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Armenian priest ordained for first time in NC Sunday
The Charlotte Observer
Posted: Sunday, Dec. 07, 2014
Modified: Monday, Dec. 08, 2014
Members of St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church in Charlotte witnessed North
Carolina religious history Sunday with the ordination of their deacon,
Benjamin Rith-Najarian, to the holy priesthood. It was the first time an
Armenian priest has ever been ordained in the state.
Presiding over the sacred service in the church on Park Road was New
York-based Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, who heads the Eastern Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America.
About 150 Charlotte families call St. Sarkis their spiritual home, and
Rith-Najarian is their pastor. The church is one of 62 parishes and missions
in the Eastern Diocese. The Armenian Church of America is an Orthodox
Christian church whose members trace their roots to Armenia, a country at
the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Armenia adopted
Christianity as its official religion in the year 301, and the national
church is one of the world's oldest.
Tim Funk
Copyright 2014 . All rights reserved.
-for-first.html#.VIbPPf90y75
Armenian priest ordained for first time in NC Sunday
The Charlotte Observer
Posted: Sunday, Dec. 07, 2014
Modified: Monday, Dec. 08, 2014
Members of St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church in Charlotte witnessed North
Carolina religious history Sunday with the ordination of their deacon,
Benjamin Rith-Najarian, to the holy priesthood. It was the first time an
Armenian priest has ever been ordained in the state.
Presiding over the sacred service in the church on Park Road was New
York-based Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, who heads the Eastern Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America.
About 150 Charlotte families call St. Sarkis their spiritual home, and
Rith-Najarian is their pastor. The church is one of 62 parishes and missions
in the Eastern Diocese. The Armenian Church of America is an Orthodox
Christian church whose members trace their roots to Armenia, a country at
the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Armenia adopted
Christianity as its official religion in the year 301, and the national
church is one of the world's oldest.
Tim Funk
Copyright 2014 . All rights reserved.