On the weekend of April 16-18, St. Nersess Seminary sponsored a ‘Parish Mission Trip’ to St. Peter Armenian Church in Watervliet, NY. I was invited to participate in the trip by Der Stepanos Doudoukjian, who is the Director of Youth and Vocations for St. Nersess Seminary. Those who participated in the trip besides Der Stepanos as the lead, were myself (St. Sarkis – Charlotte, NC), Matthew Dalakian (St. Mary – Livingston, NJ), Alex Ouzounian (St. Mesrob – Racine, WI), and Yervant Kutchukian (St. Peter – Watervliet, NY).
Friday, April 16th – We prepared and served a free pasta dinner at the church, which was followed by a study and discussion of Psalm 100.
Saturday, April 17th – In the morning we took part in a service project at the United Methodist Church “Open Table” soup kitchen located in Watervliet. Other parishioners from St. Peter were also invited and took part in helping to clean and organize. This was followed by a baptism which took place at St. Peter Armenian Church, in which we served during the ceremony. From there we performed a pastoral visitation, followed by two home blessings. After this we went back to the church to meet with the youth, ages 8-10, in order to teach them altar serving duties. After a much needed break, we met with many of the parishioners at Spare Time bowling for a social event.
Sunday, April 18th – The morning included Matins, as well as Badarak. Badarak was held at St. Peter and was a joint service celebrated by both St. Peter Armenian Church and Holy Cross Armenian Church of Troy, NY. Both Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian and Fr. Bedros Shetilian presided. Badarak was followed by a special Genocide Commemoration program in recognition of the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. This program included a presentation by Dr. Herand Markarian, songs, readings, and a Madagh meal.
Overall, the mission trip helped me gain a personal as well as communal perspective on ministry as 'service'. It was my first time 'serving' in the Armenian Church, so I not only gained new experience, but it drew me closer to the core of Armenian and Christian spirituality. It stretched me beyond my typical medium of ministry (teaching/intellectual) by taking part in altar serving, cooking, community service, visitations, and home blessings. It was the right thing for me to do in order to stretch and mature my faith as it is expressed in serving people.
On a less individual note, it was truly a joint and communal effort, and not only from the servers' perspective, but also from the recipients of the service we offered. I spoke at a home blessing about the importance of faith and how without other's faith we cannot survive; that faith is not independent. This idea was truly manifested on this trip as I witnessed both the willingness of the servers and the gratitude of the recipients. Jesus Christ was the center of all that the trip was meant to accomplish, and I believe God was truly glorified.
On a more personal note, it was a good experience, and will serve as a memorable moment that I was able to stand, pray, and serve with Der Garen Gdanian, the priest who baptized me.
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