it as a melting pot where
everything is mixed together and amalgamated into one big stew.

"I see it as a mosaic," he said. "Each stone is beautiful in and of
itself. But when you put them together, it makes a beautiful picture."

The mosaic metaphor correlates directly to why Eppinger thinks the
multitude of small cultural churches is so important to the Valley and
other communities around the world.

Eppinger notes that there is a view in America that if you come here,
you should learn to speak the language and do other things to fit in
with the American culture, but people come from differing cultures
worldwide, and their history and background are important to them.

If they can pray in their own language or with their own traditions,
Eppinger said, it gives them a chance to hold on to their
culture. It’s a way of keeping part of their cultural identity while
being part of the larger American culture.

Other examples include a Hindu temple, Buddhist temples and centers
like the Emaho Center, and several Muslim mosques and Greek Orthodox
churches in the Valley.

The Scottsdale church serves 2,000 to 3,000 Armenian families living
in Arizona. More than half reside in the Valley.

"We (Armenians) are thrilled to finally have a traditional church
built here in Arizona," said Donna Sirounian, church spokeswoman.

For the past 17 years, the Armenian Apostolic Church has used the
Melikian Hall, located in the Cultural Center, to perform church
services and other activities. If church members wanted to attend a
consecrated church, Sirounian noted, they had to travel to California,
which has 30 of the 104 Armenian churches in the U.S.

Sirounian, of Litchfield Park teaches Sunday school at the church. She
has been attending services at the church hall since she and her
family moved to Arizona in 2002.

"Armenians have stayed together through the centuries because of the
Armenian Church, and to have an actual sanctuary to pray in just makes
going to church real."

Although there are many religions that worship out of gymnasiums or
store fronts, the importance of having a church is symbolic for
Armenians, she said.

The church has been a stabilizing influence, especially during the
Armenian genocide in 1915 by the Turks.

"Armenians were martyred because of their faith," Sirounian
said. "They wanted to remain Christian and didn’t want to give in to
the Muslim faith. The church kept the Armenian people together through
that horrible tragedy, and as Armenians immigrated around the world,
they took their faith and traditions and began to rebuild, and they
built churches wherever they went, including the U.S."

The Armenian Apostolic Church, according to tradition, traces its
roots to SS. Thaddeus and Bartholomew. Christianity was practiced
underground for 2 1/2 centuries in Armenia until it became the
religion of the country in A.D. 301. Soon after, the church became one
of the most important institutions in Armenia, and Christianity became
deeply rooted in the Armenian culture.

Today, the church, now serving 7 million Armenian Apostolic Christians
around the world, thrives in both its homeland of Armenia and the
other Armenian communities around the world.

Sirounian said the first Armenian Church in the U.S. was built 100
years ago in Massachusetts.

"So here in Arizona, where we are in 2009, we are finally building the
first Armenian Church. It has taken us awhile."

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