PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Karine Abalyan
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: publicrelations@armeniandiocese.org
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December 14, 2009
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DIOCESE CELEBRATES RELEASE OF DR. NERSOYAN’S CLASSIC STORIES ABOUT FIGURES
AND EVENTS SHAPING THE ARMENIAN CHRISTIAN HERITAGE

On Thursday, December 3, a reception at the Diocesan Center marked the
publication of New Faith to New World: Stories from the History of the
Armenian Church, a revised edition of the late Dr. Hagop Nersoyan’s classic
work, A History of the Armenian Church.

The long-awaited new edition features 35 stories about saints, church
leaders, and other great figures from the annals of Armenian history. From
Tigran the Great to St. Vartan Mamigonian and St. Gregory of Datev to the
establishment of the first Armenian Church in the U.S., New Faith to New
World offers an engaging survey of the icons and events shaping the Armenian
Christian heritage.

Originally written in 1963 as a high school textbook for Sunday School
students, the volume was revised by Dr. Nersoyan for the new edition, this
time geared to the general reader. Dr. Nersoyan began the revision process
in the early 1980s and completed it shortly before his passing in 2006. Some
stories were completely rewritten, while others were meticulously redrafted
to make them more accessible to a new generation of readers.

In the new edition – completed under the leadership of Elise Antreassian,
coordinator of Christian Education at the Eastern Diocese’s Department of
Youth and Education – the stories are accompanied by newly commissioned
watercolor illustrations by Kyle Harabedian and short introductions, which
are the abbreviated versions of the scholarly forewords Dr. Nersoyan
prepared in 1963.

The project was underwritten by the Women’s Guild through funds raised at
the organization’s Saintly Women’s Day commemorations across the parishes.
The book is dedicated to the women of the Armenian Church.

"These stories are our stories. The people portrayed in them are the people
we come from," said Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern
Diocese, at the December 3 reception.

"That was Dr. Nersoyan’s goal – he always wanted the best for his people,
the best for our church," the Primate said. He added that the work is "a
testament to Hagop’s legacy and shows the continuing relevance and
importance of his work."

Members of Dr. Nersoyan’s family, including his godson the Very Rev. Fr.
Aren Jebejian, were present at the celebratory evening. Dr. Nersoyan’s
grandnephew Sarkis Jebejian thanked the Department of Youth and Education
and the Women’s Guild for making the book available to a new generation of
young people. He recalled reading the stories as a child and said he looks
forward to sharing them with his own son.

"When a book rolls off the press and is celebrated, I like to think of it as
a new baby and a reception like this as a christening," Elise Antreassian
said. "The book comes into existence at a moment in time – miraculously –
although it is as much hard work as miracle, has a personality, a character,
contains a story, an appearance, grows old..and if it is a great book, like
a great person, it will change for the better every life it touches."

Archbishop Barsamian thanked Antreassian for spearheading the publication of
the second edition of New Faith to New World, and "for treating the project
with such love and reverence."

Women’s Guild Central Council chair Leslie Movsesian thanked Archbishop
Barsamian and Antreassian for bringing this project to the attention of the
Women’s Guild. She said the organization wanted to fund a project that
"would benefit the children of our Diocese," and Dr. Nersoyan’s book was "a
perfect fit." Movsesian emphasized that the book is an important resource
for Sunday Schools and families. The Women’s Guild is donating two copies of
the publication to each parish.

Megan Jendian, associate coordinator of Christian Education at the Eastern
Diocese, served as master of ceremonies at the December 3 event. Also
attending were illustrator Kyle Harabedian and book designer Glen Markarian,
as well as Joseph Kalemkerian, illustrator of the original 1963 edition.

A native of Aleppo, Syria, Dr. Hagop Nersoyan was the son of the Rev. Fr.
Nersess Tavookjian, the pastor of Aintab who is revered as a hero for his
courage in Armenia’s darkest hour. Dr. Nersoyan’s brother was Archbishop
Tiran Nersoyan, the Primate of the Eastern Diocese from 1944 to 1954.

In 1946, Dr. Hagop Nersoyan settled in the United States, where he attended
the Berkley/Yale Divinity School and later earned a doctorate in the
philosophy of religion and ethics from Columbia University. In 1967, Dr.
Nersoyan became a professor at the University of Dayton, OH.

An ordained deacon of the Armenian Church, he also served as the executive
director of the ACYOA and director of the Sunday Schools of the Eastern
Diocese, and worked closely with Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan on many Diocesan
undertakings. New Faith to New World is one of many works written by Dr.
Nersoyan, which include The Faith of the Armenian Church and From Istanbul
to Aghtamar: An Armenian Pilgrimage.

New Faith to New World is available for purchase, for $20 per copy, from the
St. Vartan Bookstore; call (212) 686-0710, ext. 152 for information.

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Photos attached.

Photo 1: The cover of New Faith to New World: Stories from the History of
the Armenian Church, which was released this month by the Eastern Diocese’s
Department of Youth and Education.

Photo 2: Archbishop Khajag Barsamian speaks with book illustrator Kyle
Harabedian and Nancy Basmajian of the Department of Youth and Education.

Photo 3: Megan Jendian, associate coordinator of Christian Education at the
Eastern Diocese, served as master of ceremonies at the December 3 book
reception.

Photo 4: Archbishop Khajag Barsamian addresses guests at a reception marking
the publication of New Faith to New World: Stories from the History of the
Armenian Church.

Photo 5: Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian, Very Rev. Fr. Haigazoun Najarian, Rev.
Fr. Arten Ashjian, and Megan Jendian speak about the new publication at the
December 3 reception.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress