Summer Youth Conferences
Students may choose one of the four sessions offered this summer on the New Rochelle campus:
- Deacons Training Program: June 24 – July 2
- High School Conference A: July 5-13
- High School Conference B: July 29 - August 6
- Post High School Conference: August 8-13
A maximum of 25 participants will be accepted for each conference. Participants with completed applications and full payment will be considered in the order received. Due to space and logistical planning, half of the total tuition is non-refundable. Please contact your local parish for available scholarships. The fee for the Summer Conference includes room and board.
Each conference session includes daily worship, bible study, lectures, Armenian language instruction, as well as sports, outings, home-cooked meals, and special St. Nersess traditions. Young people not only discover more about the Armenian Church but also develop deep, lasting friendships with other participants.
Alumni Clergy Directors
Seminary alumni clergy will direct the summer conference sessions. Rev. Fr. Tavit Boyajian will direct High School Session A, and Rev. Fr. Hovnan Demerjian will direct High School Session B. Very Rev. Fr. Daniel Findikyan will once again direct the Deacons’ Training Program, while the new Seminary Dean, Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian, will return after 20 years to direct the Post High School conference.
Instruction and Special Activities
Additional clergy and church lay leaders will assist participants in the daily instruction of the Armenian Church. Participants will be encouraged to ask frank questions about the church’s teachings and traditions, Christian faith, the Bible, and current topics, no matter how sensitive or controversial. Anonymously dropped into a special box, the questions will be addressed by a panel of clergy.
Each session will also include a special afternoon excursion to local area Armenian homes for the aged, where participants will have the opportunity to visit, pray with, and learn from the valuable elder community.
Long-Standing Tradition and International Attraction
The summer conferences have attracted thousands of teenagers and college-age students over the past five decades to explore their faith and heritage with friends in a safe, fun and unique environment. This includes select students from the Sts. Tarkmanchatz School in Jerusalem who have participated in the conferences for the past six years thanks to benefactors and summer conference scholarships, coordinated between Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian and the Very Rev. Fr. Norayr Kazarian of Jerusalem.
“The Jerusalem students have the opportunity to experience one the best programs for youth that exists; they get to meet other young Armenian students with whom they establish friendships and continue to maintain contact; and they broaden their horizons and take a new look at the faith and traditions of the Armenian Church in which they have grown up,” explained Fr. Mardiros. “Also, our American Armenian youth are offered the valuable experience of meeting other young people from Armenian Jerusalem, getting to know them as individuals and learning about the life and history of Armenians in the Holy City.”
For further information, contact the Seminary at info@stnersess.edu or by phone at 914-636-2003.
