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JINISHIAN MEMORIAL PROGRAM PRAISES PC(USA) ACTION COMMEMORATING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
States News Service
July 11, 2014 Friday
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky
The following information was released by the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.):
Jinishian Memorial Program
Cara Taylor
On June 20, in Detroit, Michigan, the Presbyterian Church (USA)
voted to recognize the Armenian Genocide, urging congregations to
commemorate its centennial in 2015, and directing church leadership
to call upon the United States President and Congress to condemn the
acts as genocide as well.
>From 1915-1923 when the Ottoman Empire massacred 1.5 million Armenians
and expelled one million more from their historic homeland (now
Turkey), the Presbyterian Church directed relief funds to Armenians
throughout those years, and its General Assemblies vehemently protested
the atrocities.
Over the last 50 years, Presbyterian support to struggling Armenian
communities has come through the Jinishian Memorial Program (JMP)
which operates relief, development and spiritual missions through
inter-church partnerships in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jerusalem,
and Armenia.
This historic resolutionthe first of its kind for a major American
church bodywas adopted by the 1.8- million-member church in response
to overtures from three of its regional presbyteries: Chicago, Los
Ranchos (southern California), and Palisades (New Jersey). Rev. Dr.
Christine Chakoian, Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lake
Forest, IL, and Rev. Dr. Vartkes Kassouni, a retired pastor in Southern
California currently serving as Parish Associate in Tustin Presbyterian
Church, were the overture advocates. Also lending his testimony as
an ecumenical partner was the Rev. Fr. Garabed Kochakian, Pastor of
St. Johns Armenian Church, Southfield, MI. Jinishian Memorial Program
leadership played a key role in initiating and supporting the process.
JMP director Eliza Minasyan says the JMP global team feels encouraged
by the acknowledgement this action brings to the communities served
by the Jinishian program: Especially for our colleagues in Syria
right nowthese are genocide survivors of great faith and courage who
are helping children and the sick and displaced in a time of great
dangerthis brings them hope that they are not abandoned.
In summary, this resolution takes four key actions:
First, urges member congregations to recognize the Armenian genocide;
to express deep sympathy to the Armenian people and designate April
24 every year as the day of remembrance; and to honor the provisions
of American and international law to prevent recurrence of such crimes.
Second, supports the designation of genocide for the death of 1.5
million Armenians and the expulsion of one million more from the
Ottoman Empire in the years 1915-1923.
Third, directs the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly to call
on the President and the Congress of the United States of America
to recognize and condemn the death and expulsion of the Armenians;
to communicate this resolution to our ecumenical partners nationally
and internationally.
Fourth, encourage official observance of the 100th Anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide in worship services on Sunday, April 26, 2015
in all PC(USA) churches.
Minasyan recalls: As JMP planned to commemorate the genocides 100th
anniversary, we recognized an opportunity for the PC(USA) to officially
designate this systematic elimination of a people as genocide.
Kassouni pointed out in Detroit that the term genocide was not coined
until 1947, in part as a response to the Armenian experience, which
represented the first genocide of the 20th century. He feels that
this recognition helps bring healing for surviving generations of
Armenians and makes a way for reconciliation.
Chakoian emphasized that they are calling congregations across the
country to testify to this tragedy and to help ensure that no other
peoples experience such suffering.
Kassouni, Chakoian, and Kochakian all spoke before the Peacemaking and
International Relations Committee, the body of clergy and laypeople
responsible for debating and voting on whether to recommend this
action for final adoption by the full body of 565 delegates. During
committee deliberations, many Presbyterians of all backgrounds spoke
up with great sensitivity and determination to stand for justice on
behalf of the Armenian peoplethe overture passed unanimously.
This was a rare occasion when three Armenian clergy (two Protestant
and one Apostolic), stood together in strong cooperative witness and
support on behalf of Armenian people, Kassouni reported. Its a great
tribute to the cooperative, consistent, intelligent, and dedicated
effort on behalf of our Armenian people, past and present.
Chakoian recalled how her own family experienced the decimation of the
genocide, and helped the committee understand Armenias story: Armenia
was the first Christian country: the first to embrace Christianity,
even before the Roman Empire. Our eight-sided churches testify to
our baptism and the promise of the resurrection. In the mid-19th
century, American missionaries came to Turkey; my family was among
those whom the missionaries touched. Since then, education has been
a priorityincluding education for women and girls, far ahead of its
time. When I was eight years old, my grandmother told me the story of
how her beloved uncles were forced to kneel and were shot in the back
of the head. This overture urges us to remember the genocide. But it
does more than that. It also testifies to the truth that hope does
not die. This overture witnesses to the Christians who are persecuted
in the region today that they are not forgotten.
From: Baghdasarian
States News Service
July 11, 2014 Friday
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky
The following information was released by the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.):
Jinishian Memorial Program
Cara Taylor
On June 20, in Detroit, Michigan, the Presbyterian Church (USA)
voted to recognize the Armenian Genocide, urging congregations to
commemorate its centennial in 2015, and directing church leadership
to call upon the United States President and Congress to condemn the
acts as genocide as well.
>From 1915-1923 when the Ottoman Empire massacred 1.5 million Armenians
and expelled one million more from their historic homeland (now
Turkey), the Presbyterian Church directed relief funds to Armenians
throughout those years, and its General Assemblies vehemently protested
the atrocities.
Over the last 50 years, Presbyterian support to struggling Armenian
communities has come through the Jinishian Memorial Program (JMP)
which operates relief, development and spiritual missions through
inter-church partnerships in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jerusalem,
and Armenia.
This historic resolutionthe first of its kind for a major American
church bodywas adopted by the 1.8- million-member church in response
to overtures from three of its regional presbyteries: Chicago, Los
Ranchos (southern California), and Palisades (New Jersey). Rev. Dr.
Christine Chakoian, Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lake
Forest, IL, and Rev. Dr. Vartkes Kassouni, a retired pastor in Southern
California currently serving as Parish Associate in Tustin Presbyterian
Church, were the overture advocates. Also lending his testimony as
an ecumenical partner was the Rev. Fr. Garabed Kochakian, Pastor of
St. Johns Armenian Church, Southfield, MI. Jinishian Memorial Program
leadership played a key role in initiating and supporting the process.
JMP director Eliza Minasyan says the JMP global team feels encouraged
by the acknowledgement this action brings to the communities served
by the Jinishian program: Especially for our colleagues in Syria
right nowthese are genocide survivors of great faith and courage who
are helping children and the sick and displaced in a time of great
dangerthis brings them hope that they are not abandoned.
In summary, this resolution takes four key actions:
First, urges member congregations to recognize the Armenian genocide;
to express deep sympathy to the Armenian people and designate April
24 every year as the day of remembrance; and to honor the provisions
of American and international law to prevent recurrence of such crimes.
Second, supports the designation of genocide for the death of 1.5
million Armenians and the expulsion of one million more from the
Ottoman Empire in the years 1915-1923.
Third, directs the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly to call
on the President and the Congress of the United States of America
to recognize and condemn the death and expulsion of the Armenians;
to communicate this resolution to our ecumenical partners nationally
and internationally.
Fourth, encourage official observance of the 100th Anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide in worship services on Sunday, April 26, 2015
in all PC(USA) churches.
Minasyan recalls: As JMP planned to commemorate the genocides 100th
anniversary, we recognized an opportunity for the PC(USA) to officially
designate this systematic elimination of a people as genocide.
Kassouni pointed out in Detroit that the term genocide was not coined
until 1947, in part as a response to the Armenian experience, which
represented the first genocide of the 20th century. He feels that
this recognition helps bring healing for surviving generations of
Armenians and makes a way for reconciliation.
Chakoian emphasized that they are calling congregations across the
country to testify to this tragedy and to help ensure that no other
peoples experience such suffering.
Kassouni, Chakoian, and Kochakian all spoke before the Peacemaking and
International Relations Committee, the body of clergy and laypeople
responsible for debating and voting on whether to recommend this
action for final adoption by the full body of 565 delegates. During
committee deliberations, many Presbyterians of all backgrounds spoke
up with great sensitivity and determination to stand for justice on
behalf of the Armenian peoplethe overture passed unanimously.
This was a rare occasion when three Armenian clergy (two Protestant
and one Apostolic), stood together in strong cooperative witness and
support on behalf of Armenian people, Kassouni reported. Its a great
tribute to the cooperative, consistent, intelligent, and dedicated
effort on behalf of our Armenian people, past and present.
Chakoian recalled how her own family experienced the decimation of the
genocide, and helped the committee understand Armenias story: Armenia
was the first Christian country: the first to embrace Christianity,
even before the Roman Empire. Our eight-sided churches testify to
our baptism and the promise of the resurrection. In the mid-19th
century, American missionaries came to Turkey; my family was among
those whom the missionaries touched. Since then, education has been
a priorityincluding education for women and girls, far ahead of its
time. When I was eight years old, my grandmother told me the story of
how her beloved uncles were forced to kneel and were shot in the back
of the head. This overture urges us to remember the genocide. But it
does more than that. It also testifies to the truth that hope does
not die. This overture witnesses to the Christians who are persecuted
in the region today that they are not forgotten.
From: Baghdasarian