NEW ARMENIAN CHURCH WILL BE BUILT, FINALLY; HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL CHURCH VISITING SITE
By Jason Tait , Staff Writer
Eagle Tribune, MA
Aug 27 2007
HAVERHILL – A worn and faded sign on an empty lot on Route 125 near
the North Andover line has promised for about five years that the
Armenian Apostolic Church at Hye Pointe will be built there.
The project is finally happening after years of planning and
fundraising, boosting the spirits of hundreds of local Armenians who
have been waiting for a permanent home, church members say.
The parishioners will come from two congregations – Holy Cross of
Lawrence and St. Gregory the Illuminator of Haverhill, a total of
600 member families.
"It is so exciting for all of us who have worked so hard for this,"
said Gale Cifra, a parish councilor. "It’s time for the two parishes
to come together as one."
The project will break ground in the spring, but before it happens
the ground must be blessed.
His Holiness Karekin II, who heads the international Armenian Apostolic
Church and is called the Catholicos, will consecrate the land during
a visit on Columbus Day in October, church trustees said.
Former Holy Cross member Mark Kazanjian, owner of the Whirlaway
golf center in Methuen, said he and a few other parishioners started
looking for land for a new church in 1994.
He said they closed on the property in 2000, and "that’s when it
really became a long road" trying to propel the project forward.
"All good things take time," Kazanjian said.
Parish Council Chairman Scott Sahagian, originally a Holy Cross member,
said the Merrimack Valley has a viable Armenian community.
"By coming together with the two churches, we’ll become stronger,"
he said.
The official merger happened in 2002, an emotional situation for the
people of both parishes, Sahagian said.
Church services were alternately held in Lawrence and Haverhill until
this spring when Holy Cross was closed for good. Services are now
held exclusively at St. Gregory.
Both churches will be sold to help finance the new church.
Holy Cross has a buyer and is being sold in September, Sahagian said.
St. Gregory also has a potential buyer, and the sale could be completed
in October.
Sahagian would not reveal the potential buyers or how much money is
needed for construction.
An Eagle-Tribune story in 2002 said the project would cost $3.9
million, but Sahagian said the current project has been downsized.
"It will be done in a way that is manageable for the parish," he said.
The new church will be built on 9 acres of land at 1280 Boston Road
(Route 125) near Spring Hill Garden Center. It will be built in
a style reminiscent of buildings in Armenia. Sahagian said losing
the original church buildings in Haverhill and Lawrence is hard but
necessary for the church’s growth.
"It’s sentimental, but as I look at the future, we need to have a
modern facility that is adaptable to our changing needs," Sahagian
said.
The Catholicos
Position: Heads the international Armenian Apostolic Church.
Name: His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos
of All Armenians.
Born: Ktrij Nersissian in 1951 in the Armenian village of Voskehat.
Ordained: 1972 and was given the name Karekin.
Elevated to head the church: Elected the 132nd Catholicos of All
Armenians and was consecrated on Nov. 4, 1999.
Source:
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