Armenian Church E-Newsletter, Issue 54 - Happy New Year!

29 DECEMBER 2012

ISSUE 54 VOLUME 3

E-NEWSLETTER H- J:RJIK THE OFFICIAL ONLINE PUBLICATION OF THE PRIMATE’S OFFICE OF THE DIOCESE OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND

END OF YEAR THOUGHTS...

We are only a few days from the end of the year 2012. Soon the world will welcome the New Year, a divine gift of new beginnings, opportunities and horizons. The end of a year is an opportunity to thank God for all the achievements and blessings we enjoyed, and to make new resolutions to correct old habits and avoid repeating the mistakes of last year. For us here, in the Primate’s Office, 2012 was

a year filed with celebrations, achievements and new milestones. We joined the rest of the Britons in celebrating the Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen, 60 years of truly extraordinary leadership; and hosting the 2012 Olympics in London, where the Armenia team participated. We successfully organized the second Annual Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the second annual Armenian Street Festival, welcoming His Excellency the President of Armenia and the Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea. For the first time in many decades the Holy Trinity Armenian Church witnessed the ordination of four altar servers to the order of Acolytes (Tubir). Our Armenian Church Youth Fellowship (ACYF), achieved a new milestone in orgnising the first annual Service Project, where its members travelled to the Armenian Monastery in Venice to help in the reorganization of the Library there. For the first time in the history of the Armenian Church in Great Britain, the St. Sarkis Trust reached an agreement with the Primate in allowing the faithful to organize themselves into a Parish and to elect their own Parish Council to supervise and organize church activities according to the canons of the Armenian Church. Several of our ongoing programmes entered their third year such as the Bible Study group, AREV Children’s Play Group, and the Deacons’ Training Programme. Thank God, for the third year in a row, our newly established three Mission Parishes continued growing and improving their ministries and programmes in Birmingham, Cardiff and Dublin. However, we cannot reflect on the year 2012, without remembering Mrs. Karine Kazinian, the late Ambassador of Armenia to the UK. She will be missed immensely. May the Lord rest her soul in peace and comfort her family members.

HG Bp Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate, has prepared a year-end message which can be viewed by clicking here. Happy and healthy New Year to you and your loved ones!

The Primate’s Office

c/o Hye Doon 25 Cheniston Gardens Kensington London, W8 6TG

Church Website

armenianchurch.co.uk

E-mail

primatesoffice@

armenianchurch.co.uk

Telephone

0208 127 8364

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THE PRIMATE’S OFFICE Armenian Church of Great Britain and Ireland c/o Hye Doon, 25 Cheniston Gardens, London W8 6TG29 December 2012

Issue 54 Volume 3

DUBLIN MPC’S YEAR-END HANTES On Sunday 23rd December 2012 the Armenian Parish and School in Dublin, Ireland got together to celebrate Christmas. There were over 100 people present and 35 school children. Our school teachers (Lusine, Armine and Anahid) prepared an excellent presentation. The younger children took part in the Nativity (the birth of Jesus Christ) story and the older ones performed the tale of "Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson. Emma Mikaelyan recited a poem about the coming of Christ by Gemma Lalayan. Santa came to distribute presents to each pupil after the school performance. Subsequently the Church Community Choir sang three Christmas Carols, Lur Gisher, Away in Manger and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Our Chairperson Ayda Sarafian- Lundon welcomed everyone who came to the Christmas celebration and thanked the teachers and the children for the excellent productions. This was the first Community Christmas Carol service, combined with the school that had been held jointly, and all the families had a wonderful time. Lovely Armenian food was served at the end, as each family had provided a contribution and then each child received a further present from the church community.

PARISH BROCHURE PICTURE ANNOUNCEMENT

St. Yeghiche Church, London:

Saturday, 5 January 2013, 5:30pm – Celebrant: Revd Fr Shnork Bagdasarian Sunday, 6 January 2013, 11:00am – Celebrant HG Bp. Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate

St. Sarkis Church, London:

Saturday, 5 January 2013, 5:30pm – Celebrant: HG Bp. Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate Sunday, 6 January 2013, 11:00am – Celebrant Revd Fr Shnork Bagdasarian, Pastor

Holy Trinity Church, Manchester:

Sunday, 6 January 2013, 11:00am – Celebrant: Revd Fr Garegin Hambardzumyan

THIS WEEK’S VIDEO CLIP

“H.G. BP VAHAN HOVHANESSIAN’S YEAR-END REFLECTIONS”

As part of the mission of our Parish to encourage the faithful to participate in the beautiful rituals and spiritual life of the Church, and

to increase our Parish membership, the Parish Council is in the process of preparing a Parish brochure. The brochure will explain the

various sacraments of the Church and ways in which the faithful can practice their faith in the Church. These include: baptism,

marriage, Holy Communion in the Divine Liturgy, ministry to the sick, the choir, the deaconate, the priesthood and joining the Parish

itself. In order to showcase our Parish life and the Church building of which we are so proud of, the Parish Council would like to

invite all parishioners to send us photographs of your favourite Parish memories. We hope to select from these photos a few to use in

the brochure in order to provide it with a 'family' touch. We would be grateful if you could send the photographs in .jpg format to the

Parish email address: stsarkisparish@armenianchurch.co.uk. Please also indicate in the email that you consent to the photographs

being published in the Parish brochure, which is a legal requirement for us.

Wishing you the best in the Advent season.

- St Sarkis Parish Council

SCHEDULE OF CHURCH SERVICES FOR ARMENIAN NATIVITY

Click here to watch the video clip (English) prepared by the Information Centre of the Primate’s Office

29 December 2012

Issue 54, Volume 3

AS WE CONCLUDE THE YEAR 2012 - THE CHURCH NEEDS YOU

As we approach the end of the year, His Grace Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate, published an appeal to the Armenian community in Great Britain and Ireland seeking their support of the Primate’s Office and its various programmes. During the past two years and a half, the Primate’s Office has developed many new programmes and promoted several ongoing others, with the objective of strengthening the sacred mission of the Armenian Church and the bonds of the Armenian community in United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Among these programmes we mention the annual pilgrimages, Armenian Street Festivals, the Armenian Church Youth Fellowship (ACYF), the Mission Parish Outreach (MPO), the Deacons’ Training Programme, the Continuing Education Ministry (CEM), the weekly online E-Newsletter, Sunday Bulletin, website and others. Two years after the programmes mentioned above were launched, and some of which have already entered their third year of operation, it has become a serious financial burden for the Primate’s Office to maintain them, without a budget for a hired office assistant. No Armenian church trust or council, in the UK contributes to the above-mentioned programmes. You can read the full text of the Appeal on the official website of the Armenian Church, by clicking here. You can donate online by clicking here, or send your donation payable to “Armenian Church Trust UK” to the mailing address of the Primate’s Office, c/o Hye Doon, 25 Cheniston Gardens, London W8 6TG. During this blessed and beautiful season of Advent, please remember the Armenian Church and pray for her. Our Primate and thousands of Armenian children, teenagers, young adults, and seniors who have benefitted from our Church programmes will be grateful to you.

AGBU NEW YEAR’S EVE DINNER-DANCE

The AGBU would like to welcome you to join us for a New Year's Eve Dinner Dance and Live Entertainment at the Holiday Inn, Brentford Lock. With an exclusive live performance by Eurovision star Hayko and guest appearance from comedian Grigor Aghakhanyan. Tickets cost £80 including drink reception and three course meal with wine. To reserve and purchase tickets please contact Noushig on 01494538319 or Armen on 07932024631. Click here to see flyer with full details.

NEW YEAR’S EVE DINNER–ARMENIAN RELIEF SOCIETY, HOMENETMEN AND HAMAZKAYIN

On behalf of the Armenian Relief Society, Homenetmen, and Hamazkayin, we would like to welcome you to join us for an evening of dinner and music by Yorgantz and DJ Alex to welcome in the New Year! Information about booking tickets can be found on the flyer. Further inquiries can be sent to Janet Mardirossian. Click here to download the flyer.

NEW YEAR’S EVE DINNER – TEKEYAN AND NOR SEROUNT

Have you recently visited the video page of the Information Centre of the Primate’s Office of the Armenian Church of Great Britain and Ireland? If not, please click here.