PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: publicrelations@armeniandiocese.org
Website:
December 9, 2009
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FOR THE FIRST TIME, NCC HONORS AN ARMENIAN WITH ITS "AWARD OF EXCELLENCE"
Deacon James Kalustian was one of the four "Award of Excellence" winners at
this year’s National Council of Churches general assembly.
A member of the Armenian Church’s Supreme Spiritual Council and the Eastern
Diocese’s Diocesan Council, as well as serving as a deacon at Holy Trinity
Armenian Church of Cambridge, Mass., Mr. Kalustian was presented with the
award during a dinner ceremony in Minneapolis, Minn., where the NCC held its
annual gathering November 11-13.
According to the National Council of Churches, the "Award of Excellence"
recognizes individuals who have advanced the ecumenical movement, met human
needs, advocated for peace and justice, or provided a strong "prophetic
voice" in the Christian community. Mr. Kalustian has the distinction of
being the first Armenian to be so awarded.
Kalustian is active in the spiritual, cultural, and philanthropic life of
the Armenian Church, which he has represented at regional, national, and
international ecumenical meetings. Alongside his service on the highest
governing bodies of the worldwide Armenian Church and its Eastern Diocese,
he is the president of Boston’s Armenian Heritage Foundation.
Other 2009 "Award of Excellence" recipients were Joan Leof, who coordinates
an anti-racism project of the United Church of Christ; and Rev. Katherine
Austin Mahle, a longtime leader of Minnesota’s ecumenical community. The
Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches also received the award as an
organization that has battled poverty in its home state for five decades.
"Once a year we give these awards to people who have contributed to their
church and to the ecumenical movement," explained Archbishop Vicken
Aykazian, the Legate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America, and the current president of the NCC, who will complete his
two-year term at the end of this year. "I think it’s a great honor to have
an Armenian chosen as an award winner, and I believe that Jim Kalustian, who
is very much involved in the Armenian Church and dedicated to his faith, was
completely deserving of this award."
"I was obviously flattered to be honored by the NCC," said Kalustian about
receiving notice that he had been selected to win the award. "However, the
significance of the recognition is more important to me as a member of the
Armenian Apostolic Church than as an individual."
For the Very Rev. Fr. Aren Jebejian, pastor of the St. Gregory the
Illuminator Church in Chicago, Ill., the highlight of the NCC assembly was
seeing Mr. Kalustian receive the award. "Jim is the first Armenian in the
history of the NCC to receive an award and be recognized," he said. Fr.
Jebejian has been a delegate to the NCC for the past 10 years.
Mr. Kalustian urges fellow Armenian Christians to engage in the ecumenical
movement. "We as Armenian-American Christians need to make our voices heard
and thereby can have an impact through the ecumenical movement on important
social and political issues. Not just those that are important to the
Armenian Church-such as the integrity of the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem,
recognition of the Genocide, and the plight of the Armenian Church in
Georgia. But also, issues of broader social and religious consequence, such
as human rights in Somalia and Rwanda, and the plight of Christians in
general in the Holy Land."
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File photo attached: James Kalustian.