Last Friday night, I attended a terrific invitation-only event entitled "Stories of Love and Faith: 20 Years at St. Sarkis Church," held in Pagoumian hall for members and parishioners who had participated in the sacraments of marriage and/or Christenings or have been part of the Saturday School and Salt & Light Ministeries during Der Nareg's 20-year tenure as our pastor. It was an opportunity for our pastor, Der Nareg, to offer reflections, seek input from the audience on their perceptions about St. Sarkis and its impact on their personal, family, and community lives, and to articulate a vision for improving our community's spiritual health.
I wasn't sure I knew what to expect of the evening, nor did many of the attendees, with even the Board of Trustees in the dark about the agenda. But Der Nareg had something up his sleeve and, in turn, the community responded enthusiastically with robust attendance. Upon arrival we were all greeted by Der Nareg and Yeretsgin Annie and a very generous spread of food and Armenian wine, which set the right tone for the evening and generated spirited conversations among friends and community members. Some in attendance were familiar faces and others were either new to the parish or had not been as active in recent years. But the sentiment was universal--they appreciated the invitation and personal message from Der Nareg that all but guaranteed their participation.
After the initial reception and banter we come to expect of events at St. Sarkis, Der Nareg asked for everyone's attention and initiated a presentation that was comprised of a few simple themes:
1) Who Am I?
2) How Did I Get Here?
3) Where Do We Go From Here?
Of course, in 20 years as a pastor, one acquires a lot of experience and perspective. As he acknowledged himself, it would have been impossible for Der Nareg to chronicle his entire tenure in a brief presentation, but he gave us a thumbnail sketch of what he has learned from his parish, the evolution of his role as a spiritual leader, and the evolving needs of the church organization. Der Nareg spoke with fondness about his earliest days, essentially finding his way with the help and friendship of the church leadership. He and Yeretsgin Annie may have been teased at the outset for their youthful appearance (which, I would contend, they still possess to this day) but they made a spiritual commitment to God and to the church to maintain and build upon the success of Hayr Soorp (now Srpazan) Anoushavan Tanielian, our current Prelate and former pastor of St Sarkis. Though he was initially startled by the financial burdens facing the church, Der Nareg quickly gained an appreciation for its founding members who personally sacrificed so much both physically and financially, in the days and years following the consecration of the new church in 1990. He developed close relationships with the Young Adults Bible Study, a collection of single twenty-somethings, most of whom are now married with teenage children active in the church. He joked about learning to adapt to the various competing ethnic persuasions within the Armenian church community—all of whom offer unique perspective and form the mosaic of Bulgarahys, Romanahays, Bolsahays, Libananahys, Amerigahays, Hayastantsis, and yes even Souriahays, that we affectionately call the St. Sarkis church community. He drew parallels between the first Christian community in the Book of Acts and the community of St. Sarkis, suggesting that just like the first Christian community was not perfect, St. Sarkis church is far from ideal, nevertheless, it is a community that practices our Christian faith and forms our stories where we see dedication, commitment, generosity and inspiration.
When he reached the point in the evening to assess the present, he didn’t have to ask twice when inviting parishioners to offer their perspectives. They were “locked and loaded,” some even prepared with notes, to share their sentiments about the church under Der Nareg’s pastorship. Praise resonated for the robust participation of teens on the altar, the founding of the Salt and Light Youth Ministry, which became a model for the Prelacy, and two decades of a highly successful Saturday school and Armenian education program--thanks in large part to the generosity of its founder, Suzanne Hagopian. A number of parishioners conveyed how Der Nareg's grief counseling and personal outreach to rejoin the fold of the Armenian church was the catalyst for their continued engagement. There was also the acknowledgement that church attendance and engagement are habit-forming and require a commitment, one that the youth have clearly put into practice in recent years. Though regrettably, without the participation of many of their parents.
When he spoke of the future, Der Nareg appropriately drew from the Bible and the parable of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke. St Sarkis Church is analogous to the inn where people receive the nourishment, sometimes in the form of delicious meals prepared by the Ladies Guild, but more importantly as sustenance for the soul. Let's be honest, even with a robust operation, dedicated office staff, altar-servers, choir, and Board of Trustees, a church is only a building and organization until parishioners seek God's love, mercy, and salvation through Jesus Christ. In practice, we can start by accepting the invitation of the Sourp Badarak, the Divine Liturgy on Sundays, and even being a bit selfish--yes selfish, with our time. Make yourself unavailable for brunches on Sunday mornings, ask someone to give your child a ride to a soccer game, come partake in the banquet of the Badarak, jashagetzek yev desek zee kaghtzr eh Der. It's a weekly recharge and you'll fill your soul with goodness.