Tweet
ARMENIAN CHURCH IN PROVIDENCE TO BEGIN CELEBRATION OF 100TH ANNIVERSARY
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/10/10/armenian-church-in-providence-to-begin-celebration-of-100th-anniversary/
14:57 10.10.2013
Saints Sahag & Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church, the oldest Armenian
church in Rhode Island and one of the oldest in the United States, is
set to begin a celebration of its 100th anniversary year this month
starting with a performance at Rhode IslandCollege by the 60-member
SHUSHI Armenian Dance Ensemble on October 20, the Providence Journal
reports.
The name of the 60-member ensemble may be deceiving. Although the
group takes its name from Shushi, the capital city of Nagorno Karabagh,
the group is based in New Jersey and made up almost entirely of young
Americans born in the United States.
Why Shushi? Because when the ensemble was created in 1993, the city
had just been liberated.
The Rev. Shnork Souin, the pastor of Saints Saghag and Mesrob,
said it is especially fitting that the Shushi dance ensemble will
be performing here because Rhode Island became the first political
entity to recognize Nagorno Karabakh's independence, followed
by Massachusetts, Louisiana, Maine, and Fresno City, Calif. Its
independence has yet to be recognized by the United States.
Located on Jefferson Street, the church has a large, blue neon cross
that is visible to motorists on northbound Route 95. It owes its
origins to the waves of immigrants who began to move to Providence
to escape persecution and genocide some 100 years ago.
The Canadian-born pastor says the church - with 450 voting members
and roughly 4,000 adherents - include faithful whose families hail not
only from Armenia but Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Canada, Baku and
Russia, as well as "blond, blue-eyed" American converts to the faith.
The church's name comes from the names of St. Sahag, one of the early
church fathers, who commissioned St. Mesrob, one of the church's
"brightest monks" to create an Armenian alphabet so that the holy
scriptures could be translated into Armenian.
In addition to the Oct. 20 performance, the Armenian Church is
planning to hold a Christmas concert at Annunciation Greek Orthodox
Church in Cranston on Dec. 1. It will feature a first-time visit to
Rhode Island by the Erevan Chorale and Orchestra from Holy Trinity
Armenian Church in Cambridge, Mass. Saints Sahag and Mesrob composer
Konstantin Petrossian will be the conductor.
The major celebration will be next year, on the weekend of June 14-15,
when Bishop Khajak Barsamian, the spiritual leader of the Armenian
Church in America's Eastern Diocese, will visit the church, and a
banquet featuring a symbolic passing of the torch from the elderly
members of the community to youth members, from one generation to
another, will be held.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/10/10/armenian-church-in-providence-to-begin-celebration-of-100th-anniversary/
14:57 10.10.2013
Saints Sahag & Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church, the oldest Armenian
church in Rhode Island and one of the oldest in the United States, is
set to begin a celebration of its 100th anniversary year this month
starting with a performance at Rhode IslandCollege by the 60-member
SHUSHI Armenian Dance Ensemble on October 20, the Providence Journal
reports.
The name of the 60-member ensemble may be deceiving. Although the
group takes its name from Shushi, the capital city of Nagorno Karabagh,
the group is based in New Jersey and made up almost entirely of young
Americans born in the United States.
Why Shushi? Because when the ensemble was created in 1993, the city
had just been liberated.
The Rev. Shnork Souin, the pastor of Saints Saghag and Mesrob,
said it is especially fitting that the Shushi dance ensemble will
be performing here because Rhode Island became the first political
entity to recognize Nagorno Karabakh's independence, followed
by Massachusetts, Louisiana, Maine, and Fresno City, Calif. Its
independence has yet to be recognized by the United States.
Located on Jefferson Street, the church has a large, blue neon cross
that is visible to motorists on northbound Route 95. It owes its
origins to the waves of immigrants who began to move to Providence
to escape persecution and genocide some 100 years ago.
The Canadian-born pastor says the church - with 450 voting members
and roughly 4,000 adherents - include faithful whose families hail not
only from Armenia but Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Canada, Baku and
Russia, as well as "blond, blue-eyed" American converts to the faith.
The church's name comes from the names of St. Sahag, one of the early
church fathers, who commissioned St. Mesrob, one of the church's
"brightest monks" to create an Armenian alphabet so that the holy
scriptures could be translated into Armenian.
In addition to the Oct. 20 performance, the Armenian Church is
planning to hold a Christmas concert at Annunciation Greek Orthodox
Church in Cranston on Dec. 1. It will feature a first-time visit to
Rhode Island by the Erevan Chorale and Orchestra from Holy Trinity
Armenian Church in Cambridge, Mass. Saints Sahag and Mesrob composer
Konstantin Petrossian will be the conductor.
The major celebration will be next year, on the weekend of June 14-15,
when Bishop Khajak Barsamian, the spiritual leader of the Armenian
Church in America's Eastern Diocese, will visit the church, and a
banquet featuring a symbolic passing of the torch from the elderly
members of the community to youth members, from one generation to
another, will be held.