A November Harvest for St. Nersess

Young members of the St. Sarkis Armenian Church
in Dallas show off their ID cards

St. Nersess On the Road

During the month of November alone, Fr. Doudoukjian traveled to both the eastern and western dioceses. He visited with youth from Holy Trinity Armenian Church (Cambridge, MA); Holy Translators Armenian Church (Framingham, MA); St. Sarkis Armenian Church (Dallas, TX); St. Peter Armenian Church (Watervliet, NY); St. Peter Armenian Youth Ministries (Glendale, CA); and St. Mary Armenian Church (Yettem, CA).

St. Nersess Presence Benefits Entire Community

"It was a great opportunity to bring St. Nersess to the young adults of our community in Dallas and expose them to the spiritual wealth of our Armenian church and heritage. Our entire parish benefited from the presence of the Seminary at St. Sarkis Armenian Church," stated Jeff Andonian, a St. Sarkis parish council member who has also served on the St. Nersess Board of Directors. Fr. Stepanos offered a program, "Make Room For God", based on the theme of Advent and a personal spiritual journey for the high school and college students of the Dallas community.

My Advent has been great so far and has given me much to think about. I have learned to be more patient and I have changed my perspective on many things, commented Natalia Maraslioglu, an ACYOA Senior from St. Sarkis Church.

Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian looks in on a break-out group
from the ACYO convention in Yettem, California

December 19, 2007

It has been a fruitful fall season for Youth and Vocations at St. Nersess. Six parish visitations in the month of November yielded seven new names to add to the growing list of prospective future seminarians for St. Nersess. The seminary serves the Eastern, Western and Canadian Dioceses of North America.

Making a Difference in the Armenian Church

"There is a movement today for young people to step forward and serve the church," comments Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian, the Director of Youth and Vocations. "Hopefully this will meet the needs that all three dioceses in North America must satisfy." Fr. Stepanos adds, "It is exciting to meet so many young men and women who truly are discerning a call from God to serve the Armenian people and make a difference in the Armenian Church. This makes St. Nersess' mission even more urgent in the life of the Armenian Church in America," he said.

Recent St. Nersess graduate Megan Jendian gestures
during her discussion on the Fruit of the Spirit at the ACYO convention over Thanksgiving Weekend

California Here We Come!

The third weekend in November, Fr. Stepanos preached at the St. Peter Youth Ministries Armenian Church in Glendale, California and met with Fr. Vazken Movsesian and his young adults. The young Armenians had participated in a demonstration in Los Angeles to raise awareness about the Genocide being perpetrated in Darfur.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Fr. Stepanos attended the annual Western Diocese ACYO convention in Yettem, California, with over 70 youth present. Seminarian Megan Jendian, originally from the Fresno area, joined Fr. Stepanos in presenting an interactive discussion on the theme of the convention, "Harvesting Faith." The St. Nersess delegation spoke about the fruits of the Spirit, as presented St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians 5:16-25. The young people connected the fruit of the spirit to their daily lives as Armenian Christians.