Armenian Church News

Volume 2, Issue 9 Diocese of the Armenian Church of the United Kingdom and Ireland 11 March 2016 Armenian Church News Bishop Hovakim visits K. Tahta Sunday School In this issue: Bp Hovakim visits Sunday School Antonia Arslan visits Dublin Parish Ecumenical Meeting hosted by Bishop of Kensington An Exploration of Armenian Identity Jesus said “Let the little children Bp Hovakim visited the K. Tahta come to me, and do not hinder Armenian Community Sunday them, for the kingdom of heaven School accompanied by Fr Diocese of the Armenian Church of the United belongs to such as these" (Matt. Shnork. His Grace presided over Kingdom and the Republic 19:14). Christian education of our the morning assembly conducted of Ireland children is a pastoral obligation and by Fr Shnork with active His Grace Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, Primate a priority for our Diocese. That is participation of the children. The why our Diocesan clergy make school children sung “Sourp Diocesan Office regular visits to Saturday and Astvads” with much confidence Tel. 0208 127 8364 primatesoffice@ Sunday Schools to teach children then responded to the liturgical armenianchurch.co.uk Armenian Church hymns, prayers, petitionary prayers with “Ter history and church etiquette. On Voghormia”. Mrs Sona Sunday, 6th March 2016 His Grace Kalenterian read a passage from Page 2 Armenian Church News the Gospel of St Matthew about prayer (Matt. 6:5-13). In his address His Grace spoke about the importance of prayer in our lives. “Prayer is a communication with God who is our heavenly father”, said His Grace and encouraged the children to pray every day, especially in the morning and before going to bed. After the sermon Fr Shnork taught the children a new liturgical hymn from the Armenian “Sunrise” service (Arevagali Zhamergoutyoun) followed by the Lord’s Prayer sung by everyone. Community Life Antonia Arslan visits the Armenian Community in Dublin Antonia Arslan is an Italian writer and academic of Armenian origins. Her first novel, La Masseria Delle Allodole (Rizzoli, 2004) appeared in English as Skylark Farm. Drawing on the history of her own recent ancestors, it tells of the attempts of the members of an Armenian family caught up in the Armenian Genocide to escape to Italy. The book was the winner of numerous awards, among them the Premio Campiello (2004). “Skylark Farm remains in its essentials a factual evocation of the bestiality, endurance and occasional heroism that attended the liquidation of Anatolian Armenia” (Sunday Telegraph.) On Sunday, 6th March, Antonia Arslan met members of the Armenian Community at Taney Parish. She also visited the children of St. Hripsime Sunday School. Page 3 Armenian Church News On Monday, 7th March at 6.30pm at the Italian Institute of Culture in Dublin, the film Skylark Farm was screened. Based on Arslan’s novel of the same name, the film addressed the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. On Tuesday, 8th March at 6.30pm Antonia talked about her career, her books and the connection with her Armenian heritage. The evening was introduced by Siobhan Nash-Marshall, a Professor of Philosophy and the Mary T. Clark Chair of Christian Philosophy at Manhattanville College, where she is also chair of the Philosophy Department. The presence of the Armenian Community was evident on the three nights which was great to witness. There was also an interview conducted with Antonia for RTE and this was aired on Wednesday, 9th March at 6.05pm on RTE Lyric FM. The Director of the Italian Institute Mrs Renata Sperandio thanked the Honorary Consul Mr. Ohan Yergainharsian for his active presence and to Mrs. Ayda Sarafian Lundon for her important help. Page 4 Armenian Church News Ecumenical News Bishop of Kensington hosts Ecumenical Meeting Bishops and representatives of Kensington Churches met together on 9th March at the house of Rt. Rev. Dr. Graham Tomlin, the Bishop of Kensington. This traditional and informal meeting takes place every six months. During the business lunch the Primates spoke about their priorities and exchanged views on different topics. Questions related to the refugees from Syria, as well as UK EU membership. Bishop Manukyan informed those present about the April 24th commemoration events and invited the Churches to attend the Armenian Street Festival on 17th July. The Primates of the Greek, Russian and Syriac Orthodox Churches as well as representatives of the Anglican-Eastern Churches Association were present at the lunch. Page 5 Armenian Church News Community Life A Personal Exploration of Armenian Identity By Dorothea Bedigian Ալիքը բերում է մեզ միասին, բայց ժամանակը հեռացնում է մեզ միմյանցից։ Հուշերը մնում են, այրվելով մեր սրտում: The tide brings us together, but time pulls us apart; Memories remain, burning in our heart. The warm welcome by all at St. Sarkis Church is an unsurpassed experience that shall never be forgotten. The Armenian Apostolic Church has been decisive to broadening my Armenian identity, shaped by my paternal grandparents from Bitlis, and my Aintabsi mother. Born and raised in New York City into an evangelical household that stressed strict, literal adherence to their interpretation of the Bible, and pressured to enrol in an evangelical Bible college, by age 19 I departed from my father's fundamentalism, and began to attend, and to sing in the choir at Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church in Washington Heights, northern Manhattan. There I found its chanted liturgy offers a unique opportunity to experience prayer that penetrates directly to the soul, combined with its fragrant incense, a scent that feeds the soul. These links Page 6 Armenian Church News with our ancient tradition offer identification with our culture, providing a sense of safety, comfort, and familiarity. The holy badarak is a token representation of Armenian identity. Introduced to it during a meaningful and emotional time in my life, it aroused strong sentiment, so that the two became interconnected through language and history, and continue to trigger those emotions now, much later in time. The Armenian Apostolic Church is a “The Armenian repository for the continuity of this heritage. Apostolic Church has been decisive Who are we? What makes us who we are as individuals? And as to broadening my communities? Cultural heritage consists not only of monuments and collected Armenian identity, objects, but of adherences to language, lifestyle, family responsibilities, dress, shaped by my adornment, cuisine, ceremonies, celebratory customs, beliefs, superstitions, paternal rituals, manners and even gait. One of my significant early memories, is grandparents from harvesting tender wild grape leaves for fermentation and pickling as a family Bitlis, and my affair in summer. Shared experiences are formed by people who give it Aintabsi mother” definition, not map boundaries alone. There are numerous categories of self-identification: by profession, politics, religion, residence, employment status, economic status, musical taste, sports team preferences. However, it is ethnic identification that takes on extraordinary importance to Armenians, a result of our history of turmoil. Those shared sorrows, and the frustration we feel about the unacknowledged genocide that prolongs the century old crime against our targeted minority population, generates commonality, and a sense of immediacy even in diaspora. It seems imperative to retain our heritage, especially in consideration of the ever-present genocide denial, wherein Turks would like the world to forget, to remain ignorant. We protect our identity as a national group that another nation, or at least its government and military, had tried to exterminate. It should be understood that the land area referred to as “Armenia” today is different from the one from which most Armenians in the USA had fled. Most were from the Ottoman Empire, the western provinces of our historic homeland. Thus, the Armenia with which we identify and long for, was a country that we had not seen. This resulted, within me, an ever-present, pervasive, nagging urgency to return, to see with my own eyes, to place my feet on the ground where my mother and grandparents had tread. This became an impetus for my choice to experience traditional lifeways, initially selecting to teach at a college in Sudan, and subsequent travels including a landmark 10-week journey with my mother and sister to visit Aintab, to step inside her old house, and to visit the environs of Bitlis and Van/Vaspurakan, the cradle of Armenian civilization. Page 7 Armenian Church News “My longing to While in Sudan, it was an unexpected delight to find an active Armenian know more about community in Khartoum; thereafter, I worshipped with them every Sunday. my Armenian The Iskenderians of Omdurman offered immeasurable hospitality, becoming identity propelled my adopted family. Sudan came to feel like a second home, to the extent that journeys to Syria as when I began graduate study, a portion of my dissertation research was done a researcher” there, followed by more research there sponsored by the National Geographic Society, and another, on my own. Regrettably, several of the regions where I had worked: the Nuba Mountains and Darfur, have become targets of government oppression today. Correspondingly, Armenian identity has also fed my support for, and desire to protect other disenfranchised ethnic groups, especially in the US and Africa. I’ve become a supporter of the Underdog, all those viewed as “other” by their suppressive dominant cultures. A strong desire to retain the Armenian language is a powerful motivator for me to attend church services. I need to hear the holy badarak chanted and the sermon spoken, in Armenian. Our Armenian language serendipitously opened a research path. It was following my translation of an archaeological site report by Zohrab Kassabian about the Urartian sesame oil workshop at Karmir Blur, outside Yerevan, that my dissertation topic was sealed, and my life work determined.

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