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Sunday School Pilot Program Receives Positive Feedback From Parishes

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  • Sunday School Pilot Program Receives Positive Feedback From Parishes

    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: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.armenianchurch-ed.net


    July 25, 2011

    _______________________________________________


    Sunday School Pilot Program Receives Positive Feedback from Parishes

    By Melanie Panosian


    When Sunday School begins this fall in parishes across the Eastern Diocese,
    children will participate in an enriched educational experience, informed by
    a Diocesan Department of Youth and Education's (DYE) pilot program held in
    the 2010-2011 academic year.

    The program originated from the 2009 Clergy Conference, where priests
    expressed their desire to integrate children's church participation with the
    typical Sunday School class experience. The program models a two-hour Sunday
    School morning, consisting of traditional classroom instruction and now
    regular participation in the Divine Liturgy. The pilot phase has proven
    successful among the parishes, and following an evaluation process, a
    revised version will be implemented in all Diocesan parishes.

    The new Sunday School set-up is in accord with the Diocese's recognition
    that the Divine Liturgy is the central aspect of life in the church and
    should be shared within families-by children and adults alike. The Diocese
    seeks to stress the importance of including children in this integral
    portion of the Armenian faith as they grow up in the church.

    The point was articulated by the Rev. Fr. Untzag Nalbandian, pastor of the
    Holy Ascension Church of Trumbull, Conn.: "It has been proven over and over
    again that those who are in the church today are those whose parents brought
    them to church at a very young age."

    The new Sunday morning format unravels the "mystery" that is the Holy
    Badarak to many children, through a more interdisciplinary approach that
    still maintains the existing Sunday School classroom experience. Most of the
    40 parishes with Sunday Schools programs in place participated in the
    program, and 15 submitted feedback for review and discussion at the 2011
    Clergy Conference, which convened at the end of April.

    Comments collected from pastors and Sunday School staff through the
    evaluation survey fueled recommendations for future implementation of the
    program. For example, some parishes discovered that parents adversely affect
    their children's badarak attendance by arriving late or leaving early.

    Andrea Carden, Sunday School superintendent of the St. Leon Church of Fair
    Lawn, N.J., spoke about the impact of the program in her parish: "The adults
    were a bit anxious at first, but came to see the beauty in having the
    children at badarak."

    Schools also found that shorter sessions in the church sanctuary, with
    occasional extended stays, are more effective than long sessions every week.
    They found that shorter sessions may be necessary to keep Sunday School time
    intact, because parishes negatively view the compromise of Sunday School
    time that came with extended church stay.

    Staff members also stressed the importance of preserving Bible study and
    classroom instruction in Sunday morning's schedule to connect children, who
    most likely do not partake in such activities during the week, to their
    faith.

    Other ways to strengthen the Sunday morning experience, such as relating the
    children's church message to a pre-Sunday School "Assembly" or to the Sunday
    School lesson that week, were mentioned. Another idea was to teach children
    about badarak during Assembly some weeks, or have them participate in
    badarak through, for example, passing the Kiss of Peace, reading the
    Scriptures, distributing mahs, or participating in the choir. These ideas
    for involvement function towards increasing the link for students between
    Sunday School and badarak, making the two more fluid in children's minds.

    Many priests affirmed that they like this Sunday School format better than
    the traditional, all-classroom format. Still, Fr. Tavit Boyajian, pastor of
    the Sts. Joachim and Anne Church of Palos Heights, Ill., explained that he
    and his congregation believe that additional efforts can be made in order to
    make the Divine Liturgy "the most spiritually edifying experience for our
    people."

    Ultimately, the overall positive feedback for this pilot program confirmed
    the Diocese's intention to extend it into the coming Sunday School year and
    beyond. Moving forward, the Diocese is asking all parishes to review their
    individual results and make necessary changes, while offering general
    recommendations for strengthening the program.

    First, the Diocese recommends that priests should deliver a special message
    addressed to the children each week (possibly relating to the Sunday School
    Assembly topic) and allow for students to participate in badarak.

    Second, it urges that additional Sunday morning activities need to be kept
    to a minimum, in order to allot enough time for badarak attendance and
    Sunday School classroom instruction.

    Finally, the Diocese seeks to promote an ongoing conversation, involving the
    entire parish community, about the kind of education children need, and how
    the church can effectively provide them with such.

    Trumbull's Fr. Nalbandian, voicing his support for the new Sunday School
    initiative, countered the long-held argument that badarak is "too long" and
    that children "don't understand it."

    "Through this kind of regular exposure," he said, "a time will come for
    every child when they will understand the badarak."

    It's an Armenian Church variation on an old adage: practice makes perfect.

    ###

    Photos attached.
    Photo 1: Fr. Karekin Kasparian with Sunday School students at St. Gregory
    the Enlightener Church in White Plains, N.Y.
    Photo 2: Fr. Arakel Aljalian teaches Sunday School students at St. James
    Church of Watertown, Mass., to make nushkhar.

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