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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.
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.