Over the weekend of April 10-12, Sts. Vartanantz Church of Chelmsford, MA, observed the 110th anniversary of its historic church consecrated in Lowell on April 16, 1916.
The celebration enjoyed the blessing of Diocesan Primate Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan, who joined parishioners on Friday evening to pray jn the original Sts. Vartanantz Church, now functioning as a sanctuary for the Assemblies of God Pentecostal community.
Parish pastor Fr. Khachatur Kesablyan extended a warm greeting to the many parishioners in attendance who were baptized, married, and attended Sunday and Armenian schools in the Lowell church. Many newer parishioners of the present church in Chelmsford were also present to learn about the early development of the church community in Lowell.
Following an evening prayer service, Isabelle Shamshoyan Hamel, chair of the 110th anniversary committee, welcomed everyone to a reception hosted by the Women’s Guild. A short documentary about the early Lowell Armenian community prepared by Alan Manoian set the stage for a number of parishioners–Dolores Garabedian, Beverly Koltookian, Charlie Sarkisian, George Simonian, Mark Juknavorian, Isabelle, and Gary Bogosian, who flew up from Forida–to share their fondest memories at the historic Lowell church.
The Assembly of God Minister, Josh Luna, was most pleased to have the Sts. Vartanantz Armenian community return to their original church, and extended a permanent open door invitation to Fr. Khachatur.
Ordaining Altar Servers
On Saturday evening, the congregation gathered at the current Sts. Vartanantz Church in Chelmsford for the ordination of six young men to the four Minor Orders, by the hand of Bishop Mesrop. The new altar servers were Nicholas Gschwind, Tanner Gschwind, Maxwell Hagopian, William Karapetyan, Suren Sahakyan, and Maksim Sennik. The newly ordained acolytes were blessed with new responsibilities in their service to the church including the privilege of lighting and holding candles, reading from the Holy Scriptures, and cleaning the sanctuary and Holy Altar.
A reception hosted by the parish council followed, during which former acolytes–Mark, Richard, Gary, and Ara–who served at the Holy Altar in the “Lowell” Sts. Vartanantz church shared a number of humorous experiences. Deacon Ara Jeknavorian, committee vice-chair, offered a narrated slide presentation on the critical role of the Ladies Aid Society (later named the Women’s Guild) in the founding of the church in Lowell.
On Sunday, following the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Bishop Mesrob, another joyful event to mark the 110th Anniversary was the ordination of three acolytes–Samuel Boghigian, Suren Sahakyan, and Neo Shirikyan–to the rank of sub-deacon.
The weekend celebration came to a close with a celebratory banquet and program featuring musical performances by Minu Liu (violin), Arpineh Arakelian (piano), Alisa Nakashian-Holsberg (vocals) and Roupen Roupenian (vocals), recitations by church school students, Ara and James Diloyan, and “Memory” reflections by Luke Hagopian and Nicholas Gschwind portraying the early founders of the church. Remarks were offered by parish council chair Hagop Jarkian and anniversary committee chair, Isabelle Shamshoyan Hamel. Mark Juknavorian served as Master of Ceremonies.
Fr. Khachatur extended his heartfelt appreciation to the 110th anniversary committee for bringing the community together to remember the founders of the historic Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Church in Lowell, and prayed that the spirit and vitality of the weekend event continue to inspire coming generations to embrace Sts. Vartanantz as their spiritual home.
Bishop Mesrob brought the program to a close congratulating Fr. Khachatur for his love and devotion to his ministry and spiritual welfare of his parish, and to all the members of the church for organizing a wonderful weekend of remembrance capped off with the uplifting ordination of acolytes and sub-deacons. The Primate highlighted the theme of New Sunday (Nor Giragi) which calls upon the faithful to experience a spiritual renewal and peace which can only truly be found in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and encouraged parishioners to joyfully carry on the holy mission of the founders of Sts. Vartanantz.
The 110th anniversary committee members included: Fr. Khachatur Kesablyan, pastor; Isabelle Shamshoyan Hamel, chair; Deacon Ara Jeknavorian, vice chair; Diane Juknavorian, recording secretary; Pam Aprahamian; Armig Ferris; Hagop Jarkian; Milka Jeknavorian; and Richard Madanjian. Acknowledgements for the many gifts and services that contributed to the success of the anniversary weekend are noted in the anniversary booklet.
Net proceeds from the 110th anniversary are being donated to a Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) project to aid Artsakh refugees who escaped the attempted genocide perpetrated by Azerbajian, and in memory of the saintly martyrs of the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1923.
To view photos of the 110th anniversary weekend, click here and here.