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PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.armenianprelacy.org
Contact: Iris Papazian
CROSSROADS E-NEWSLETTER August 26, 2004
HIS HOLINESS ARAM IN KOREA
His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, is in South
Korea to chair the meeting of the WCC Executive Committee of the World
Council of Churches. His Holiness, the Moderator of the WCC, arrived August
20 and will remain until this Saturday, August 28.
Topics that were considered during the meetings included, the vitality of
the churches and the Ecumenical Movement in Korea; Peace and Reconciliation
in the divided Korea; Preparations for the WCC 9th General Assembly, which
will take place in Brazil in 2006; Review of the work of the WCC Pacific
office; and Progress report on relations with partner organizations.
The Executive Committee meeting is being hosted by the National Council of
Churches of Korea (NCCK), and the four WCC member churches in the country:
the Anglican Church of Korea, the Korean Methodist Church, the Presbyterian
Church in the Republic of Korea, and the Presbyterian Church of Korea.
Last Sunday, August 22, His Holiness addressed the Presbyterian Church of
Korea. The focus of his sermon was that the Christian Church must take the
Gospel to the world. Describing the Church as a missionary reality, the
Catholicos said: Being Christian means being a witness, and being a witness
means taking the whole Gospel to the world. We are sent by God in Christ to
become missionaries in a world where the Gospel values are in decline, in a
world dominated by injustice, violence, in a world which is in dire need of
meaning. As Christians we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to become the
witnesses of the Gospel values.
RECEPTIONS FOR PILLARS OF THE PRELACY
ARE PLANNED IN VARIOUS AREAS
The Pillars of the Prelacy is an annual giving program which since its
inauguration last year has been growing. The money raised through this
program goes to important programs like clergy recruitment and training and
the various Prelacy youth programs. This year the Pillars program is
reaching out into various communities outside the New York metropolitan
area. Thus far three receptions are scheduled as follows:
St. Stephens Church, Watertown, Massachusetts, Friday, September
10.
Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode Island, Sunday,
September 12.
St. Sarkis Church, Dearborn, Michigan, Sunday October 10.
As one individual stated when joining the ranks of the Pillars
last year: The Prelacy is not just a local entity; it is for the collective
good of all the parishes that together comprise the Prelacy.
BISHOP NAREG ALEMEZIAN
VISITS PRELACY OFFICE
Bishop Nareg Alemezian, the Chief Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicate of
Cilicia, visited the Prelacy office today. His Grace has been in the United
States and Canada the past few weeks and will begin his return trip to
Antelias, Lebanon, tomorrow.
During his visit Nareg Srpazan granted an interview with the Director of
Communications which will be published in a forthcoming issue of Outreach.
Nareg Srpazan spoke candidly about his work, as well as his hopes and
aspirations for the Christian churches in their quest for solidarity and
union.
Incidentally, Nareg Srpazan was quoted in the recent (August 24) issue of
Christian Century in a story about the attacks on churches in Iraq. His
Grace is quoted, Christians are an integral part of the society they are
living in, they are not newcomers, they are not there for any superficial
reasons. Middle Eastern Christians are the people of the land where Christ
was born.
CAMP IS OUT; SCHOOL IS IN
The camping season is coming to an end and the start of the new school year
will begin soon. Actually, in some parts of the country, school is already
in full session. But, for most of our school districts, the 2004-2005 school
year will begin after Labor Day.
Deacon Nishan Baljian has spent a good part of the summer working with
campers in Camp Haiastan in Franklin, Massachusetts, providing spiritual
leadership and learning. Some of our area priests have joined him from time
to time in fulfilling this important mission to our young people.
FACING THE HEARTBREAKING TRUTH OF HISTORY
The August 19th issue of the International Herald Tribune ran an article
written by Jay Bushinsky emphasizing the importance of the recognition and
commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and noting that historical truth must
be faced regardless of how heartbreaking it may be.
The author, a freelance writer living in Israel, writes: Israelis, Jews,
Zionists and their supporters should comfort the Armenians in their national
sorrow and the Turks should accept the photographs, documents and above all
testimony, which commemorates the Armenian genocide, instead of insisting
that it never happened.
Mr. Bushinsky begins his article with a story about Franz Werfl, a story we
had not heard before. He writes: When the writer Franz Werfl, visiting this
majestic city [Jerusalem] in the early 1930s, sought a shoemaker, he was
told that there was a very competent one on Jaffa Road. His wife, the former
Alma Mahler, had lost one of her shoes abroad ship en route to Palestine and
was desperate to have the missing one replaced. The showmaker's name was
Garabidian, an Armenian name. Werfl was surprised to discover Armenians in
Jerusalem. When he found out that the Old City had an Armenian Quarter and
that most of its inhabitants were survivors of the first genocide of the
20th century, he was overwhelmed with emotion.
According to Mr. Bushinsky, that encounter led to Werfls interest in the
Armenian story and his book, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.
E-MAIL, PUNCTUATION AND GRAMMAR
We here at Crossroads love the internet and email. How can we not love it
when it gives us the opportunity to come into your life each week with bits
and pieces of news about the Armenian Church and related topics!
However, we here at Crossroads have always maintained that the internet,
email and tex msgs have been major contributors to sloppy English. Sentence
structure often disappears. Punctuation is often not used at all. And
perhaps saddest of all, the art of letter writing is lost.
We are horrified to have to confess that we at Crossroads are often
offenders. We try not to use apostrophes; and sometimes in order to do so
we have to form some awkward and bad sentences. We do not use quote marks,
but rather put quoted material in italics. We do this, dear readers, because
in some email services (i.e., AOL, for one) the apostrophes and quotes
become other points of punctuation (i.e., question marks), resulting in some
very strange looking copy. To all the pedants of grammar out there, we offer
our apologies for our minor transgressions, which to us, at least, appear to
be better than the alternative.
Speaking of pedants, we highly recommend a new book that has been on the
bestseller list for the past few months, Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne
Truss. Do not be put-off by its sub-title: The Zero Tolerance Approach to
Punctuation. Yes, it surely is about punctuation, but it is one of the most
enjoyable and funniest books we have read in a long time.
Visit our website at www.armenianprelacy.org
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.armenianprelacy.org
Contact: Iris Papazian
CROSSROADS E-NEWSLETTER August 26, 2004
HIS HOLINESS ARAM IN KOREA
His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, is in South
Korea to chair the meeting of the WCC Executive Committee of the World
Council of Churches. His Holiness, the Moderator of the WCC, arrived August
20 and will remain until this Saturday, August 28.
Topics that were considered during the meetings included, the vitality of
the churches and the Ecumenical Movement in Korea; Peace and Reconciliation
in the divided Korea; Preparations for the WCC 9th General Assembly, which
will take place in Brazil in 2006; Review of the work of the WCC Pacific
office; and Progress report on relations with partner organizations.
The Executive Committee meeting is being hosted by the National Council of
Churches of Korea (NCCK), and the four WCC member churches in the country:
the Anglican Church of Korea, the Korean Methodist Church, the Presbyterian
Church in the Republic of Korea, and the Presbyterian Church of Korea.
Last Sunday, August 22, His Holiness addressed the Presbyterian Church of
Korea. The focus of his sermon was that the Christian Church must take the
Gospel to the world. Describing the Church as a missionary reality, the
Catholicos said: Being Christian means being a witness, and being a witness
means taking the whole Gospel to the world. We are sent by God in Christ to
become missionaries in a world where the Gospel values are in decline, in a
world dominated by injustice, violence, in a world which is in dire need of
meaning. As Christians we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to become the
witnesses of the Gospel values.
RECEPTIONS FOR PILLARS OF THE PRELACY
ARE PLANNED IN VARIOUS AREAS
The Pillars of the Prelacy is an annual giving program which since its
inauguration last year has been growing. The money raised through this
program goes to important programs like clergy recruitment and training and
the various Prelacy youth programs. This year the Pillars program is
reaching out into various communities outside the New York metropolitan
area. Thus far three receptions are scheduled as follows:
St. Stephens Church, Watertown, Massachusetts, Friday, September
10.
Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode Island, Sunday,
September 12.
St. Sarkis Church, Dearborn, Michigan, Sunday October 10.
As one individual stated when joining the ranks of the Pillars
last year: The Prelacy is not just a local entity; it is for the collective
good of all the parishes that together comprise the Prelacy.
BISHOP NAREG ALEMEZIAN
VISITS PRELACY OFFICE
Bishop Nareg Alemezian, the Chief Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicate of
Cilicia, visited the Prelacy office today. His Grace has been in the United
States and Canada the past few weeks and will begin his return trip to
Antelias, Lebanon, tomorrow.
During his visit Nareg Srpazan granted an interview with the Director of
Communications which will be published in a forthcoming issue of Outreach.
Nareg Srpazan spoke candidly about his work, as well as his hopes and
aspirations for the Christian churches in their quest for solidarity and
union.
Incidentally, Nareg Srpazan was quoted in the recent (August 24) issue of
Christian Century in a story about the attacks on churches in Iraq. His
Grace is quoted, Christians are an integral part of the society they are
living in, they are not newcomers, they are not there for any superficial
reasons. Middle Eastern Christians are the people of the land where Christ
was born.
CAMP IS OUT; SCHOOL IS IN
The camping season is coming to an end and the start of the new school year
will begin soon. Actually, in some parts of the country, school is already
in full session. But, for most of our school districts, the 2004-2005 school
year will begin after Labor Day.
Deacon Nishan Baljian has spent a good part of the summer working with
campers in Camp Haiastan in Franklin, Massachusetts, providing spiritual
leadership and learning. Some of our area priests have joined him from time
to time in fulfilling this important mission to our young people.
FACING THE HEARTBREAKING TRUTH OF HISTORY
The August 19th issue of the International Herald Tribune ran an article
written by Jay Bushinsky emphasizing the importance of the recognition and
commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and noting that historical truth must
be faced regardless of how heartbreaking it may be.
The author, a freelance writer living in Israel, writes: Israelis, Jews,
Zionists and their supporters should comfort the Armenians in their national
sorrow and the Turks should accept the photographs, documents and above all
testimony, which commemorates the Armenian genocide, instead of insisting
that it never happened.
Mr. Bushinsky begins his article with a story about Franz Werfl, a story we
had not heard before. He writes: When the writer Franz Werfl, visiting this
majestic city [Jerusalem] in the early 1930s, sought a shoemaker, he was
told that there was a very competent one on Jaffa Road. His wife, the former
Alma Mahler, had lost one of her shoes abroad ship en route to Palestine and
was desperate to have the missing one replaced. The showmaker's name was
Garabidian, an Armenian name. Werfl was surprised to discover Armenians in
Jerusalem. When he found out that the Old City had an Armenian Quarter and
that most of its inhabitants were survivors of the first genocide of the
20th century, he was overwhelmed with emotion.
According to Mr. Bushinsky, that encounter led to Werfls interest in the
Armenian story and his book, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.
E-MAIL, PUNCTUATION AND GRAMMAR
We here at Crossroads love the internet and email. How can we not love it
when it gives us the opportunity to come into your life each week with bits
and pieces of news about the Armenian Church and related topics!
However, we here at Crossroads have always maintained that the internet,
email and tex msgs have been major contributors to sloppy English. Sentence
structure often disappears. Punctuation is often not used at all. And
perhaps saddest of all, the art of letter writing is lost.
We are horrified to have to confess that we at Crossroads are often
offenders. We try not to use apostrophes; and sometimes in order to do so
we have to form some awkward and bad sentences. We do not use quote marks,
but rather put quoted material in italics. We do this, dear readers, because
in some email services (i.e., AOL, for one) the apostrophes and quotes
become other points of punctuation (i.e., question marks), resulting in some
very strange looking copy. To all the pedants of grammar out there, we offer
our apologies for our minor transgressions, which to us, at least, appear to
be better than the alternative.
Speaking of pedants, we highly recommend a new book that has been on the
bestseller list for the past few months, Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne
Truss. Do not be put-off by its sub-title: The Zero Tolerance Approach to
Punctuation. Yes, it surely is about punctuation, but it is one of the most
enjoyable and funniest books we have read in a long time.
Visit our website at www.armenianprelacy.org