This past weekend, the Holy Martyrs parish family was blessed by the visit of His Eminence Khajag Barsamian, Archbishop of the Armenian Diocese of America – Eastern. Srpazan Hayr began his visit on Saturday afernoon, April 29, with our Armenian Language School students. Under the guidance of their teachers and led by Principal Elizabeth Khodabash and board chair Susie Horioglu, the students performed a delightful program of Armenian songs. In the afternoon, the lay leadership of our parish, including Parish Council, Diocesan Delegates, and the board members of our schools, auxiliaries and organizations participated with Srpazan Hayr and Arpi Nakashian, a graduate of our St. Nersess Seminary and currently working in the Diocesan Department of Creative Ministries, as we held an open discussion about some of the accomplishments within our parish and, importantly, some of the challenges we continue to face in keeping our parishioners active in and connected to our church community. These discussions continued over dinner with Parish Council and the Delegates. The evening culminated with a special performance in concert by our Shnorhali Choir that was enjoyed by a “full house” audience in our sanctuary.
On Sunday, April 30, Srpazan delivered the sermon during Badarak and then lead the induction and pledge of our 2017 Parish Council members at the conclusion of the liturgy. In the afternoon, Srpazan joined the Holy Martyrs family at the Recognition Fellowship of long time parishioner Dr. Lynn Cetin, whose name was added to the church's Honor Roll. We are thankful to Srpazan Hayr's visit to our parish and hope he both enjoyed and benefited from spending two very busy days with us!
