The Eastern Diocese is pleased to announce that Yn. Arpi Kouzouian will return to oversee the St. Vartan Camp program this summer. She will serve as Camp Director, partnering with Fr. Khatchatur Kesablyan, Fr. Vart Gyozalyan, and Fr. Sevak Gabrielyan, who will serve as Spiritual Directors of Sessions A, B, and C respectively.
In taking up this role at St. Vartan Camp, Yn. Arpi Kouzouian is returning to a program she was instrumental in expanding from 1995 to 2006, in partnership with her husband, Fr. Vasken Kouzouian. Taking over the two-week summer program at the Marvelwood School in Kent, CT, St. Vartan Camp developed into a seven-week program at the Ararat Center in Greenville, NY–a status the camp enjoys to this day. (Originally, the camp ran for many years at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT, under the vision and leadership of its founding director, the late Fr. Paree Metjian.)
As St. Vartan Camp Director, Yn. Arpi will oversee all aspects of the preparations and execution of the camp program, including recruitment and development of staff and CITs, implementation of New York State regulations and Diocesan camp guidelines, curriculum development, and day-to-day operations.
Aiding her in the pre-camp administrative and registration process will be Lorie Odabashian, who also has a long, productive association with Diocesan Youth Ministry. The Eastern Diocese is grateful for her involvement in St. Vartan Camp this year.
Yn. Arpi is excited to welcome children, youth, and young adults to the Diocese’s St. Vartan Camp this summer. “I feel the time has come, and the opportunity has presented itself, for me to return to the summer program I love so deeply,” she said. “I look forward to sharing my perspective, acquired from years of parish ministry, which will allow me to give back in new ways and help our Diocesan youth grow in their faith, heritage, and fellowship. My philosophy has always been to ‘lead by example,’ and I am excited to help lead this year’s St. Vartan Camp family.”
Please join us in welcoming Yn. Arpi Kouzouian back home. Her effective start date was February 1, 2023.
To register for this summer’s St. Vartan Camp, complete the online applications on the Diocesan Camps website (available beginning March 3). For information and inquiries, contact the camp at stvartancamp@armeniandiocese.org, or (215) 452-8322.
Speaking Effectively to Young Souls
With an abiding passion for working with young people, Yn. Arpi has long worked to instill in them a love for the Armenian Christian faith and heritage, within a warm environment of family and belonging. She brings to her role a lifetime of hands-on youth ministry experience and training, having served as Director of the Diocesan Department of Youth Ministry (1999-2004), and Director of Youth Ministries for Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge, MA (2004-present). During 18 years in the latter role, Yn. Arpi has gained a deep understanding of the changing needs of our Diocesan youth, and the ways in which the Armenian Church can effectively speak to their young lives.
Yn. Arpi grew up in the Armenian Church, born and raised in Toronto, Canada, where her extensive youth ministry experience can be traced back to organizing her first retreat at age 15 in Toronto after attending St. Nersess Summer Conferences in 1983. Her involvement in her home parish continued to expand, as she helped to create a summer camp for the children in her parish (known today as Camp Ararat) and chaired the first ACYOC Sports Weekend in 1988.
She has been actively involved in the Armenian Church in the U.S. since her arrival in 1994. A graduate of York University with an Honors Degree in Psychology and English, she has been an active member of the National Council of Churches for more than 20 years, having served three terms on its governing board and having chaired its Nominating Committee for six years. Most recently, she represented the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin as a delegate to the 11th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Germany last year.
Yn. Arpi has been married for 29 years to Fr. Vasken Kouzouian, pastor of Holy Trinity Church (Cambridge, MA) and a member of the Diocesan Council. Their daughter, Alina, is a third-year student at the University of Toronto.