Armenian Church E-Newsletter, Issue 7

Please find Issue 7 (Volume 4) of our weekly Armenian Church E-Newsletter. We hope you will enjoy browsing its pages. Information Centre The Primate's Office Armenian Church of Great Britain and Ireland E-NEWSLETTER...............Է-ԹԵՐԹԻԿ fa The official online publication of the Primate’s Office of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Great Britain and Ireland Issue 7 (Volume 4), 16February 2013 “EXPULSION SUNDAY” OF GREAT LENT As explained in the Great Lent brochure (Click here to download a copy), produced by the Primate’s Office, this Sunday is “Expulsion Sunday”, which ushers in the second week of Great Lent. This Sunday’s theme is based on the story of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise as a consequence of their rejection of God’s will: Humanity rejected God’s offer of love and eternity. However, being a loving and caring Creator, God did not abandon us, rather created this world, as a temporary shelter for us to reflect upon our own will and decisions and upon God’s love for us. We inherited the state of living on this earth, as a result of being expelled from Paradise. As we enter the second week of Great Lent, our Mother the Armenian Church invites us to reflect upon our own power of will and on how we use our free will. Is it in agreement with God’s will or in opposition to it? The Church also calls on the faithful to reflect upon the consequence of rejecting God’s will: the fallen state of living on this earth where, the absence of God’s peace and love is felt in every aspect of our living, while enjoying His blessings as glimpses of the eternal life to come. SECOND ANNUAL ARMENIAN CHURCH ASSEMBLY fs The Primate’s Office has announced Sunday, 17 March, 2013, to be the date of the second Annual Armenian Church Assembly. The Assembly will take place at St. Sarkis Church at 2:00PM following the celebration of the Divine Liturgy (Badarak). As in the first annual Armenian Church assembly which took place at St. Yeghiche Church last year, on 1st April, so also in this year’s assembly reports will be offered by the Primate and all the organisations and programmes that are directly under the supervision of the Primate, including the Primate’s Office, Armenian Church Youth Fellowship (ACYF), the Armenian Church Trust of the United Kingdom (ACTUK), the Annual Pilgrimages and the Annual Armenian Street Festival. The assembly is called by the Primate as an effort to engage the faithful of the Armenian Church in all the aspects of the programming and administration of the Armenian Church. The Armenian Church is the Church of the Armenians and the people must have a voice in every aspect of the church’s life and government. So, mark your calendar and join the Primate on Sunday 17 March, 2013 at the Badarak and the Assembly to follow. The first church assembly Click here to read more recorded in the Bible, Book of Acts 15 ARMENIAN BADARAK IN OXFORD The Primate’s Office is happy to announce the scheduling of an Armenian Orthodox Divine Liturgy (Badarak) at Pembroke College, Oxford, on Wednesday, 27 February at 6:00pm. The celebrant will be the Very RevdFr. Garegin Hambardzumyan. Participating in the Liturgy will be the Armenian students of Oxford University. Refreshments afterwards in Mary Hyde Eccles Room.His Grace Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of the UK and Ireland, will preside over the services and deliver the homily. Address: Pembroke College, Oxford, OX1 1DW. All re welcome. For further information please browse the following flyer. See you in Oxford on Wednesday 27 February: http://armenianchurch.co.uk/documents/Pembroke_College_Chapel.pdf PANEL DISCUSSION ON ARMENIAN IDENTITY The Tekeyan Cultural Association London cordially invites the Armenian community in London to a panel discussion on “Who is an Armenian?” The Panel Discussion will take place at the “Lecture Theatre” in Kensington Central Library, Kensington, London on Friday, 22nd February, at 7:00pm. Panelists are: H.G. Bishop Vahan Hovanessian, Primate of the Armenian Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland,H.E. Ambassador Dr. Manuel Hassassian, Palestinian Diplomatic Mission; Dr. Bert Vaux, King’s College, Cambridge University; Mr. HovnanSimonian, University of Southern California (Zurich); Dr. SossieKasbarian, Lancaster University; Dr. HratchKouyoumjian, Chairman, TCA. The public are invited to meet the panellists at 6:30pm over refreshments, with a prompt start at 7:00pm. For a copy of the flyer click the following link: http://tekeyantrust.org.uk/pdf/who_is_an_armenian_flyer.pd. PRIMATE’S OFFICE STAFF - WELCOME The Primate is grateful to Aznive Simon, A. ViolettaBarzankian-Kaydan, SocieBoyadjian and HovikHovhannisyan who for the past thee years helped, and continue until today helping, the Primate in managing the various aspects of the office, including making Srpazan’s appointment, answering the telephone, responding to enquiries, correspondence, finance and supporting the supervision of the various programmes and activities promoted by the Primate’s Office. Following its regular meeting on Sunday, 3rd March, the Managing Board of the Armenian Church Trust (UK) unanimously voted to approve the hiring of two staff to wok at the Primate’s Office. We welcome MsHrachikSarian and Mr Alexander Adamiants as the first hired staff of the Primate’s Office of the Armneian Church of UK and Ireland. Ms. Sarian will be the office administrator while Mr. Adamiants will help in the book keeping and accounting of the Primate’s Office. May the Lord bless all those who help the Armenian Church ministry, and make us worthy to strengthen our church and her programmes to reach out to as many Armenians as possible and work together on maintaining and promoting our sacred heritage and identity in these lands of diaspora. ARMENIAN COMMUNITY CHOIR DrGagikTamanian, the choirmaster of St Sarkis Armenian Church in London, extends an invitation to all those who value the rich heritage of Armenian song and music to come along and join the community choir. The choir aims at preparing a full concert of exciting choral pieces to be performed in support of Syrian Armenians in approximately four months time. The exciting program would consist of the pieces by Komitas, Ekmalian, Kanachian, Babajanian, Harutyunian and many others. The first rehearsal is to be on Sunday, 24 February 2013 in Nevart Gulbenkian hall at 8-00. All are welcome. The regular rehearsal schedule would be discussed during the first rehearsal. ACYF LENTEN PROJECT In its regular meeting on Monday, 4 February, 2013, the Executive Committee of the Armenian Church Youth Fellowship (ACYF) voted unanimously to launch the “Easter Project” during this year’s Great Lent. The ACYF will be creating and updating a list of Armenians who live alone or who because of their age or health cannot participate in the Easter Church services. On Easter Sunday and the following days, members of the ACYF will deliver an Easter packages prepared by the members themselves to congratulate and cheer up these members of our community. If you know of someone who lives alone, or who because of ailment or age will not be able to attend this year’s Easter services, please send the person’s name, telephone number and address to: ACYF@armenianchurch.co.uk. The person will be contacted prior to the delivery ofd the package. More details about the project to come. ANNOUNCEMENTS:  BIBLE STUDY: Please note that there will be no Bible lecture this Thursday due to a scheduling conflict. Will resume next Thursday.  WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER: Our weekly E-Newsletter reaches to almost 2000 families in the United Kingdom and Ireland. If someone you know would like to receive the E-Newsletter, kindly forward the person’s e-mail address to: information@armenianchurch.co.uk  SCRIPTURE READINGS OF THE WEEK: Click here for a list of this week’s Bible readings according to the Armenian Church lectionary.  ACTUK: Please click here to support our church programmes by donating to the Armenian Church Trust (registered charity). The Primate’s Office c/oHyeDoon, 25 Cheniston Gardens, London W8 6TG www.armenianchurch.co.uk information@armenianchurch.co.uk