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PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Carol Krikorian
Tel: (617) 354-0632
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.armenianchurch-ed.net
November 4, 2013
___________________
Young Deacon Begins Ministry at St. Sarkis Church
By Florence Avakian
"My calling started even before I was aware of the Armenian Church," says
Benjamin Rith-Najarian, recently appointed deacon-in-charge at the St.
Sarkis Church in Charlotte, N.C.
In this new assignment, he says he is filled with "mixed emotions. I have
spent the past eight years preparing for this. With anything new, there is
always a little anxiety. Every day, there is something new. It's a learning
experience. In the short time that I've been here, it has been exciting to
meet people, and listen to their ideas for the church, all of which is
bringing us closer to God."
Born in Philadelphia, Benjamin and his family moved to Syracuse when he was
a year old, then to Ojibwe, a town in northern Minnesota when he was five.
His grandparents were born in the United States, but his great-grandparents,
from Shabin-Karahisar, were killed in the Armenian Genocide, except for his
great-grandmother who survived the death march. His father, Steven, served
in the U.S. Navy and later settled in Minnesota, where Benjamin's family
still lives.
In his childhood, the nearest Armenian Church was in Wisconsin or Chicago, a
10 to 12 hour drive away. But Benjamin's mother, Janet, who is of English
and German background, and his father had instilled in him Christian values,
and he had attended Christian services from a young age with his parents.
"My mother was very involved in the area's Christian churches. She read the
Bible, visited nursing homes, and brought food to the homeless," he said.
Benjamin also remembers singing Soorp Asdvadz and other Armenian Church
hymns with his father at bedtime. "My father also cooked Armenian
food-pilaf, kufte, dolma, yalanche, boereg-and taught my mother to make
these delicacies," he said.
In 2002, the Armenian community in the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul
purchased a church, and his mother "encouraged our family to attend the
Badarak there." Benjamin was 18 years old at the time, and it was his first
contact with an Armenian Church.
When Benjamin graduated from St. John's University in Minnesota in 2004,
with a major in the natural sciences, he met the Very Rev. Fr. Daniel
Findikyan, at the time the dean of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary. He says
Fr. Findikyan inspired him to attend the seminary's college conferences-a
program that would change the course of Benjamin's life.
The Moving Force
"I didn't go to St. Nersess to become a priest, but to be more involved in
the Armenian Church and the Armenian language," Benjamin said. But he soon
realized that "all of the background, the Christian love that I had been
taught in my childhood, fit with being a priest. My parents had told me the
story, but it was Fr. Daniel who planted the seed, and was the moving
force."
Benjamin became interested in learning more about the Armenian Church, its
theology, history, and people. "All of it was new for me," he said. "I was
realizing more and more that service was crucial, and that is where I was
being called." In 2004, Benjamin went to Armenia and served for a month with
Habitat for Humanity. He later enrolled at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary and
completed his course of study in 2010.
Following his graduation from St. Nersess, he and his wife, Chicago-born
Danielle Der Asadourian, whom he had met at the St. Nersess summer
conferences, traveled to Jerusalem for 10 months. At the Armenian
Patriarchate of Jerusalem, he studied intensely and participated in the
services, while his wife taught at the Sts. Tarkmanchatz Armenian School.
Returning to the United States in June 2011, the young couple moved to New
Jersey, where he started an internship at St. Leon Church in Fair Lawn. For
two years he worked with the parish pastor, the Rev. Fr. Diran Bohajian.
"It was my first opportunity to do hands-on ministry," Benjamin notes. He
preached a few times a month, worked with the ACYOA, and visited homes and
hospitals. "It was everything a priest does to run a parish."
In January 2012, Benjamin began visiting St. Sarkis Church once or twice a
month. He is now the full-time deacon-in-charge at the parish.
He considers his work "a special journey." He adds, "A priest is first and
foremost a servant of God. As a spiritual leader in the community, he is a
role model and someone who steps forward and helps his flock in time of
need."
###
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Carol Krikorian
Tel: (617) 354-0632
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.armenianchurch-ed.net
November 4, 2013
___________________
Young Deacon Begins Ministry at St. Sarkis Church
By Florence Avakian
"My calling started even before I was aware of the Armenian Church," says
Benjamin Rith-Najarian, recently appointed deacon-in-charge at the St.
Sarkis Church in Charlotte, N.C.
In this new assignment, he says he is filled with "mixed emotions. I have
spent the past eight years preparing for this. With anything new, there is
always a little anxiety. Every day, there is something new. It's a learning
experience. In the short time that I've been here, it has been exciting to
meet people, and listen to their ideas for the church, all of which is
bringing us closer to God."
Born in Philadelphia, Benjamin and his family moved to Syracuse when he was
a year old, then to Ojibwe, a town in northern Minnesota when he was five.
His grandparents were born in the United States, but his great-grandparents,
from Shabin-Karahisar, were killed in the Armenian Genocide, except for his
great-grandmother who survived the death march. His father, Steven, served
in the U.S. Navy and later settled in Minnesota, where Benjamin's family
still lives.
In his childhood, the nearest Armenian Church was in Wisconsin or Chicago, a
10 to 12 hour drive away. But Benjamin's mother, Janet, who is of English
and German background, and his father had instilled in him Christian values,
and he had attended Christian services from a young age with his parents.
"My mother was very involved in the area's Christian churches. She read the
Bible, visited nursing homes, and brought food to the homeless," he said.
Benjamin also remembers singing Soorp Asdvadz and other Armenian Church
hymns with his father at bedtime. "My father also cooked Armenian
food-pilaf, kufte, dolma, yalanche, boereg-and taught my mother to make
these delicacies," he said.
In 2002, the Armenian community in the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul
purchased a church, and his mother "encouraged our family to attend the
Badarak there." Benjamin was 18 years old at the time, and it was his first
contact with an Armenian Church.
When Benjamin graduated from St. John's University in Minnesota in 2004,
with a major in the natural sciences, he met the Very Rev. Fr. Daniel
Findikyan, at the time the dean of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary. He says
Fr. Findikyan inspired him to attend the seminary's college conferences-a
program that would change the course of Benjamin's life.
The Moving Force
"I didn't go to St. Nersess to become a priest, but to be more involved in
the Armenian Church and the Armenian language," Benjamin said. But he soon
realized that "all of the background, the Christian love that I had been
taught in my childhood, fit with being a priest. My parents had told me the
story, but it was Fr. Daniel who planted the seed, and was the moving
force."
Benjamin became interested in learning more about the Armenian Church, its
theology, history, and people. "All of it was new for me," he said. "I was
realizing more and more that service was crucial, and that is where I was
being called." In 2004, Benjamin went to Armenia and served for a month with
Habitat for Humanity. He later enrolled at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary and
completed his course of study in 2010.
Following his graduation from St. Nersess, he and his wife, Chicago-born
Danielle Der Asadourian, whom he had met at the St. Nersess summer
conferences, traveled to Jerusalem for 10 months. At the Armenian
Patriarchate of Jerusalem, he studied intensely and participated in the
services, while his wife taught at the Sts. Tarkmanchatz Armenian School.
Returning to the United States in June 2011, the young couple moved to New
Jersey, where he started an internship at St. Leon Church in Fair Lawn. For
two years he worked with the parish pastor, the Rev. Fr. Diran Bohajian.
"It was my first opportunity to do hands-on ministry," Benjamin notes. He
preached a few times a month, worked with the ACYOA, and visited homes and
hospitals. "It was everything a priest does to run a parish."
In January 2012, Benjamin began visiting St. Sarkis Church once or twice a
month. He is now the full-time deacon-in-charge at the parish.
He considers his work "a special journey." He adds, "A priest is first and
foremost a servant of God. As a spiritual leader in the community, he is a
role model and someone who steps forward and helps his flock in time of
need."
###