20 Years Ago: And the kids came

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It was 20 years ago today: Untold stories from the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center

Today’s episode: And then the kids arrived.

Following the Resurrection of Jesus, that is in the first Eastertide season, the Church grew fairly rapidly with regular converts. Christianity was an underground movement, and the Church remained underground until the 4th Century. Very simply, the powers to be were not happy with the Church and her growth. The growth of the first century Church is documented in the book of the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles, which follow Acts in the Biblical canon.

A reading of the Gospels will make it clear that Jesus’ popularity and following did not sit well with the established religious community of his time as well. Why else are we here in the Easter Season? His deeds and teachings sentenced him a torturous and slow death on the Cross, and the Resurrection is the mark of the triumph of Truth. Life won out over death as Love proved stronger than hatred.

The purity and absolute Truth of Jesus Christ was his calling card. This is why the disciples, one-by-one left family and home to follow him. This is why the landscape of the Sermon on the Mount was packed and why there were tens of thousands who needed to be fed in the loaves and fish story. (Matthew 14)

What we were doing with the Armenian Youth Ministries Center was an experiment. We were building on the Faith and Teaching of the Church. Since the earliest days of my ministry as a deacon and as a priest I never understood nor appreciated the bait-and-switch approach to ministry. We’ve heard it often: Come to church, we have a great basketball court. Once you get there, surprise! They have you in a Bible Study. I cannot understand how this is supposed to promote goodwill between the youth and the church. Obviously, the kids that come want to play ball and sit through a Bible Study if it means some time on the court. But what does that entire bait-and-switch operation really saying about the church? Do we feel that our main “product” is so defective or unappealing that we have to trick people into coming? Ideally, you want bring people in on the basis of your Faith – your main product – and afterwards celebrate with fellowship – whether with hoops, on a bowling alley, at a picnic ground.

The truth of the matter is that the YMCA or the local high school have better basketball courts than the church. But there is no one who has a better understanding of the Christianity and the articles of the Faith than the Apostolic Church, the Body of Christ, the one that was there at the time of Christ. And that became the platform on which we built the Youth Ministries Center. Let’s combat the evils that were before us, whether drugs, loneliness, violence, gangs, whatever they may be, let’s combat them with the Love that Jesus Christ offers.

The kids started coming.

After that first Easter word got out that we were on the corner in Glendale. There was no magic to bringing kids in. We left the doors open and curiosity did the rest. It was a quiet haven for those who wanted to get out of the afterschool hustle-bustle. We had a church upstairs and a large multipurpose room downstairs where many kids would come after school just to hang out, do their homework or wait for a parent pick up. There was no covering up that this was a church. In the sanctuary, Bibles were available for the taking. We’d talk about issues. Weekly Bible Studies were attended by the kids and their parents. We had our social activities, but they weren’t the reason, rather they were the places where fellowship took place.

And then came April 24, only 10 days after our opening and four days after Easter. With all the positive energy we were putting out there for our Ministry, the switch to mourning, sorrow, and victimization was not the turn I wanted to take. We had addressed these issues at my former parishes, but this was Glendale. We were in the largest concentration of Armenians outside of Armenia. If there is one thing Armenians all rally around, it’s recognizing the atrocities committed by the Turks against the Armenian Nation culminating in Armenian Genocide. One-and-a-half million Armenians were murdered, and over that amount of people were exiled from their historic homeland.

This was very personal for me. My grandparents are survivors of the Armenian Genocide. I grew up with stories of the Genocide heard firsthand. I resented people who turned on their Armenianness on April 24 and forgot about in on April 25. Further, as a priest, I felt a hypocrisy in celebrating the victory of Life on Easter and tossing the euphoria out the window days later to mourn a crucifixion. If we are the inheritors of the title “First Christian Nation” and “First Genocide of the 20th Century” then we have to come up with a response that reflects both the Resurrection and the horrors of Genocide. We had done it at my parishes in Cupertino and Pasadena, now Glendale was going to feel the power Gospel expressed.

We continue tomorrow with more untold stories from 20 years ago today, and invite you to join us. If you missed earlier episodes, you can hear them on your favorite podcatcher or at Epostle.net under the “Armodoxy for Today” tab. Remember to leave a comment and/or write us at feedback@epostle.net.

20 years ago: Kharizmah!

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It was 20 years ago today: Untold stories of the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center

Today’s Episode: Kharizmah!

The 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” popularized the phrase, “If you build it, they will come.” It was a magical film, as the saying might imply. Voices were telling the Kevin Costner character that “If you build it, he will come,” referring to Shoeless Joe Jackson of Chicago Black Sox fame.

The truth is, it takes more than a building, it takes more than a location and more than a personality to bring people together. And then, it takes even more to keep the people there.  That “more” is what we call in the Church, the Power of the Holy Spirit, or what sometimes might be referred to as “charisma” Dr. Dekmejian would call it out with its Greek inflection, “kharizmah” (χάρισμα).

Dr. Deacon Hrair Dekmejian, who was my mentor going into this project and a co-founder of the Youth Ministries, was a professor of Political Science at the University of Southern California. He had studied theology and graduated Columbia University with his Ph.D. He was well versed in the history and development of the Church, and possessed an encyclopedic knowledge about the Armenian Church liturgies. He was recognized for his humility and led the choir accordingly. He’d often spoke about the kharizmah and we probably didn’t understand it well at first but as the years went on it sunk in as we started seeing miracle after miracle unfold. The word itself has a few meanings, including a favor with which one receives without any merit of his own, the gift of divine grace. This would fall into the understanding of agape love often discussed by Christian theologians. But the one definition of kharizmah which Dekemejian pointed to was the graces or gifts denoting extraordinary powers, distinguishing certain Christians and enabling them to serve the church of Christ, the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating on their souls by the Holy Spirit.

We realized early on, that if this Youth Ministry Center was to be effective, life-changing, and have an impact on the young people, it wouldn’t be by ordinary or conventional means.

We opened on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2003, to a packed house. We had clergy, dignitaries and locals all assembled with a basic curiosity of what was happening. We were convinced that, if we had a product (think of the Field of Dreams quote), people would support it. Maria Hamparian, a friend and capable organizer came on board to handle donations and ensure that the program would be funded and sustained. She stayed on as the financial officer for all our projects and shared her talents with and at the Center diligently to the end.

That day, I spoke as did Mr. Mehrabian and our then Primate, Archbishop Vatché Hovsepian, of blessed memory. It was a get acquainted moment. People came up to me and shared their concerns for the youth. This was an area that Armenian organizations wrote-off and ignored. In Armenian, there is a phrase we became familiar all too quickly, “Chaylami hokepanutiun” (=Ostrich psychology) – Stick your head in the sand and your problems disappear. Armenian organizations didn’t want to deal with the reality of Armenian gangs, drugs, drug addictions, suicide, domestic and outright violence and the worst problem of all, materialism and the conviction that it was a solution to their problems. Yes, this would require kharismah. We announced that the first Divine Liturgy would be celebrated on that Holy Thursday, four days later. Remembering the monumental work in front of us, I wanted the first Liturgy to correspond with the feast of the Lord’s Last Supper.

Everything was in place for the opening. From the palm crosses to the decorations on the altar, from the curtain to the oil lamp, everything was glistening. It was a very humble offering of everyone who participated. For instance, the pews were well-worn and in need of refinishing. Mr. Mehrabian had them all taken to his Kia dealership, where they were sanded and painted dark brown in their body shop, and returned for the opening. Every part of this building reflected that type of donation which came from the heart.

What was left? The Vemkar. The Divine Liturgy can only be celebrated on a consecrated altar. In the event there isn’t one, a vemkar, a consecrated stone, is placed on the table and the chalice and the Holy Sacrament are consecrated atop it. Throughout history, when Armenians have defended themselves against enemies, they have gone into battle armed with the Body and Blood of Christ. On the battlefields, a vemkar is used. How appropriate, I thought, we were going into battle against some of the nastiest evils of our times – drugs, violence, materialism – and we would begin with a Liturgy celebrated on a vemkar.

Archbishop Vatché obliged us by consecrating a flat marker stone carved with a cross on it. Until the church was consecrated the following year, we celebrated the Holy Badarak atop that vemkar. The stone was consecrated with Holy Miuron, or chrism. It is a holy oil made of the essence of 40 different fragrant flowers and is renewed every seven years by the Catholicos. He blesses it with the Holy relic containing the bone of St. Gregory the Illuminator’s Right hand, with the Holy Gevart, the actual spear that lanced the side of Jesus on the Cross as recorded in the Gospel of John (19:33-34) and added to mix is miuron from the previous batch. In other words, there are molecules in the muiron from the time of the Illuminator and in fact, from the time of Jesus Christ, but that explanation we will save for another time. We now had a vemkar that connected this church on the corner with the history of the Armenian Church and Armenian people.

It all came together nicely, and as one of the earliest miracles of the Ministry we shared the Holy Body and Blood of Christ with the new congregants of this small church on the corner. We lived only with hope that we were arming ourselves with the right weaponry, the love and power of Christ, as we began the Armenian Church Youth Ministry.

We continue tomorrow with more untold stories from 20 years ago today and invite you to join us. If you missed earlier episodes, you may hear them on your favorite podcatcher or at Epostle.net under the “Armodoxy for Today” tab. Remember to leave a comment and/or write us at feedback@epostle.net.

20 years ago: Resurrecting Presence

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It was 20 Years ago today: The untold story of the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center

Today’s episode: Resurrecting the Presence

The days that followed the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ were days of organization. An event unparalleled in history had taken place and it was necessary to carry on the momentum experienced by the witnesses of that Miracle of miracles. The celebrations we hold today, 2000 years later, minimizes exponentially the magnitude of the actual resurrection event. Bunnies, eggs, Easter bonnets and baskets, are hardly as shocking and awe inspiring as witnessing a person be critically wounded, assaulted, and killed and then finding that person not only alive, but engaging in conversation and in full power, so much so that he is calling the shots for the newly created Church.

In the Gospel we read that Jesus appeared to the Disciples and breathed into them the Holy Spirit giving them authority over sins. (John 20:21-23)

Not only was he alive, but he was organizing and empowering those who witnessed the resurrection. And to those who did not see him, such as the Disciple Thomas, he offered an opportunity to interact. We read in the Gospel of John (20:24-29)

Thomas said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later, Jesus appeared to the disciples and this time Thomas was with them. Jesus said to him, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

And there, Thomas made a complete confession, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

It’s easy to label Thomas as a doubting personality, but in fact, he is like people around us today, and like most people who have come to Christ over the last 2000 years. We all have our doubts. The Resurrection was not an event described by bunny rabbits and colored eggs. This was an earth shaking, history making reality. Humanity would come to split the calendar by this event into BC and AD.

Like Thomas, all people need is a little confirmation of the events. Thomas wanted a tactile feel of the Risen Lord, instead it was his other senses which gave him the bravery to commit “My Lord and my God.” Read the story; Thomas never touches Jesus, he only confesses Jesus as his Lord and God once he has been touched by the presence of the Living Resurrected Lord.

The Armenian Church, as an Apostolic Church, is the Body of Christ. It must reflect the Resurrected Lord in all that it is. In other words the Body of Christ should jar its people to understand that they are in the presence of the Resurrected Lord.

The Youth Ministries’ Center began during the Holy Easter Season. Mr. Mehrabian had given me the keys to the Center at the beginning of Lent. He quickly instructed his team to renovate the church building to bring it up to code and standards of an Armenian Church. Plumbers, electricians and contractors were moving walls, wires and pipes. I was blessed with a team too, they had the tools to transform on the spiritual side. We had 40 days to present the Resurrected Lord on this corner in Glendale.

My family, always part of the ministry equation, went into action, with Susan sewing beautiful banners draping across the newly converted altar area, showing the loaves and fish, and the holy chalice. My youngest, Christaphor, started “sewing” together crosses out of palm branches. My older two, Varoujan and Sevan, had taken up woodwork as a hobby and were only too anxious to create ornamental fans (kushots) out of a wide array of materials.

We tore out the altar area with its adult pool and replaced it with an area where the Liturgy would be celebrated. Mike Geragos, a designer and architect, built an Armenian style altar. Tamar Khatchadourian (nee Papirian), a faithful member of our Bible Study, scoured streets of  downtown looking for items to decorate the church and its altar as closely as we could to an Armenian church. She was quite innovative in her selections, going through Catholic supply stores and mom-and-pop curios shops, finding cloths, candle holders and everything that should belong there. She made it happen.

Day-by-day the old dilapidated building was turning into a church. Very much like Jesus’ body, this building was being resurrected. In the end, we had a church which looked, smelled, sounded and felt like an Armenian Church. The people who came in that week, entered and came in contact with the presence of Christ. No wonder it was special and sacred space. It was from here that the miracles came pouring out.

Join me tomorrow as we continue with the untold stories of the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center which began “20 years ago today.”

If you missed earlier episodes, you can binge listen on your favorite podcatcher or at Epostle.net under the “Armodoxy for Today” tab. Remember to leave a comment and/or write us at feedback@epostle.net.

20 years ago: We Care for Youth

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It was 20 years ago today: The untold story of the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center.
Between the years 2003 and 2016 we ran an experiment in an area of Glendale, California known as “Ground Zero,” a place that Armenian organizations have ignored and forgotten, a place where education, identity and prayer came together.
This is a series about the miracles that we witnessed at this small church on the corner with a worldwide ministry. This is part of the Armodoxy for Today podcast series about the Armenian Church now, patterned after the ancient Apostolic Church, then.

Today: We Care for Youth ~ Linda Maxwell and Jose Quintanar

The doors of the Youth Ministries Center opened to three schools across the street, Keppel Elementary, Toll Middle and Hoover High School. When we arrived there was a surprising atmosphere of welcome and joy by the school administrators. It was surprising to find openness from a public school, perhaps it was because of the groundwork laid by two amazing people.
Inside of Hoover High School, Linda Maxwell and Jose Quintanar had set up shop under the name “We Care for Youth” working with youth, to give them a sense of belonging and teaching them life-skills to function within society. Those kids that were helped by We Care for Youth, to this day, think of both Linda and Jose as people who saved them from a life that might have been marred by dysfunctionality and tragedy.
I met Linda Maxwell a few years earlier, circa 1998, when she called me out of the blue. We Care for Youth had opened up a store in the Glendale Mall and hire young people to work and manage the shop. There these young wannabe business people learned skills, basic business practices, that would become the cornerstones for success. Many of the kids she was working with were ethnically Armenian.
I remember my first conversation with Linda. She called and said, “You have a problem!”
She explained that the many of these young Armenian people wore crosses around their necks. Part of Linda’s methodology is to promote open dialog, to get young people to articulate themselves. She had asked them, why they wore crosses? They mentioned they go to the Armenian Church, she told me. When she asked what they do there, they answered that they “Light candles” without much more to say about the ritual or the faith. That, Linda told me, was my problem. I’m a priest of the Armenian Church, did I care about these kids.
At the time I was the priest in Pasadena. These kids were in Glendale. I mentioned to Linda that there was an Armenian Church within proximity to the store and the kids and that maybe she should call the priest in Glendale. The answer was too common and too true: The priests there can’t related to the children, and don’t even speak to the kids. She told me that those were not her words, but the words of the kids. She had seen me on Vatché Mangasarian’s TV show and gave me a call.
I went down to the store and met with both Linda and Jose and many of the kids. We had a good conversation about the crosses, the rituals of candles and other movements, and most importantly we spoke about the meaning of the cross and rituals for the Christian. We spoke about Jesus Christ.
Linda Maxwell is a Buddhist by practice. She could have easily seized the moment to proselytize and/ or the capitalize on the weakness of the Armenian Church in delivering the faith to its youth. Instead she called me and asked that I do my duty to these children. You have to respect someone who is so confident in her faith that she is not fearful of other ideas. Her action that day was the beginning of a relationship that has continued for the last quarter of a century. It is built on mutual respect, respecting our differences and celebrating our oneness as people. Both Linda and Jose were regular fixtures at the Youth Ministries Center. We have had several opportunities to collaborate and work together. We’ve done conferences on violence, on forgiveness and prejudice together. I’ve asked to them to speak at many programs and events we’ve organized including a Reclaim conference at the Western Diocese.
Being sure of your faith is not articulated by arrogance, rather it is demonstrated by confidence in your faith. Linda and Jose, in their humble and sacrificial lifestyle, have aided and assisted more youth than can be imaged. They truly “Care for Youth” as the name of their organization claims. They facilitated many miracles that can only be counted in the lives they saved.
As we share the story from “20 years ago today,” I want you to meet some of the players that were part and parcel of the miracles at the church on the corner.
Join me tomorrow, as we continue the journey which began 20 years ago today.
If you missed earlier episodes, you can catch up by listening to them on your favorite podcatcher or at Epostle.net under the “Armodoxy for Today” tab. Remember to leave a comment and/or write us at feedback@epostle.net.

20 years ago: Praying with Focused Vision

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It was 20 years ago today: The untold story of the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center.

Between the years 2003 and 2016 we ran an experiment in an area of Glendale, California known as “Ground Zero,” a place that Armenian organizations have ignored and forgotten, a place where education, identity and prayer came together.

This is a series about the miracles that we witnessed at this small church on the corner with a worldwide ministry. This is part of the Armodoxy for Today podcast series about the Armenian Church now, patterned after the ancient Apostolic Church, then.

Today’s episode: Focused Vision

In 1996 I was called to be the Parish Priest of the St. Gregory Armenian Church in Pasadena. It was one of the largest parishes in the diocese, in terms of people and potential. In five short years we had developed a thriving youth presence around the church. There were events and outings, sure, but the phenomena was around the youth presence in the church proper. The ancient Divine Liturgy was celebrated with young participants. In 2002, through the efforts of Aram Krikorian and Dr. Nubar Sethian we produced a CD album of Armenian Church hymns called, “Focused Vision.” The album name explained our emphasis as a community. In the album liner notes, I wrote: Focus your vision on God and let Him take care of your growth.

By the end of 2002, the Primate, Archbishop Vatché, invited me to the Western Diocese as the Director of Youth Ministries. The challenge was simple enough: replicate the success we had in Pasadena on a larger scale for the entire Diocese. We prayed about it, contemplated, weighed the options, prayed, and finally accepted the challenge. I started working at the headquarters of the Western Diocese in Burbank California, which was recently acquired and in the process of setting up what we know today as the St. Leon Ghevondyants Cathedral complex. I remember being in a small office, and after a couple of weeks of acclimating to my new circumstances I started second guessing my decision to this new Youth Department. Specifically, I remember sitting in this office, with ideas and proposals for youth ministry on my computer screen, but  thinking of all that I had left and given up to be here. I called my wife Susan on the phone to sound off some thoughts. We had given up a pastorate in one of the largest parishes in our diocese, we had done so with prayer, and now I was sitting in a small office, trying to set up program. Granted, it had only been two weeks since I started, but patience is not a virtue of mine.

Susan and I consoled each other during that call and I was back to work. The phone rang that afternoon. It was Vatché Mangasarian, producer of the Armenian National Network television program. I was a regular guest on his show during my time at the Pasadena church. He would give me an open forum to talk about the issues taking place within the community, especially with troubled Armenian youth. His show was an evening wrap-up type aired in the Glendale market. Vatché said there was a gentleman who wanted to meet me. His name, a name that I would shortly come to know very well. It was Onnik Mehrabian, the owner/president of a new dealership selling Korean Kia automobiles. I was given an address and went out to meet Mr. Mehrabian.

The address, on Central Ave. in Glendale, took me to a large parking area for used cars. Asking for Mr. Mehrabian I was led to his private office in the back of the lot. This gentleman introduced himself to me and said he had seen me discussing youth issues on Mangasarian’s TV show. He said he wanted to give me a church! It was interesting, because as unusual as his offer was, I was not phased one way or another. In my head, I was still thinking about the earlier thoughts of the day, of praying for our Youth Ministry and giving up my pastorate. In fact, I said to him something like, this was a nice gesture and it would be something I’m sure the archbishop would be happy to discuss with him. I didn’t even put myself in the equation. What would I want with a church? I was in a church and now I’m trying to put together a youth ministry.

I got into Mr. Mehrabian’s Chevy pick-up and he drove me to the church on the corner of Kenilworth and Stocker Streets in Glendale. His key opened the back door. We went up the stairs to some old offices and noticed a large hall and kitchen in desperate need of repairs along the way. We walked through to the main church area. All this time I still had not fully understood the magnitude of this offer. Someone who was unknown to me only a half an hour ago, wanted to give me a church building. What would I do with a church? I had one of the biggest and largest, what would I want with this dilapidated building. The sanctuary was in need of more repair than the downstairs hall. It was a large room, with well-worn out wooden pews, tattered carpeting, a stage area overwhelmed with an adult pool where baptisms would take place. At first, I thought I would share this find with the archbishop, but now, seeing the condition of the building I even questioned whether he would be interested.

Onnik Mehrabian took me through the entire building. We had entered through the back door and so we ended up at the front doors of the building. From the inside, he opened the front doors so I could see the front yard. As he swung the doors open, to my complete and total surprise I saw school buildings! I was standing directly in front of a cluster of schools – Keppel Elementary, Toll Middle and Hoover High School. I was speechless. Tears started rolling down from my eyes. My newly found friend looked at me with a very kind and satisfied smile. I couldn’t contain myself. We had prayed for a youth ministry center, where else did I think God would lead me? What did I expect? That God would take me to work out of an old-age home? Of course not! He brought me and delivered me right in front of the largest concentration of Armenian youth outside of Armenia!

I shook Mr. Mehrabian’s hand and we were set. This building would now be designated as the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center. Within 40 days he would renovate and rebuilt this building to our specs. We prayed for a Youth Ministry and God gave us a center from where to operate. Sometimes (actually most of the time) our doubt creates our biggest obstacles. When we pray, we need to do so and then give God enough room to answer us. It’s exactly as we said twenty years ago, Focus your vision on God and let Him take care of your growth. 

Join me tomorrow, as we continue the journey which began 20 years ago today.

If you missed earlier episodes, you can catch up by listening to them on your favorite podcatcher or at Epostle.net under the “Armodoxy for Today” tab. Remember to leave a comment and/or write us at feedback@epostle.net.

It was 20 years ago today

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The Body Then & Now

It was 20 years ago today… the untold story of the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center

That the Youth Ministry opened its doors in Glendale, California. This was not anywhere in Glendale. It was in section of town, where, as the co-founder of that ministry, Dr. Deacon Hrair Dekmejian, Professor of Political Science at the University of Southern California called it, “A place that Armenian organizations have ignored and forgotten.” It was a place where education, identity and prayer came together.”

On April 13, 2003, the doors opened to the Youth Ministry Center with the celebration of the Palm Sunday Holy Divine Liturgy. It was standing-room only. I was the celebrant. Dr. Dekmejian was the choir leader. There was an energy in the room reminiscent of what might be found in the early evangelical era of the Christian Church – during the Apostolic times. To give you a hint, Dr. Dekmejian refused to have choir members don robes, so that like the Church of the first century, the people – the congregation – would sing the praises of the Lord rather than a select few. That tradition became the hallmark of this Church.

But this was no ordinary Church, because that one-hour on Sunday morning was the smallest portion of its entire ministry.

This was an old building – a church from the 1950s – which had been converted, renovated and remodeled with an altar area and assembly hall that would soon become a hang-out for kids after school. Across from a cluster of public schools in Glendale, where at the time had a 30+% population was Armenians, there was an opportunity to minister the Christian faith to countless of young people. Students from USC, UCLA and CSUN would come to mentor younger brothers and sisters. Gang members would come for counseling, with Bibles distributed next to candle areas. Conferences on violence would take place not only with scholars, but troubled youth living on the streets. The Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II would come to learn about the center during his visit in 2005, and was given a “game plan” for the potential of the Armenian Church. We would feed the homeless and clothe the naked. I would journey off to Rwanda and return with survivors of the Rwandan Genocide to speak and share their stories of resurrection. From that small church, we would journey to both sides of Ararat and celebrate the 100th anniversary of our DNA returning to the homeland. We would also learn about the politics of running a Church with a mission, much like Jesus learned when he dared to say the Church was more than a building. In fact, it was there, at the Armenian Church Youth Ministry Center that Epostle.net was cultivated.

I was honored to have led this congregation and ministry for 15 years of this experiment that pushed the limits and the ceiling of the Armenian Church. Our game plan, what some might refer to as a business plan came from Holy Scripture” “To preach the gospel to the poor… ]to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

On these days following Easter, our Daily Messages are looking at the Body of Christ, then and now. I’d like to share with you the story of the Armenian Church Youth Ministry Center, because it was the Armenian Church now, patterned after was then: the Apostolic Church.

Join me on this journey, called “It was 20 years ago today: The untold story of the Armenian Church Youth Ministry Center.” I guarantee, this story will not disappoint. Most importantly, it presents thoughts on what the Christian mission, ministry and response is in a world void of God and Love. This is the story of what the Armenian Apostolic Church has to offer the world.

The story is a podcast and available on your favorite podcatcher, on social media and of course, on the mother ship, Eposte.net: Apostolic Evangelism for an Electronic and Expanding Universe.

I look forward to having you with me tomorrow on our daily messages. Let us pray from the 11th hour of St. Nersess Shnorhali’s prayer, “Jesus, Wisdom of the Father, grant me your wisdom so that I may think, speak and do that which is good in your sight. Save me from evil thoughts, words and deeds. Have mercy on all your creatures and on me a sinner. Amen.

Church Born of Fear

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Stories from the Body then and now…

According to Holy Scripture, the first witnesses to the Empty Tomb of Christ, “Fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mark 16) Fear, was the first expression of the post-Resurrection Church, and it was that fear that turned into Faith, the Faith of the Christian Church.

Having just celebrated Easter – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ – we find ourselves in the period time (from Easter to Pentecost) dedicated to the birth and growth of the Church. The Church is not an accessory or an after-thought to Christianity. Contrary to the popular understanding of Christianity, it was the Church – the Body of Christ – which transferred the stories of Jesus to us. That is, everything we know about Jesus Christ we have received via the Church. You may hear popular formula of reading the Bible and therefore understanding Jesus, but in fact, Jesus gave us the gift of His Body the Church. Yes, “God so loved the world that He gave his Only Begotten Son” (John 3:16), and in turn, Jesus so loved us that he gave, established his Church so that we should not orphaned. (John 14-17)

According to Jesus, the Church is established and built on the proclamation of Christ’s divinity. In the 16th chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

That “rock” is the proclamation made by Peter, that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. Upon this proclamation the Church is built. And as we see, in the Apostolic era, that is, days after the Resurrection, there was no Bible, but there definitely was a Church. It was “raw” Church built on the gospel message that Jesus has risen. The Armenian Apostolic Church is a continuation of that original Church. The fear the Disciples experienced at the Empty Tomb was transformed into Faith through Christ. It is the same transformation of fear to Faith that the Armenian Church has witnessed as its people survived and flourished against all the odds.

As we look at the early post-Resurrection Church, we are reminded of the necessity of the Church for a complete celebration of the Christian faith, and that the cornerstone of that Church is the proclamation that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God.

We pray, O Lord Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, as we celebrate your glorious Resurrection at this Easter time, may we be worthy to be members of your Holy Church, your sacred body, to be your hands, legs and mouth here on Earth. Dispel the fears and gloom that consumes our lives by helping us find the Faith that others have found throughout the centuries, so that we may better serve humanity and in so doing, serve you and your Holy Body. Amen.

Only the Beginning

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And now it begins…

The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning of the Christian story. Not Christmas, but Easter is where it all begins. It is a singular event in human history. Whereas everyone has been born, and everyone has and/or will die, only one has returned from death. That is the celebration of Easter.

In Armodoxy we approach Easter with preparation. We have been through a 40-day preparatory period called Great Lent, and a week of intense focus on the Mystery of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ, referred to as Holy Week. So, it would seem that Easter is the culmination of the period, instead we discover it is only the beginning.

The message “Christ is Risen” was the first Gospel of the Christian Church. The word Gospel means “good news.” In Armenian, good news is avetis from which the word avetaran is derived for Gospel. The Christian community was built on the good news that Jesus did not die but resurrected from the dead and lives on. The Resurrection takes place in the eternal present, it is not, “He rose” or “He has risen” but “He is Risen!” The message is current, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

In Jesus’ farewell discourse, recorded in the Gospel of St. John, he makes it clear that life will continue after the Resurrection. He does not leave us orphaned, but rather establishes and commissions His Church – His Holy Body – to continue the mission for which he came.

During the next 40 days, to the day of Ascension, we read the Book of Acts of the Apostles in the Armenian Church, thereby focusing on the development of the Church. During the next 50 days, to the day of Pentecost, we will look at the stories that come to us from Apostolic times juxtaposed next to stories that come from our experience, that is, stories of inspiration from our lives today. Join me on this next period of the Christian journey,

Let us pray, Heavenly Father, we thank you for your unconditional love, for looking after us, as the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Through Your love as our Creator, you gave us your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so we may have life and have it abundantly. And now, as we are reminded of Jesus’ Resurrection, we remember once again, you did not abandon us but set up the Holy Church, to guide and direct us through the Holy Spirit. May we be worthy of the Love you so abundantly bless us with. Amen.

Cover photo: TonyTheTigersSon (Envato Elements)

Resurrection and Beginnings

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Holy Week Day #9 – Easter Sunday! – You made it through to the end, only to find it’s the beginning. The angels direct us to look at Life and we do – to find it Resurrected! Final directions for the Lenten Journey.
Music: “Govya Yerousghem” by Vazkenian Seminarians at Lake Sevan; Speghani Children’s choir; “Birdsong Medly” by Armen Chakmakian; “About God” by Gor Mkhitarian. Cover: “Rise!” by Gregory Beylerian for In His Shoes Ministry. (available in the Epostle Shop)
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for ePostle.net

Easter Eve – ‘Before the Dawn’

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Holy Week Day #8 – Easter Eve – It’s always darkest before the dawn, but the Light cannot be contained. It’s radiating from the Tomb of Christ, as we anticipate the Good News of Resurrection; Matthew 28;
Music: Selections from “Ornyal eh Asdvadz” by Students at the Vazkenian Seminary at Lake Sevan; Cover: Easter Morning at the Hollywood Bowl, 2003.
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for ePostle.net

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