Armenians were the first nation to accept Christianity. It is a historical fact which may not always translate into expressions by the people.
In 301, St. Gregory the Illuminator converted the King of Armenia to Christianity and who then proclaimed Christianity as the official state religion of the Armenian Nation. Armenians are aware of the “First place” acknowledgement of history and will accept the recognition. “We were the first Christian nation!” is often expressed as a badge of honor. As to how that Christian identity is expressed is up for grabs.
Armenian Christianity is cumbersome because it is tied to religion, culture, and national identity. For instance, the Armenian alphabet was invented for the sole purpose of translating the Holy Scriptures into Armenian. So, the logic follows that because of the Church’s need, the Nation received an alphabet that developed its literature and culture. Hence, the development of Armenian consciousness was directly connected to the Church.
On the practical side, there are many examples of this interconnected relationship between Church and State. When Armenian land was occupied, the Church functioned as the representative of the people. The heads of the Church have been revered as a head of state in the absence of a government. In many ways, the intertwining of Church and State for the Armenian people twists and turns through history and in defining identity in more a complicated manner than the DNA double helix molecule. Unraveling it leaves you with the components that you may try to retwist to your liking, but it never yields the complete gene sequence.
The United States constitution, in its Bill of Rights, specifically forbids an event such as the conversion of Armenia, in America. In fact, it clearly states that there cannot be a state religion or forbidding one religion officially over others.
That first year of the Youth Ministry Center it was difficult to explain this nuance to parents and grandparents of the students. Conflict between Church and State is a bigger problem than might be imagined within the Armenian community, especially across generational and educational lines. When we opened the Youth Ministries Center, parents saw the importance of having their kids vaccinated against the materialism that was so prevalent around us. But they saw the priest, namely me, as the “Official Christian” in that it was his (my) responsibility to buck the system.
I remember a group of parents questioned me about prayer in school, and they were shocked when I told them that I was against it. What? Why would a priest be against prayer? I had to explain that if I, an Armenian priest, pray, then tomorrow the Rabbi will be invited, the next day the Imam would offer a prayer and everyone else who has a religious title and following. Sure there are many things we can agree on, but I’m not that confident that I could agree on all across the board.
The Youth Ministries Center was a place where a prayer could be offered. Many of the kids would come after school and on Sundays for prayers. I was pleased that they were coming not because of coercion but of their own free will. It was the beginning of changing the mindset.
Let’s continue tomorrow where we left off today as we continue with more untold stories and miracles from 20 years ago today. I 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.
Cover: Surreal rendering of Armenian Church wrapped in a double helix molecule. 2023 Fr. Vazken
https://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DALL·E-2023-04-27-22.10.20-surreal-rendering-of-an-Armenian-Church-wrapped-in-a-double-helix-molecule.png10241024Vazken Movsesianhttps://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/final_logo_large_for_epostle_web-300x189.pngVazken Movsesian2023-04-28 00:01:122023-04-28 08:16:2820 years ago: Helix, Church & State
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 had ignored and forgotten, a place where education, identity and prayer came together. These are the untold stories from the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center.
Today’s Episode: Famine to Feast
World Vision is an organization that I connected with in the late 1990’s. It has a very simple premise of following the Matthew 25 invitation of seeing Jesus in the “least of my brothers and sisters.” It was only natural that we develop a closer bond between this group and our newly formed “In His Shoes” mission.
One of World Vision’s programs, at the time, was called the “30 hour Famine.” It was a planned famine to give young people (read all of us) an understanding of hunger, study the causes and raise much needed funds to feed the hungry of the world. I had two years of experience organizing this famine while at the St. Gregory Church in Pasadena. The formula was simple, each participant had to find sponsors, for instance $1 an hour, who would donate according to the participant’s ability to remain hungry. We organized the event inside the church hall.
An organized famine is foreign territory for an Armenian community, especially for a group of people hurting from displacement from wars and political upheavals. We turned over the collected money to World Vision and they in turn used the money to provide for children and families in some of the most impoverished areas on earth. The first year, we had about 25 kids participate. We had to expel (call their parents) three of them who snuck out at night for a bite to eat. When they returned, it was the smell of heavily onion-seasoned Armenian kebab that betrayed them! 30 hours of fasting is no easy feat, but I was proud that the majority of them kept their side of the bargain, and it was a success. We raised funds, but even more, we raised awareness for hunger and our response to others in the world.
Trauma scars people to various degrees. The Armenian Genocide, in a sense the trauma of traumas, has left a very large scar on the psyche of the entire Armenian nation. There are many wounds that have to be healed, or at the very least, addressed. Armenians have been on the receiving end of tragedy, from Genocide to Soviet occupation, to civil wars and political upheavals in their new adopted lands (Middle East). So, it was understandable when we received complaints about sending the money on those outside our Armenian community. Or maybe I read too much into it and it was simply that the money was going outside of controlled boundaries.
Moving from Pasadena and opening the Youth Ministries Center, we started with a clean slate. We invited kids to participate. We had them collect money. While World Vision provided Bible Study material as activities during the “famine,” I took the liberty of tailoring the lessons to our In His Shoes platform, namely, to connect the dots with the Armenian Genocide and the plight of the Armenian people who were labeled in the post-Genocide period as the “Starving Armenians,” by National Geographic, no less (circa 1935).
We held the first “famine” at the Center with a couple of dozen kids. We camped out in the church – sleeping bags on the floors and pews. A few parents came to help my wife Susan and I with chaperoning the younger ones. The participants ranged in age from 13 to 30. We set a buy-in amount, that is, participants would have to raise a minimum amount. I believe it was $50.
I invited friends of the ministry to come and speak about Christian charity. Among them were my sister Anush Avejic, businessman David Mgrublian and attorney Christopher Armen. In between lectures, we had wellness checks, made sure people were drinking water, and moving with mild exercises. In the evening we watched “Lillies of the Field” with 1963 Oscar winner Sidney Poitier, followed by a discussion on the film as well as an assortment of topics.
Hosanna Aroyan was the student leader. She was a natural organizer and articulated herself well. She reported to me that we had collected almost $10,000 in pledges from the community. We had a couple of anonymous donors who said they would match our funds. With those matching funds we started the 30 Hour Famine with about $30,000 in pledges. I was checking World Vision’s website that weekend and reading about matching funds. That night they posted a 6-to-1 and a 5-to-1 grant.
Sunday morning. We woke the kids up in the church. Sleep didn’t help their hunger and they were tired and exhausted. A few were light-headed. The 30 hours was to finish at 12 noon with the reception of the Holy Communion, the sacred Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We were getting ready to start services when I received an acknowledgment from World Vision, our collected funds had been matched with a few different funds and we got creative by offering the matched fund totals to our anonymous donors. We were at half-a-million dollars! I could not control my emotions and shared the news with Hosanna. We both burst into tears.
I can never forget that day. The church was filled with the parents and the curious. What were we going to announce? To the amazement of the congregation and the participants I announced that our collection exceeded a $500,000!
It was Easter Season, and the sermon just flowed. Here we were, children of the those labeled as “Starving Armenians” now we were feeding the starving of the world! We could not find a more profound expression of resurrection following crucifixion, than what was given to us that morning. We demonstrated Jesus’ challenge, “if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:10)
We continued to hold the “30 hour Famine” annually and it became a standing program of the In His Shoes ministry. It became more popular through the years, and eventually we were given space at Glendale Community College to hold the event and sleepover there. But that first year will always be special. We made a video that was shared with other youth groups at Armenian churches, but unfortunately the idea of a planned famine intruded on the comfort level of too many.
In 2009, while visiting the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in Armenia with my son Varoujan, we were using backpacks that were given to us by World Vision. Someone spotted the logo on the packs and they pointed us to a seminar that was being held for Sunday School teachers, in a building adjacent to the Cathedral. It was organized by World Vision at the invitation of the Catholicos of All Armenian, His Holiness Karekin II. There they were, World Vision, at the Center of our Armenian Church. We went in and introduced ourselves and couldn’t feel prouder that goodness was spreading.
We continue tomorrow with more untold stories and miracles from 20 years ago today. I 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.
Note: The image which appears on the cover, “Peacock with ‘eh'” was created at the Famine under the direction of Anush Avejic. Years later it was donated to the St. Mark Episcopal Church in Glendale and hangs prominently in their sanctuary to this day.
https://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DSC08658-e1682571019660.jpg634642Vazken Movsesianhttps://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/final_logo_large_for_epostle_web-300x189.pngVazken Movsesian2023-04-27 00:01:162023-04-26 21:53:0320 years ago: Famine to Feast
It was 20 years ago today: Untold stories of the Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center
Today’s Episode: One of us
Finding yourself and seeing yourself in the Gospel message is part of Christian introspection. There is a much different relationship you have with what is known as the Old Testament. Those are historic stories and therefore stuck in time. In the Gospels, you are invited to see yourself in Christ’s parables, such as the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son. Not so with Old Testament stories. For instance, it is a mistake to console yourself by comparing your sufferings with Jobs, rather, understand his story as maintaining faith despite difficulties.
The words of Christ are timeless, that is, they transcend time, whether in a parable or in his messages. In the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) Jesus’ says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” These words are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. They are spoken from God.
Our “In His Shoes” mission was adopted early at the Armenian Church Youth Ministries was taking off and becoming popular among the students. In Genocide commemoration, held on April 24, In His Shoes was a sensible alternative to yelling and protesting in front of empty buildings, plus it provided positive exposure to the plight of the Armenians. And the best part of it was that it was in step with the Gospel message of love, light and goodness. We were walking in the shoes of others.
We were looking for opportunities to demonstrate how love can be a new means of expression for Genocide awareness. That first year, April 24 was marked with a blood drive in the basement of our building. The American Red Cross came out and we lined up donors. The message we proclaimed was simple, “In 1915 we gave blood against our will, today willing we give blood for the sake of saving lives.” The students were quick to get on board. Though some could not donate because of their age, they brought in relatives to fill our quotas.
This was something new in the community. We had done the April 24 blood drives in Cupertino and Pasadena, but the number of Armenians in Glendale, especially around the Center, prompted discussions and questions.
Q: Who will get this blood?
A: It will go into the community blood bank collected by the Red Cross to be used by those who need it.
Q: You mean non-Armenians might receive this blood?
A: Yes! In fact, it is possible that a Turk might need blood and your blood will go to him or her!
Now, we are truly talking about walking in the shoes of others. Now “love your enemies” starts making sense – helping someone because they are a child of God. And, on a personal level, what better payback can there be than to have a Turk walking around with Armenian blood?! We collected blood and reached out with other programs as well.
At the time, recording artist Joane Osborne’s song, “One of us” was getting a lot of airtime. We adopted the song for the Youth Ministries. It helped us articulate what we discovered and were trying to practice with the students: to recognize God as “The least of His brothers and sisters.” (Matthew 25)
We would sing this song during those early years as a mantra for us, our relationship with others and our expression of faith. “If God had a name, what would it be? And would you call it to His face? If you were faced with Him in all His glory? What would you ask if you had just one question?
And yeah, God is great, yeah, God is good.
What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us? Just a stranger on the bus trying to make his way home?
With this song, we were celebrating accessibility. Jesus’ teaching was revolutionary because through him God was accessible to us all. He invited us to engage with God. And we were witnessing the miracle at the Center – here were young kids, coming to an Armenian Church and understanding themselves as participants is God’s Kingdom. It was a time of celebration, in this forgotten area of Glendale, kids were waking up to God’s glory by seeing it in the love they expressed to others.
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.
Cover: Old man smoking in Thailand, Envato Elements
https://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/old-man-are-smoking-2022-02-02-05-09-30-utc-scaled.jpg17072560Vazken Movsesianhttps://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/final_logo_large_for_epostle_web-300x189.pngVazken Movsesian2023-04-25 00:01:372023-04-24 22:36:2920 years ago: One of us