LOVSAPYR LOOSAPER Sovrp Bydros Ha3asdanya3x Ygy.yxi ST. P ETER A RMENIAN C HURCH 100 T ROY -SCHENECTADY R OAD , PO B OX 196, W ATERVLIET , NY 12189 JULY -OCTOBER 2014 St. Peter Armenian Apostolic Church 100 Troy-Schenectady Road, P.O. Box 196 Watervliet, NY 12189 Phone: (518) 274-3673 ~ Fax: (518) 274-3103 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.stpeterarmenianchurch.com * Join us on facebook * SUNDAY WORSHIP: Morning Services 9:15 a.m. **NEW** Sunday School & Adult Christian Ed Class 9:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m. Rev. Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian , Parish Priest Robert Bedian 808 Red Oak Drive 2 Carol Place Niskayuna, NY 12309 377-7448 Wynantskill, NY 12198 283-9110 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Gilbert Chorbajian , Chairman Leon Kaiser 6011 Baneberry Drive 81 Old Coach Road Schenectady, NY 12303 356-5363 Clifton Park, NY 12065 383-3266 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Yervant Kutchukian, Vice Chairman Willard Martin 2003 Brookview Road 90 Wagon W. Trail Castleton-on-Hudson, NY 12033 732-7486 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 587-4706 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] R. Paul Moroukian, Jr., Treasurer William T. Nevins, Jr. 9 Kimberly Court 43 Wolfert Avenue Niskayuna, NY 12309 785-1766 Menands, NY 12204 465-9409 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] John ‘Frenchie’ Ekmalian , Assistant Treasurer Daniel O’Keefe 11B Ledgewood Drive 63 Corrit Drive Albany, NY 12205 421-1970 Delmar, NY 12054 E-mail: [email protected] Ronald P. Kaiser , Secretary 11 Clove Court Michael Scaringe Clifton Park, NY 12065 371-2809 26 Bosher Drive E-mail: [email protected] Albany, NY 12205 225-4174 E-mail: [email protected] Breann Parseghian, Assistant Secretary 54 Spruce Street Clifton Park, NY 12065 371-4258 E-mail: [email protected] OFFICE HOURS: Monday- Friday 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. DIOCESAN DELEGATES: Edward A. Belemjian Charles Tutunjian 10 Orchard Grove 9 Dyke Road Loudonville, NY 12211 465-3029 Latham, NY 12110 785-9423 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] CHURCH ORGANIZATION CONTACTS : PARISH COUNCIL LIAISON : ACYOA Jrs. Lena Guleserian-Hoglund . 227-1979 Yervant Kutchukian ACYOA Srs. Jonathan Dadekian . 346-1819 Yervant Kutchukian Armenian School Anahid Altounian . 463-2625 Charles Tutunjian Bible Study Elsie Vozzy . 373-0242 Yervant Kutchukian Choir Director Dn. Rafi Topalian . 272-2000 Ron Kaiser St. Peter Adult Fellowship Ara Baligian . 279-3583 Edward Belemjian Sunday School Yn. Paulette Doudoukjian. 505-9893 Leon Kaiser Women’s Guild Sharon Foley . 427-8594 Breann Parseghian All articles must be submitted on a timely basis by following the “Schedule for Publication” listed below: NOVEMBER-DECEMBER SCHEDULE FOR PUBLICATION Articles Deadline Monday, November 17 Typing and Proofreading Mon, Nov 17 - Fri, Dec 5 To Printer Friday, December 5 Mailing Wednesday, December 10 The Loosaper constitutes a vital and an historical record of the life of the St. Peter Church Community. Therefore, it is important to make every effort to preserve and maintain the continuity of this publication. In order to do this, we need help. Any parishioner interested in being a reporter or assisting the editorial staff with this publication should call the church office. Church Secretary, Lori Payette, is responsible for compiling and typing this issue. A volunteer group performs editorial tasks such as: proofreading, layout, writing, and editing of articles. All materials submitted are subject to editing by the Editorial Staff. The mailing of the Loosaper is also handled by volunteers. If you find errors in this edition of the Loosaper, please understand that, while perfection is always our goal, it is one that may remain forever beyond our reach! CURRENT VOLUNTEER STAFF: Editorial: Yn. Paulette Doudoukjian & Joyce Kenosian Photographers: Maria Derian & Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian Please forward all articles to the church office. LOOSAPER DONATIONS There is an outlay of approximately $500 for publishing and mailing each issue of the Loosaper . Any contribution sent to defray part of this cost will be gratefully appreciated. Names of donors and contributions will be listed in the Loosaper, unless we are requested not to do so . Many thanks to the most recent donors who answered our call to help offset the costs of our church publication: $50 - Mary Selvinazian; $25 - Patricia Boorujy (NJ). Those persons wishing to send Christmas Greetings in the November/December issue of Loosaper must submit their names to the church office by Monday, November 24. Please use the form below to send your donation to: “St. Peter Armenian Church” PO Box 196, Watervliet, NY 12189 Please accept my CHRISTMAS GREETINGS DONATION for Greetings Loosaper in the amount of $ ___________. forforfor Name(s) to be included in the Greeting: ____________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS This is the general format that is followed for each issue of the Loosaper . However, not all of the following topics may be included in this current issue. I. Diocesan News II. Pastoral Comments III. Parish Council Report IV. Church Organization News: ACYOA, Armenian School, St. Peter Adult Fellowship, Sunday School, Women’s Guild V. Parish Community News: Sacraments and Rites such as: Baptisms, Marriages, Funerals, Hokehankists, etc. Altar Candles & Flowers Special Donations, In Lieu of Flowers Donations, Fellowship Hour, Announcements, etc. VI. Der Garen’s Column VII. Community News VIII. Cultural News IX. National/International News X. Announcements XI. Advertisements If you are not already doing so, consider having your copy of Loosaper delivered to your e-mail address rather than your postal address; thereby reducing the amount of paper used while saving the church money in printing and distribution costs. Contact the church office to make the switch! . Rev. Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian Think Orange !!??!! How do you make the color Orange? You need the primary colors of Yellow and Red to make Orange. Yellow = The Church Red = The Family And when you mix them together, you make Orange. Orange is blending two great institutions and creating something new, something different. However, you NEED both the Yellow (The Church) and the Red (The Family) to create the new color — Orange. When you ponder these thoughts as you read this article - think about creating Orange. Join us at St. Peter Armenian Church. Orange is making a splash! We have new ideas and concepts on Sundays. 9:30am - Sunday School & Adult Christian Education 10:00am - We all worship together during the Divine Liturgy 11:30am(ish) - We finish our Liturgy/Worship. Check out the Fall Preview in this issue to see more exciting activities at church. Also, please read the Sunday School Superintendent's Loosaper article. It goes into great detail about this year's changes. Think Orange - Become Orange - Enjoy Orange God bless you always, Fr. Stepanos As we reflected on the one-year anniversary of Fr. Garen's passing on June 27, 2013, I asked one of our St. Peter summer interns, Peter Topalian, to prepare a message about Fr. Garen. I gave Peter some of Fr. Garen's books to read and asked him to choose a quote and write a brief reflection. The following was prepared by Peter in honor of our dear Fr. Garen. Dear St. Peter Armenian Church Family and Friends, It has been a year since Father Garen's passing, and we will continue to remember his teachings and impact on our community. Father Garen was a very humble priest. He would always go out of his way to help others. His sermons were always from the heart, taken from everyday life, and were very straight forward. In Father Garen's second book (written in 1995), I Want The Best: Said The Lord , he explained "During the Divine Liturgy, immediately before the chant of 'Holy, Holy,' the priest reads a private prayer in which the following words appear: 'And Our Lord Jesus Christ transformed the earth into heavens.' We Christians are a blessed people unto God. We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, among the multitudes of His miracles, performed also the miracle of transforming our universe into heavens, thus filling us with His abundant blessings and graces." Father Garen believed that we were given blessings and graces by Jesus Christ to teach others. Let us keep him alive in our hearts and souls by teaching others the blessings of God. Parish Council Message As we quickly move into fall, I want to take a moment to reflect back on the summer at St. Peter Armenian Church. It began as it usually does with our Armenian Festival. The 2013 event marked a big leap forward with live music, reorganized facilities, and a revamped menu. This year’s Festival built upon that momentum and seemed to attract an even larger crowd from outside our community (the beautiful weather didn’t hurt either!). Special thanks to Chuck Tutunjian and Bill Nevins for again co-chairing the event, as well as to all of the volunteers who dedicated their time and talents for this annual celebration of Armenian culture and heritage. This summer also marked a period of great progress with our building renovation projects. If you recall, last year we embarked on an extensive project to repaint the sanctuary of the church. At this year’s Parish Assembly, we identified as the next two areas for improvement: 1. Repair the persistent leaks in the church’s four flat roofs; and 2. Address the electrical issues that had greatly reduced the available lighting in the parking lot. We received permission from the parish, with a vote of approval at the Assembly in March, to spend $45,000 from the Building Fund on these two projects.