From the desk of the Executive Director

Welcome to a new edition and format of The Armenian Church publication. This latest change is the result of our continued commitment to reach our constituency in our 43 established parishes and 19 mission parishes. We have updated and redesigned our flagship publication to bring you information and timely news and announcements in a restructured format that we feel is more convenient to read, concise and less expensive.

As we draw near to the end of our Year of Stewardship, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the hundreds of people who contributed to the success of our many programs in the past year. Your demonstrated time and talent has been invaluable to the success of our Diocesan programs and ministries. The outpouring of support for the Ararat Center in upstate New York has made this new conference center and retreat a vital component of our Diocesan organization. The success story of the Ararat Center is still being written as we head into a new season of summer camps and other spiritual, cultural and recreational programs.

We have increased training programs for our clergy and lay leaders to help steer our spiritual course. These programs have benefited tremendously from those who gave generously to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. I am happy to report that in 2004, our donors increased by one-third more than in the previous year’s campaign.

Armenian Church followers have embraced technology, we have seen, through our website statistics. In 2004 we saw an increase in online donations and website utilization. In addition to general donations, our supporters clicked on our website to give generously for the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal 2004, the Ararat Center purchase, Iraqi Armenian aid, and aid for the Sudanese genocide victims. In total we have seen donations via the web increase nearly three-fold.

In January, much of the generous financial outpouring from parishes throughout the Diocese to support the Archbishop Khajag Barsamian’s call for aid to the South Asian Tsunami victims came to us the old-fashioned way, but a significant amount also came through our website. This type of support – our people giving any way they can – is an example of the passion and charity that is characteristic of the Armenian Community that makes all of us proud.

Lastly, I want to congratulate two outgoing Diocese staff members and thank them for the vast contributions they have made to our organization. Sylva Der Stepanian, coordinator of Armenian Studies in the Department of Youth and Education, retired after serving the Diocese for 30 years. During her tenure, she developed and implemented Armenian Language education programs to foster learning of Armenian language, culture, history and religion. Konrad Tjelta, coordinator of building operations, retired after serving the Diocese for 14 years by maintaining physical structure of the Diocesan Complex including maintenance, utilities and the physical appearance of property.

I look forward to your participation as we transition later this spring into our Year of Youth, as our Diocesan focus for 2005-2006. We hope to carry our spirit of stewardship into our new focus, and tackle our new mission with the continued fortitude and dedication we have shown during this past year. Without your help we could not flourish.

Sincerely,

Sam Mikaelian, Ph.D.