ASSEMBLY ELECTS NEW PRELACY OFFICIALS
St. Sarkis Church, of Dearborn, Michigan, hosted the National Representative Assembly of the Eastern Prelacy on May 16-18, preceded the day before by the Clergy Conference.
On Saturday, May 16, the opening session began with the pre-recorded message of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I to the assembly and the message of His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, which, in his absence due to health reasons, was read by Very Reverend Fr. Sahag Yemishian, Vicar, who also presided the meeting. The gathering was also addressed by Rev. Fr. Aren Jebejian, Pastor of St. John Armenian Church of Southfield, Michigan, on behalf of Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan, Primate of the Eastern Diocese; Steve Mesrobian, on behalf of the “Hairenik” Association, and Sirvart Telbelian, on behalf of the Eastern Regional Board of the Armenian Relief Society.
Col. Aram Sarafian, Chairman of the Executive Council, presented its report, which also included those of the different departments of the Eastern Prelacy. The assembly was co-chaired by Archdeacon Hagop Khachadourian and Deacon Movses Shrikian, with Andrew Assadourian as secretary for the minutes in English and Arevik Caprielian for the minutes in Armenian. Via video, Tigran Galstyan, director of the St. Nerses Charitable Organization, depicted its activities, and attorney Karnig Kerkonian explained the current situation of Armenians in Jerusalem. In the evening, following a special Divine Liturgy, participants shared a convivial dinner.
On Friday, May 17, after the Q & A session about the Executive Committee’s report and its approval, panels convened, which discussed changes to the bylaws, the Prelacy’s budget proposal, a review of parish quotas paid to the Prelacy, and strategic planning issues. In the afternoon, the draft resolutions were presented to the plenary session. The traditional annual banquet of the assembly took place in the evening, on which we will report in the next issue.
The meeting wrapped up on Saturday, May 18, with the voting of the resolutions and the election of members of the Religious and Executive Councils and representatives of the World General Assembly.
After the ratification of the elections by the Catholicos, Archbishop Anoushavan, via a conference call, presided over the first meetings of the Religious and Executive Councils on Wednesday, May 21.
During the online meeting of the Religious Council, Very Rev. Ardag Arabian, Pastor of the Holy Trinity Church of Worcester, Massachusetts, was elected chairman, and Rev. Fr. Hrant Kevorkian, Pastor of St. Sarkis Church, of Dearborn, Michigan, secretary. The other members of the Religious Committee are: Very Rev. Boghos Tinkjian, Pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator Church of Philadelphia; Rev. Fr. Mikael Der Kosrofian, Pastor of Soorp Asdvadzadzin Church of Whitensville, Massachusetts; and Rev. Fr. Mesrob Lakissian, Pastor of St. Illuminator’s Cathedral, New York.
The Executive Council convened an online meeting and reelected Col. Aram Sarafian as Chairman; Richard Kanarian as Deputy Chairman; Tamar Kanarian as Secretary, and Raffi Ourlian as Treasurer. Dr. Houri Daghlian, John Kulungian, Aram Hovagimian, Judge Krista Haroutunian and Archdeacon Hagop Khachadourian are members at large.