Fr. Tateos Abdalian Assumes Pastorship at Holy Trinity

Fr. Tateos Abdalian, who most recently worked for the Diocese's youth and mission parish programs, is the new pastor of Holy Trinity Church of Cheltenham, Pa., effective July 1, 2003.

"The people there, many of the kids and their parents, I've interacted with through the years at camp Vartan and at St. Nersess," Fr. Tateos said. "There's a spirit in the parish community of growth, of forward movement. There's an energy, so I'm looking forward to capturing that energy. To having it energize me, as well."

Fr. Abdalian has also served as a visiting pastor to mission parishes, such as the Armenian communities in Nashville, TN, and Jacksonville, FL.

From this experience he has gained a greater respect for the Armenian people, especially for new immigrants. It is a lesson he will share with his new parishioners.

"A have a greater appreciation for the struggle of the Armenian people, especially the people who came from Baku," he said. "They held onto every thread of faith they could. That has given me great inspiration to persevere."

Before his assignments within the Diocesan Center, Fr. Abdalian--who was ordained in 1984--served as a parish priest in Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church of Providence, R.I.; St. George Church in Hartford, Conn.; St. Peter Church in Watervliet, N.Y.; and St. John the Baptist Church in Greenfield, Wis.

The large Cheltenham parish has been without a priest since last fall. Parish leaders have worked to bring in visiting priests to celebrate the Divine Liturgy on Sundays, but they say nothing beats having a full-time priest.

Fr. Abdalian hopes to bring all the different groups that can pop up in a parish together. He hopes to create programs that will, for example, see Women's Guild members doing things with members of the youth group.

"What I'd like to see in the community is a total parish involvement in all aspects of the community, to eliminate a lot of the segregation we see in church," he said. "This idea of total parish involvement is important because there's too much segregation. We buttonhole organizations and people. It shouldn't be that way. Christ invited everyone to come to his table, and we need to do more of that."