Prelate Bishop Torkom Donyan with the lead architect and design team of the church

Months after announcing that the La Crescenta parish will have its own church, the Western Prelacy announced that construction on the new Holy Archangels Church has begun and is being closely overseen by Western Prelate Bishop Torkom Donyan.

“We are hopeful that by mid-year the church will be ready to be officially anointed by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia,” Bishop Donoyan said in a statement last week.

The Western Prelacy announced in May that the new La Crescenta Church, whose benefactors are Mr. & Mrs. Varant and Hoori Melkonian, will be named “Holy Archangels” Church, with the blessing from Catholicos Aram I.

Varant and Hoori Melkonian, accompanied by Angel Melkonian visited Prelate Bishop Torkom Donoyan

Community leaders and benefactors Varant and Hoori Melkonian announced a generous donation and became the lead contributors of the new church. They also asked that the church be dedicated to in memory of Varant Melkonian’s father, Melkon, and to honor his mother, Angel, for whom the church was named “Holy Archangels.”

“Varant and Hoori Melkonian are not only a permanent presence in our community through their hard work and support, they are also always ready to ensure that community projects are successful. They bring their unwavering contribution to projects that aim to elevate our nation, homeland and the Western Prelacy through their generosity,” Prelate Donoyan said last March of the couple who have been bestowed with the “Cilician Prince” medal by the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia.

A special committee, comprised of professionals specializing in the fields of architecture and construction, is overseeing the renovation and redesign of the building, which will house the Holy Archangels Church and comply with architectural motifs of the Armenian Church.