I posted about this a while ago, but the Eastern Diocese's theme for the year is still "Vocations: A Call To Serve." The Eastern Diocese is now on Facebook, and they have posted two videos on this theme. Here is the second one.
While I still maintain that there needs to be a focus on getting young people of both genders involved in church life and especially worship, Der Mardiros Chevian brings up an excellent point- the necessity of the Armenian Church in America cultivating American-born priests.
This is in no way intended to knock priests who com from outside the US, because I have interacted with a number of truly excellent ones who have shown me terrific kindness and whom I love dearly. That said, speaking as someone who grew up in an area where there was no Armenian Church, I have found that the American-born priests that I have encountered have had a special understanding of some of the challenges that people who did not grow up in a big Armenian community face when trying to get involved with the Armenian Church as an adult.
With the Armenian Church growing and establishing parishes in places like Orlando, FL, I am sure that more Armenians like me will come into contact with a living, breathing church and have similar experiences, so having more American-born priests will help the church with growth in more ways than one.
Showing posts with label getting involved. Show all posts
Showing posts with label getting involved. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Archbishop Sunday
I started writing this post a while ago, but am just now finishing it. "Today" was actually several weeks ago.
So today was what I have referred to in the past as "Archbishop Sunday"- the Sunday when the Archbishop visits to ordain new deacons and acolytes. My old church always had a new crop of young men ready to be acolytes and deacons, so Archbishop Sunday happens almost every year. At my new church, the deacons are mostly older men. This is not unique to this church, in fact, I have learned that the average age of deacons at my old church is way below average.
In the Armenian church, if I am not mistaken (and I know that priests occasionally read this blog, so if any of you want to correct me, feel free), becoming a deacon is considered something you would have a calling to do. In his message, the Archbishop mentioned that this year's theme for the diocese (and I cannot remember the exact theme, I am so sorry!) is related to vocations, and the diocese has a goal of getting more young men to become priests. In fact, his message focused almost entirely on men and getting them involved with the church.
I found myself thinking during this message "yes, yes, but what about getting women involved as well?" I have
posted in the past about my opinions on women in the church, and the bottom line is that I think that their involvement is crucial to the existence of the church. You can't have a church without priests, but in my opinion, you won't have any congregations without the women. And the young women aren't that involved, either! Some are, but on a broad level, they aren't. This past spring, I spent a morning making manti with a lot of the elderly ladies in my church (students have flexible schedules!). I was probably the youngest person there by at least 40 years, and one of the things that the other ladies were talking about were how uninvolved the young women (by "young" I mean women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, women with school-aged children, mostly) are in things like Ladies Guild, and when they come to Ladies Guild, they are coming mostly for the social activities, and they are not that interested in doing the grunt work of fundraising, bazaar organizing, etc.
It was interesting for me to hear this conversation. I think you could argue that they have a point, but also that times have changed since these women were raising their children. They pointed out that they LOVED Ladies Guild meetings because it was a welcome time to be with other women, and their husbands would watch the kids.
I personally am just as guilty of anyone else of not doing Ladies Guild, or much at all with the church except for going to service most Sundays and singing in the choir. I feel like I can see both sides here- yes, we need the grunt work that keeps the financial engines of the Armenian festivals and bazaars going, but on the other hand, women are pulled in a lot of different directions as well, and it's hard to commit to organizing something at church if you are also room mother for your child's class, working full- or part-time, managing your children's schedules (which often include ACYO and Armenian School, by the way!), and generally trying to keep the household running. I am pretty friendly with the woman who helps run Ladies Guild, and I think she is doing a great job of really trying to balance everything- make it fun and interesting for the younger ones to get them there, and respecting the wisdom of the older members and honoring them for their years of service. Unfortunately, I am not sure if either side thinks she is being successful. I do, but then, I don't go to Ladies Guild, so what do I know?
Anyway, I have to say that the Archbishop's speech sort of rubbed me the wrong way, because I think we need to get everyone involved in the spiritual (not just social) life of the church. Both men and women. I think when we get more young men and women coming to Badarak (on time) and participating in the service as acolytes, deacons, and choir members, we will naturally see more men choose to become priests, and the church will be better off overall.
A side point to this is: why don't Armenian churches have nurseries? Pretty much all the protestant churches that I have been to have nurseries for the babies while their parents are in service. At my old church near my university, if I had stayed there, I would have seriously considered trying to start up a nursery once a month so parents with kids too little for Sunday School could come to Badarak once a month. Are you just expected to bring your infant and toddler to Badarak? I could see that, but it doesn't always seem to be very convenient.
So today was what I have referred to in the past as "Archbishop Sunday"- the Sunday when the Archbishop visits to ordain new deacons and acolytes. My old church always had a new crop of young men ready to be acolytes and deacons, so Archbishop Sunday happens almost every year. At my new church, the deacons are mostly older men. This is not unique to this church, in fact, I have learned that the average age of deacons at my old church is way below average.
In the Armenian church, if I am not mistaken (and I know that priests occasionally read this blog, so if any of you want to correct me, feel free), becoming a deacon is considered something you would have a calling to do. In his message, the Archbishop mentioned that this year's theme for the diocese (and I cannot remember the exact theme, I am so sorry!) is related to vocations, and the diocese has a goal of getting more young men to become priests. In fact, his message focused almost entirely on men and getting them involved with the church.
I found myself thinking during this message "yes, yes, but what about getting women involved as well?" I have
posted in the past about my opinions on women in the church, and the bottom line is that I think that their involvement is crucial to the existence of the church. You can't have a church without priests, but in my opinion, you won't have any congregations without the women. And the young women aren't that involved, either! Some are, but on a broad level, they aren't. This past spring, I spent a morning making manti with a lot of the elderly ladies in my church (students have flexible schedules!). I was probably the youngest person there by at least 40 years, and one of the things that the other ladies were talking about were how uninvolved the young women (by "young" I mean women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, women with school-aged children, mostly) are in things like Ladies Guild, and when they come to Ladies Guild, they are coming mostly for the social activities, and they are not that interested in doing the grunt work of fundraising, bazaar organizing, etc.
It was interesting for me to hear this conversation. I think you could argue that they have a point, but also that times have changed since these women were raising their children. They pointed out that they LOVED Ladies Guild meetings because it was a welcome time to be with other women, and their husbands would watch the kids.
I personally am just as guilty of anyone else of not doing Ladies Guild, or much at all with the church except for going to service most Sundays and singing in the choir. I feel like I can see both sides here- yes, we need the grunt work that keeps the financial engines of the Armenian festivals and bazaars going, but on the other hand, women are pulled in a lot of different directions as well, and it's hard to commit to organizing something at church if you are also room mother for your child's class, working full- or part-time, managing your children's schedules (which often include ACYO and Armenian School, by the way!), and generally trying to keep the household running. I am pretty friendly with the woman who helps run Ladies Guild, and I think she is doing a great job of really trying to balance everything- make it fun and interesting for the younger ones to get them there, and respecting the wisdom of the older members and honoring them for their years of service. Unfortunately, I am not sure if either side thinks she is being successful. I do, but then, I don't go to Ladies Guild, so what do I know?
Anyway, I have to say that the Archbishop's speech sort of rubbed me the wrong way, because I think we need to get everyone involved in the spiritual (not just social) life of the church. Both men and women. I think when we get more young men and women coming to Badarak (on time) and participating in the service as acolytes, deacons, and choir members, we will naturally see more men choose to become priests, and the church will be better off overall.
A side point to this is: why don't Armenian churches have nurseries? Pretty much all the protestant churches that I have been to have nurseries for the babies while their parents are in service. At my old church near my university, if I had stayed there, I would have seriously considered trying to start up a nursery once a month so parents with kids too little for Sunday School could come to Badarak once a month. Are you just expected to bring your infant and toddler to Badarak? I could see that, but it doesn't always seem to be very convenient.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Armenian Church Podcasts
I discovered that the former Der Hayr at my old church, Der Vasken Movesian, has not one, but two podcasts available on iTunes. One is called "The Next Step," and the other is called "Fr. Vasken's Sermons." These are new since the last time I searched for "Armenian" in the iTunes store, which is something I do periodically to see if there are any new and interesting Armenian music albums in the iTunes store.
I think this is terrific! I don't know Der Vasken very well (as I started going to my former church after he had already left), but everyone always spoke so highly of him; he was a much beloved priest there (the current priest there is great too, by the way, and I really like him a lot). I met Der Vasken after his trip to Rwanda, when he was going to different organizations and churches to show his slide show, talk about the Rwandan genocide, and how all Armenians need to be against all genocides, and just because we still have problems getting ours recognized doesn't mean that we should sit around and ignore it when genocides happen in other parts of the world, and he addressed Darfur in particular. Der Vasken is a person who makes an effort to reach out to others and show them what the Armenian Church is and can do, not just for Armenians, but as a beacon for all people, and I think that is really admirable. I am not surprised that if there is a priest out there who has a podcast, that it is Der Vasken.
On another iTunes note, you can also buy the Pimsleur series for both Eastern and Western Armenian, if you are so inclined.
I think this is terrific! I don't know Der Vasken very well (as I started going to my former church after he had already left), but everyone always spoke so highly of him; he was a much beloved priest there (the current priest there is great too, by the way, and I really like him a lot). I met Der Vasken after his trip to Rwanda, when he was going to different organizations and churches to show his slide show, talk about the Rwandan genocide, and how all Armenians need to be against all genocides, and just because we still have problems getting ours recognized doesn't mean that we should sit around and ignore it when genocides happen in other parts of the world, and he addressed Darfur in particular. Der Vasken is a person who makes an effort to reach out to others and show them what the Armenian Church is and can do, not just for Armenians, but as a beacon for all people, and I think that is really admirable. I am not surprised that if there is a priest out there who has a podcast, that it is Der Vasken.
On another iTunes note, you can also buy the Pimsleur series for both Eastern and Western Armenian, if you are so inclined.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Catholicos Visit, Part I
The Catholicos, His Holiness Karekin II, is going to be in town this weekend. There are a number of events for different age groups, culminating in His Holiness celebrating badarak on Sunday.
I will be singing in the choir on Sunday; I am very excited and honored to have this opportunity. I would not enjoy the Armenian Church nearly as much as I do if I was not able to participate in the choir on Sundays. It makes me feel more involved in the service. In order to participate on this particular Sunday, I have to attend 2 rehearsals that are 4 hours long each. For the Catholicos visits, Maestro Khoren Mekanejian is conducting the choirs for every stop on His Holiness's tour through the Eastern Diocese. We had our first rehearsal last weekend, and we have another one this Saturday.
I feel really lucky to be able to work with Maestro Mekanejian, even for this brief amount of time. I have never had a proper "rehearsal" of the music for the services. The churches that I have attended didn't have rehearsals, since you do basically the same thing every Sunday. I just had to pick it up as we went along. I am not sure that I would have been able to do this successfully if I did not read music. So although the choir directors at the churches that I have attended have often been top-notch, it is hard to benefit from their knowledge without much rehearsal time. Maestro Mekanejian really worked hard with us to get everything just right- getting the pronunciation right (some folks here speak Armenian with a local accent!!), getting the phrasing right, getting the volume and beats right. It was very educational.
Sadly, there isn't a big turnout for the choir, I think because there are 8 hours of mandatory rehearsals. This is tough for people to make, but I wish more people had made the effort. There are about 20 people who are going to sing in the choir, almost all women. There are only a few men.
Why don't more men sing in the choir? I assume that this is because they all want to be deacons; the men in the choirs at the churches I have been to are all older gentleman who are past their deaconing days. At my old church, all the deacons were under the age of 30 (many many high school boys, which is so nice to see), and there are a LOT of them, so there was some talk about having them alternate being on the altar and singing in the choir, so they would learn the tenor or bass parts to the choir music, and we could have some extra men. This sounds like a great idea to me. I would love to see more men and boys get involved in the choir.
Tonight is the Young Professionals event with the Catholicos; my husband and I are going to this one. The events for the children and teenagers are tomorrow during the day, and tomorrow night is the big banquet. We are skipping the banquet because tickets are $150 a person and the YP event is free (yay!). Then there's service on Sunday. I will try to take pictures tonight, and have my husband take pictures on Sunday (if possible).
I will be singing in the choir on Sunday; I am very excited and honored to have this opportunity. I would not enjoy the Armenian Church nearly as much as I do if I was not able to participate in the choir on Sundays. It makes me feel more involved in the service. In order to participate on this particular Sunday, I have to attend 2 rehearsals that are 4 hours long each. For the Catholicos visits, Maestro Khoren Mekanejian is conducting the choirs for every stop on His Holiness's tour through the Eastern Diocese. We had our first rehearsal last weekend, and we have another one this Saturday.
I feel really lucky to be able to work with Maestro Mekanejian, even for this brief amount of time. I have never had a proper "rehearsal" of the music for the services. The churches that I have attended didn't have rehearsals, since you do basically the same thing every Sunday. I just had to pick it up as we went along. I am not sure that I would have been able to do this successfully if I did not read music. So although the choir directors at the churches that I have attended have often been top-notch, it is hard to benefit from their knowledge without much rehearsal time. Maestro Mekanejian really worked hard with us to get everything just right- getting the pronunciation right (some folks here speak Armenian with a local accent!!), getting the phrasing right, getting the volume and beats right. It was very educational.
Sadly, there isn't a big turnout for the choir, I think because there are 8 hours of mandatory rehearsals. This is tough for people to make, but I wish more people had made the effort. There are about 20 people who are going to sing in the choir, almost all women. There are only a few men.
Why don't more men sing in the choir? I assume that this is because they all want to be deacons; the men in the choirs at the churches I have been to are all older gentleman who are past their deaconing days. At my old church, all the deacons were under the age of 30 (many many high school boys, which is so nice to see), and there are a LOT of them, so there was some talk about having them alternate being on the altar and singing in the choir, so they would learn the tenor or bass parts to the choir music, and we could have some extra men. This sounds like a great idea to me. I would love to see more men and boys get involved in the choir.
Tonight is the Young Professionals event with the Catholicos; my husband and I are going to this one. The events for the children and teenagers are tomorrow during the day, and tomorrow night is the big banquet. We are skipping the banquet because tickets are $150 a person and the YP event is free (yay!). Then there's service on Sunday. I will try to take pictures tonight, and have my husband take pictures on Sunday (if possible).
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Feasts
Today is the Feast of the Holy Cross. I wrote a post about this last year, but it's a new year, and a new church. Every church does things just a little bit differently, so I got to see what this church does. They not only bless the basil, but they bless the four corners of the earth too! Nice. The priest blesses the congregation by standing in the middle of the sanctuary and sprinkling blessed rosewater over the whole congregation. I got splashed a few times, so I literally left smelling like a rose! I notice that last year I mentioned that eating harisa (not the hot moroccan pepper, but a wheat porridge) is a tradition on this day, but it was the first day of Sunday School at this church, so they were having a big breakfast (breakfast, ha- I left church at 12:45!), which I didn't attend. Maybe they had harisa there?
The choir director sent someone to talk to me because he noticed that I have been there a few times, and I sing along with the choir. This happened at the other church too (on my first visit, actually- this is my third visit to this other church), but even though the choir director got my phone number (twice, in fact, once on two separate visits), no one ever called me, or showed me where to go, or told me when to show up, etc. So I will go back to this church next week, sing in the choir, and we will see. I am not giving up on the other church- I actually do want to go back!
Also, adult Armenian lessons start tomorrow. I need to call and ask how much they are! If they're not more than $250, I will take them.
The choir director sent someone to talk to me because he noticed that I have been there a few times, and I sing along with the choir. This happened at the other church too (on my first visit, actually- this is my third visit to this other church), but even though the choir director got my phone number (twice, in fact, once on two separate visits), no one ever called me, or showed me where to go, or told me when to show up, etc. So I will go back to this church next week, sing in the choir, and we will see. I am not giving up on the other church- I actually do want to go back!
Also, adult Armenian lessons start tomorrow. I need to call and ask how much they are! If they're not more than $250, I will take them.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Scheduling Conflicts
I am not sure what the story is, but I have noticed lately that a lot of things are scheduled on Sunday mornings, when I would normally be at church. This isn't just in Boston, it happened in California too. We were somewhat less social in California, so I don't think I noticed it as much, but it still happened sometimes.
This is so frustrating to me, because I can't always skip the event, and I can't always change it around. I've had a 5K race, brunch with my sister-in-law, and now a "welcome party" for the new baby of my husband's new colleagues. We ran the 5K because we had friends in from out-of-town, plus we were leaving on a trip that day (so I probably wouldn't have gone to church anyway; we were done with the 5K long before church would have been over!). We moved brunch to lunch, so it would start after church was finished. But this welcome party... I could theoretically not go, but these are my husband's new colleagues, and a new baby, so I want to be congenial. I am not thrilled about it, though. It starts at 11 AM, so it's definitely too early for me to even almost be done with church.
In my hometown, churchgoing is an important event, so unless you are scheduling things with people whom you KNOW don't go to church, you don't schedule anything until after noon on Sunday. Heck, my sister's conservative Christian private school didn't even give homework on Wednesdays, because they expected that everyone would be at church on Wednesday nights (okay, I admit, I think this is going TOO far).
If this keeps happening, I am going to have to be more forceful about saying no. It really is frustrating for me to try to keep this balance of going to church regularly and maintaining my relationships with others.
This is so frustrating to me, because I can't always skip the event, and I can't always change it around. I've had a 5K race, brunch with my sister-in-law, and now a "welcome party" for the new baby of my husband's new colleagues. We ran the 5K because we had friends in from out-of-town, plus we were leaving on a trip that day (so I probably wouldn't have gone to church anyway; we were done with the 5K long before church would have been over!). We moved brunch to lunch, so it would start after church was finished. But this welcome party... I could theoretically not go, but these are my husband's new colleagues, and a new baby, so I want to be congenial. I am not thrilled about it, though. It starts at 11 AM, so it's definitely too early for me to even almost be done with church.
In my hometown, churchgoing is an important event, so unless you are scheduling things with people whom you KNOW don't go to church, you don't schedule anything until after noon on Sunday. Heck, my sister's conservative Christian private school didn't even give homework on Wednesdays, because they expected that everyone would be at church on Wednesday nights (okay, I admit, I think this is going TOO far).
If this keeps happening, I am going to have to be more forceful about saying no. It really is frustrating for me to try to keep this balance of going to church regularly and maintaining my relationships with others.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Church Searching
I feel bad- I haven't updated this blog for a while, and I just got a really nice comment on my last post, so I am getting my behind in gear.
So we have moved to our new city, the "Glendale of the East", AKA Boston, MA. I am in a position that I have never been in before. I have my pick of several Armenian churches. There are three that are close to me, and that is just Armenian Apostolic. There are another two Armenian protestant churches too. I am going to stick with Armenian Apostolic for now, because, well, that is what I am.
The first Sunday that I was here, my mom, sister, and I drove down to Providence to go to church there. The priest at that church used to be the mission priest who came to my hometown during the years that I was away at college. My family flew him down about two years ago to conduct my grandfather's funeral, so I met him at that time. His church is really good, I think because the priest is a good one. The quality of the church seems to depend so much on the priest (although this is not the only factor; I think a strong, good congregation can overcome a less-than-terrific priest) I am not inclined to drive for an hour each way to go there on a regular basis since I have churches so close by, but his church is a good one, and I would be happy to be part of his community if I were living in Providence.
The second Sunday, I visited the church that is closest to me. The jury is still out on that one, but it seems fine. I skipped last Sunday, and will try the other church on this Sunday.
I was told by folks from the area who now go to my old church back West, the Eastern Diocese churches are a little more "modern" (by Armenian church standards) than the Eastern Prelacy churches. Is this true?? This whole Prelacy/Diocese, Etchmiadzin/Antelias thing is so strange to me- someone explained it to me back at my old church, and I think I understand it, more or less. Google isn't very helpful in coming up with answers to that question, so I had to ask someone directly.
So we have moved to our new city, the "Glendale of the East", AKA Boston, MA. I am in a position that I have never been in before. I have my pick of several Armenian churches. There are three that are close to me, and that is just Armenian Apostolic. There are another two Armenian protestant churches too. I am going to stick with Armenian Apostolic for now, because, well, that is what I am.
The first Sunday that I was here, my mom, sister, and I drove down to Providence to go to church there. The priest at that church used to be the mission priest who came to my hometown during the years that I was away at college. My family flew him down about two years ago to conduct my grandfather's funeral, so I met him at that time. His church is really good, I think because the priest is a good one. The quality of the church seems to depend so much on the priest (although this is not the only factor; I think a strong, good congregation can overcome a less-than-terrific priest) I am not inclined to drive for an hour each way to go there on a regular basis since I have churches so close by, but his church is a good one, and I would be happy to be part of his community if I were living in Providence.
The second Sunday, I visited the church that is closest to me. The jury is still out on that one, but it seems fine. I skipped last Sunday, and will try the other church on this Sunday.
I was told by folks from the area who now go to my old church back West, the Eastern Diocese churches are a little more "modern" (by Armenian church standards) than the Eastern Prelacy churches. Is this true?? This whole Prelacy/Diocese, Etchmiadzin/Antelias thing is so strange to me- someone explained it to me back at my old church, and I think I understand it, more or less. Google isn't very helpful in coming up with answers to that question, so I had to ask someone directly.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Women in the Church
Like other Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic church, the Armenian Apostolic church does not allow women to become priests. Women/girls are also technically not allowed up on the altar, BUT one of the churches I go to has a little girl who occasionally is up there helping, and has girls do the readings sometimes, etc. I don't see any adolescent girls or grown women up there, but considering there are very few youths/young adults of either gender who participate in church, even just by going, so it may not be an age thing.
I surprise myself, but the fact that women are not allowed to be priests does not bother me (although I sometimes think it should...). I think this is due to two things: 1) the nature of the duties of the priesthood and 2) the nature of church life.
First, the nature of the priesthood. As far as I can tell, priests in the Armenian church perform many of the same functions of their counterparts in the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, except for one. Sermons. There are still sermons in the Armenian church, but they are significantly shorter and less important than they are in, say, my parents' Southern Baptist church. That is, the Armenian church is NOT about preaching. Some priests are naturally good at giving sermons, and some are not, but you don't have to be especially good at them to succeed as a priest. This means that if someone is called to spread the word of God, or to teach others, etc., there are other venues to do that, probably BETTER venues for doing that, than becoming a priest. The choir serves an incredibly important function in the service- I would argue that they are just as important to the service as the altar boys, so I don't exactly feel that I am being excluded from participating actively in the service the way I might in a Roman Catholic or Protestant church where the hymns are just nice little additions to the service.
There is also complete acknowledgement of the role that women play in generally sustaining the church. Well, this is the case at the two churches that I attend regularly, anyway. Maybe it isn't in other churches. Everyone knows that they might not be up on the altar, but really, there would be no churches without them. The women are the ones who run the church office, teach Sunday School and Armenian School, and coordinate fundraisers, among other things. At a recent Armenian festival at another local church that I don't attend, my husband and I noticed the women running around cooking and serving food (the main way that the festival raised money was by selling dinner!), while the men stood around in black, wearing black vests with SECURITY on the back in big white letters, smoking cigars or drinking. Not kidding. My husband wondered if the festival really needed that much security. I said that probably it was the only way the women could get their husbands and grown sons to help out. "Oh, you can work security!" In both the churches I attend, the Parish Councils have women, so they contribute to running the church as well. The Armenian Church even has a special title for the Der Hayr's wife- Yeretzgin. Jews also have a similar title for a Rabbi's wife- Rebbetzin. Protestant churches don't have this- there is no real recognition of the support and sacrifices that the wife of a minister (because although I know some female Protestant ministers, I don't really see their husbands doing so much of the day-to-day support, coordination, mentoring level that the wives of male ministers often do) makes. I like that the Armenian Church says, "hey, the wife of a priest is a real position of responsibility too!"
While I do have issues with the very old-world view of women in general (particularly when it comes to how sons are treasured versus daughters), I think that church life, and maybe only in church life, are the contributions of women, even though they are separate and not always equal (often they are greater), usually recognized and appreciated for what they are. Plus, since churches are usually on the small side, talent doesn't get lost in the herd, whether it is male or female. Maybe this is why I think that the women are appreciated? They can't afford to piss them off.
This is not to say that I don't think that girls shouldn't be on the altar- I do! I am glad that there are a few churches who break/bend this rule to a certain extent. Or that I don't care that the men are happy to sit around and smoke and drink and wear SECURITY vests rather than pitching in with the real grunt work. I am indifferent about women becoming priests, I think because there are so many opportunities to express a call for anything, and you can still go to St. Nersess seminary and take classes and get a degree if you are a woman (I know they have a layperson's track and a priest track- I am not sure if women can do the priest track, even though they obviously won't become priests).
One positive thing about the Armenian Church is that often they are not big churches, which means that any one individual person has a greater opportunity to make a concrete difference in the environment of a church. Each person can be more welcoming, can reach out to new people/strangers. You can work to organize activities to get people involved. You may not be able to change the entire culture and structure of the church, but you can make the church your own.
It is late. I might go back and edit this post later, for fear that it is incoherent, but I wanted to get it up there. I've been promising it for a while.
I surprise myself, but the fact that women are not allowed to be priests does not bother me (although I sometimes think it should...). I think this is due to two things: 1) the nature of the duties of the priesthood and 2) the nature of church life.
First, the nature of the priesthood. As far as I can tell, priests in the Armenian church perform many of the same functions of their counterparts in the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, except for one. Sermons. There are still sermons in the Armenian church, but they are significantly shorter and less important than they are in, say, my parents' Southern Baptist church. That is, the Armenian church is NOT about preaching. Some priests are naturally good at giving sermons, and some are not, but you don't have to be especially good at them to succeed as a priest. This means that if someone is called to spread the word of God, or to teach others, etc., there are other venues to do that, probably BETTER venues for doing that, than becoming a priest. The choir serves an incredibly important function in the service- I would argue that they are just as important to the service as the altar boys, so I don't exactly feel that I am being excluded from participating actively in the service the way I might in a Roman Catholic or Protestant church where the hymns are just nice little additions to the service.
There is also complete acknowledgement of the role that women play in generally sustaining the church. Well, this is the case at the two churches that I attend regularly, anyway. Maybe it isn't in other churches. Everyone knows that they might not be up on the altar, but really, there would be no churches without them. The women are the ones who run the church office, teach Sunday School and Armenian School, and coordinate fundraisers, among other things. At a recent Armenian festival at another local church that I don't attend, my husband and I noticed the women running around cooking and serving food (the main way that the festival raised money was by selling dinner!), while the men stood around in black, wearing black vests with SECURITY on the back in big white letters, smoking cigars or drinking. Not kidding. My husband wondered if the festival really needed that much security. I said that probably it was the only way the women could get their husbands and grown sons to help out. "Oh, you can work security!" In both the churches I attend, the Parish Councils have women, so they contribute to running the church as well. The Armenian Church even has a special title for the Der Hayr's wife- Yeretzgin. Jews also have a similar title for a Rabbi's wife- Rebbetzin. Protestant churches don't have this- there is no real recognition of the support and sacrifices that the wife of a minister (because although I know some female Protestant ministers, I don't really see their husbands doing so much of the day-to-day support, coordination, mentoring level that the wives of male ministers often do) makes. I like that the Armenian Church says, "hey, the wife of a priest is a real position of responsibility too!"
While I do have issues with the very old-world view of women in general (particularly when it comes to how sons are treasured versus daughters), I think that church life, and maybe only in church life, are the contributions of women, even though they are separate and not always equal (often they are greater), usually recognized and appreciated for what they are. Plus, since churches are usually on the small side, talent doesn't get lost in the herd, whether it is male or female. Maybe this is why I think that the women are appreciated? They can't afford to piss them off.
This is not to say that I don't think that girls shouldn't be on the altar- I do! I am glad that there are a few churches who break/bend this rule to a certain extent. Or that I don't care that the men are happy to sit around and smoke and drink and wear SECURITY vests rather than pitching in with the real grunt work. I am indifferent about women becoming priests, I think because there are so many opportunities to express a call for anything, and you can still go to St. Nersess seminary and take classes and get a degree if you are a woman (I know they have a layperson's track and a priest track- I am not sure if women can do the priest track, even though they obviously won't become priests).
One positive thing about the Armenian Church is that often they are not big churches, which means that any one individual person has a greater opportunity to make a concrete difference in the environment of a church. Each person can be more welcoming, can reach out to new people/strangers. You can work to organize activities to get people involved. You may not be able to change the entire culture and structure of the church, but you can make the church your own.
It is late. I might go back and edit this post later, for fear that it is incoherent, but I wanted to get it up there. I've been promising it for a while.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Feast of the Evangelists
Saturday was the Feast of the Evangelists, namely the authors of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Unfortunately, I can't tell you any more about it than that, because the Eastern Diocese's website is down, and the priest only gave the barest of English translations during the sermon. This is something I have been thinking about in the last few days- church just doesn't seem very spiritual to me nowadays. I go, I sing the songs, I have fun talking to people, I feel a little smug because now I know what's going on, and I go home.
I think that part of this is the lack of emphasis on sermon-giving in the Armenian church (more on this in my "women in the church" post that I swear I will finish and post soon), and part of it is the fact that our priest is way more comfortable in Armenian than he is in English.
I introduced myself to someone who has started singing in the choir. She is a third-generation American, full Armenian, who grew up in Pasadena, which is a pretty serious Armenian community (not like Glendale, but you are still pretty plugged in). She doesn't speak or read Armenian, and we were comparing notes about how un-fun it is to go to church and feel excluded. She seems to feel that our church is not that welcoming to people who don't speak Armenian, maybe because she grew up in a big Armenian community where she didn't need to know Armenian, while I have had lots of experiences feeling totally rejected from different Armenian churches. In comparison, my current church is very friendly!
We started discussing my never-ending undercurrent concern about getting youngish people involved. She thinks that we need to be more welcoming to people who don't speak or read Armenian. I would agree with that, BUT it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks. I would like to see more English in the service, specifically good sermons in English, and the confession also in English. I think that this is probably too much to ask of the current priest, but a girl can dream, can't she?
In the meantime, we may try to think of ways that we can get people involved that ARE things that we can organize and do.
Unfortunately, I can't tell you any more about it than that, because the Eastern Diocese's website is down, and the priest only gave the barest of English translations during the sermon. This is something I have been thinking about in the last few days- church just doesn't seem very spiritual to me nowadays. I go, I sing the songs, I have fun talking to people, I feel a little smug because now I know what's going on, and I go home.
I think that part of this is the lack of emphasis on sermon-giving in the Armenian church (more on this in my "women in the church" post that I swear I will finish and post soon), and part of it is the fact that our priest is way more comfortable in Armenian than he is in English.
I introduced myself to someone who has started singing in the choir. She is a third-generation American, full Armenian, who grew up in Pasadena, which is a pretty serious Armenian community (not like Glendale, but you are still pretty plugged in). She doesn't speak or read Armenian, and we were comparing notes about how un-fun it is to go to church and feel excluded. She seems to feel that our church is not that welcoming to people who don't speak Armenian, maybe because she grew up in a big Armenian community where she didn't need to know Armenian, while I have had lots of experiences feeling totally rejected from different Armenian churches. In comparison, my current church is very friendly!
We started discussing my never-ending undercurrent concern about getting youngish people involved. She thinks that we need to be more welcoming to people who don't speak or read Armenian. I would agree with that, BUT it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks. I would like to see more English in the service, specifically good sermons in English, and the confession also in English. I think that this is probably too much to ask of the current priest, but a girl can dream, can't she?
In the meantime, we may try to think of ways that we can get people involved that ARE things that we can organize and do.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Archbishop Visit
Today, we had not one but TWO Archbishops conducting service today. One was our regular Archbishop of our own diocese, and another Archbishop from Etchmiadzin, who is the brother of one of our church members.
Last year, the "Archbishop Sunday" (as I call it in my head) was the second Sunday that I attended this church. Last year, they ordained several altar boys and deacons, but not today.
Our Archbishop commended our church for having such a high number of kids and youth involved in the church. He said that it's not like this at every church, and I have seen this first hand! It is certainly not like this at the other church that I go to. There are plenty of kids in Sunday School, but everyone on the altar is a grown man. This is something that I have been talking about with some of the other youngish (21+) people who go to this church- there are maybe five of us? Two of us are in the choir, and two are on the altar, and one is in charge of Sunday School. We may set up some social activities in order to encourage people to get/stay involved, maybe even have a "Liturgy 101" class so people feel comfortable and understand what is going on.
Last year, the "Archbishop Sunday" (as I call it in my head) was the second Sunday that I attended this church. Last year, they ordained several altar boys and deacons, but not today.
Our Archbishop commended our church for having such a high number of kids and youth involved in the church. He said that it's not like this at every church, and I have seen this first hand! It is certainly not like this at the other church that I go to. There are plenty of kids in Sunday School, but everyone on the altar is a grown man. This is something that I have been talking about with some of the other youngish (21+) people who go to this church- there are maybe five of us? Two of us are in the choir, and two are on the altar, and one is in charge of Sunday School. We may set up some social activities in order to encourage people to get/stay involved, maybe even have a "Liturgy 101" class so people feel comfortable and understand what is going on.
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