A Nearly Forgotten History: Women Deacons in the Armenian Church‏

• 
  

Armenian Weekly (armenianweekly@hairenik.com)

Schedule clean-up

13:12

Saturday, July 06, 2013 Recent Articles from the Armenian Weekly... A Nearly Forgotten History: Women Deacons in the Armenian Church Book Review: Bohjalian’s ‘The Light in the Ruins’ Peniche Anako: An Armenian Home Away from Home Arpa Film Fest Issues ‘Call-for-Films’ ANCA Endorses Peter Koutoujian in Special Congressional Election OneArmenia: Uniting Armenians for Change Search Armenian Weekly A Nearly Forgotten History: Women Deacons in the Armenian Church On Sunday afternoon, June 9, 2013, the Chicago chapter of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society presented a program on a segment of Armenian Church history at the Armenian All Saints Church and Community Center’s Shahnazarian Hall in Glenview, Ill. After welcoming words by the chapter’s chairman, Haroutiun Mikaelian, Ani Vartanian introduced the participants in the program, followed by the presentation of crosses from the Eastern Prelacy to the female members of the choir who had served the church in that capacity for 25 years. Lusine Torian recited the poem “The Armenian Church” by Vahan Tekeyan, followed by Lousin K. Tokmakjian’s piano rendition of “Nor Dzaghig,” a sharagan (or psalm). Following the day’s event, refreshments were served. Armenian nun-deacons, New Julfa (Fr. A. Oghlukian photo) The speaker of the day, Knarik O. Meneshian, presented a lecture and slideshow titled “The Armenian Deaconess and Her Forgotten Role in the Armenian... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Book Review: Bohjalian’s ‘The Light in the Ruins’ The Light in the RuinsBy Chris Bohjalian New York: Doubleday (July 9, 2013) 309 pages, $25.95 Chris Bohjalian’s The Light in the Ruins is a taught, suspenseful page-turner. In somewhat of a departure from his previous works, Bohjalian’s new novel is darker, even flirting with the crime fiction genre. The novel is set at a beautiful estate in Tuscany that is dragged into the tragedy and destruction of World War II, along with the family that owns it, the Rosatis. From the first pages, however, Bohjalian makes clear we are in for something different here—this will not be a tragic war-time love story—as the novel starts with the grisly musings of a serial killer, describing the murder he is about to commit. Who is this madman and why is he doing this? Once the stage is set, the novel slowly unravels the mystery of who the murderer is and why he keeps killing. Bohjalian keeps the reader guessing throughout, making the book difficult to put down. ‘The Light in... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Peniche Anako: An Armenian Home Away from Home When I was in Paris in May, my friend Virginia Pattie Kerovpyan invited me to join her on the Peniche Anako for a jazz concert. The Peniche Anako is a canal barge docked on the West Bank of the La Villette Basin in the 19th arrondissement. The basin, which is the largest artificial lake in Paris, was filled with water in December 1808 and is part of the 130-kilometer (80.7-mile) Parisian Canal Network that is operated by the municipality. Canal barges have access to about 22 kilometers of the network. The Peniche Anako is a canal barge docked on the West Bank of the La Villette Basin in the 19th arrondissement. Peniche Anako opened its doors in the fall of 2008 under the direction of Patrick Bernard, an ethnologist whose work focused on the oral traditions of indigenous peoples. In January 2009, the barge was purchased by the Armenian Red Cross Association (in French, le Comité de secours de la Croix Rouge Arménienne, or CSRA), which was founded in the 1920’s by doctors,... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Arpa Film Fest Issues ‘Call-for-Films’ In 2012, the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art (AFFMA) celebrated the 15th year of its signature event, the Arpa International Film Festival. The celebration included recognitions by the Los Angeles City Council and the Roll Global Grant, as well as a Golden Medal from the Armenian Ministry of Culture awarded to AFFMA founder Sylvia Minassian. The Arpa Film Festival enjoyed its most successful and highly attended festival that year, and commemorated its anniversary with a star-studded awards gala. AFFMA organizers are now preparing for the festival’s 16th year with a full slate of events planned for the summer and fall season. Arpa Film Fest Issues ‘Call-for-Films’ Call for Films Call for Film submissions are currently open for the upcoming 16th Arpa International Film Festival, to be held Sept. 26-29, 2013, at the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. “We encourage all filmmakers to take advantage of Arpa Film Fest as a launch pad to a career in... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • ANCA Endorses Peter Koutoujian in Special Congressional Election WASHINGTON—The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has announced its endorsement of Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian for United States Congress. After the Massachusetts Senate special election on June 25, Rep. Ed Markey’s 5th district House seat is now vacant, which means another special election will be held to fill the remainder of Markey’s term. Koutoujian with ANCA National Board Member Stephen Mesrobian, ANCA Eastern Region Board Member Tamar Kanarian and ANCA Eastern Massachusetts activists Mikael Garabedian and Dikran Kaligian. “We stand with Peter Koutoujian as he embarks on his new path to Congress. His leadership in Massachusetts and in the Armenian American community has been steadfast and inspiring, and he has the ANCA’s full backing in this election process and beyond,” said ANCA National Board member Stephen Mesrobian of Foxborough, Mass. Peter Koutoujian is a leader in the Armenian-American community, especially in... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • OneArmenia: Uniting Armenians for Change At midnight on June 30, Yerevan time, an idea was transformed from potential to reality. The stroke of midnight signaled the end of the voting period of OneArmenia’s SHIFT initiative, an international crowdsourcing effort that yielded 75 proposals. The world at large then chose among them by voting for the best idea to receive a $10,000 grant to be implemented in Armenia. Sarkissian with ONEArmenia’s core creative team at the cliffs of Goris in southeastern Armenia while on location for a video shoot in April. From left: Anahid Yahjian, Patrick Sarkissian, Narek Khachatryan, Oksana Mirzoyan. The SHIFT initiative is the latest project of OneArmenia, an organization founded in 2012 by Patrick Sarkissian. Sarkissian was born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit; Sarkissian’s father is an Armenian from Greece, and his mother is a Greek from Chicago. Sarkissian recalls, “They always said that I was a very disruptive character, and that’s sort of become part of my mantra,... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search •