Building a church is building a community. Building a strong community is building a country. Building our future and building our tomorrows is building vision.

We are builders. No one can build if there is no creativity which brings us closer to God. We are creators. We create new history, new humanity and a new world.

The dream of Arizona’s community of the last fifty years has become a reality today.

Look at how big our dream has grown from the ground up. The hospitable blue skies of Arizona welcome the Armenian Church dome rising like Mt. Ararat reaching for the heavens. We have reached the finish line and now it is the time to live our dream.

God’s guiding hands has accomplished what was just a dream. For our creative nation, the finish line is another new beginning. This new beginning has started with our new surroundings of the sanctuary known as St. Apkar Armenian Church. Let us continue the journey united around St. Apkar Armenian Church for generations to come.

I want to reveal a secret about the legend of St. Apkar the King; it is true. It will remain true as long as we believe it. King Apkar was one of Jesus Christ’s special saints.  He wrote a letter inviting our Lord to Edessa at that time during the 1^st century as many Armenians lived in the city. The King was ill and had asked for our Lord’s aid.  Jesus replied and sent one of his apostles. Right after Jesus’ assumption, St. Thaddeus arrived in Edessa with the cloth of our Lord’s portrait. The King was miraculously cured and converted to Christianity.  He was baptized and became the first church builder in the world. After his death, he became a saint who was known as the saint of healing.

You might think this is just a legend.  It is not just a legend.  It is happening now as we are continuing to build on the legend.

“Blessed are those who build churches.”

Be blessed.

Rev. Fr. Zacharia Saribekyan

]]> http://saintapkar.com/building-momentum/feed 0 http://saintapkar.com/gathering-materians-photographs http://saintapkar.com/gathering-materians-photographs#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:07:32 +0000 admin http://saintapkar.com/?p=546 Der Zacharia is attempting to gather materials & photographs of the history from each family in this community to archive as the legacy of Arizona Armenians. Please provide me with the requested information by sending the material to the attention of AZ Armenians Legacy to att Rev Fr. Zacharia.

Church is the eternal legacy of our future generations. We are proud to have this sanctuary being built here for them to keep their spirit alive. We should value our faith, traditions and culture. Even though we are so far away from our homeland, we have each brought with us the spirit to build and create. Now we are bringing the blooming of our souls in the desert of Arizona with the rising symbol of Mount Ararat. The church is the center of our unity. We want everyone to come, hand in hand, to encompass the spirituality of our heritage.

Each of you must reach into your souls to find the purpose of your belonging. Participate in our ongoing fundraising effort. We believe our success will be a welcomed gift for all of us now and forever. Let’s complete our project to stand tall and shine in the Arizona sun! “Blessed are those who build churches.” Rev. Fr. Zacharia Saribekyan

A brief history of this wonderful community-

In 1957, a group of Arizona Armenians held their first official gathering, which marked the beginning of the Armenian community. Even though there has been articles in local newspapers stating that Armenians did live in the Valley of the Sun, in the late 1800’s.

In the first half of the 20^th century, the Armenian community was flourishing. Some of the first families that settled here were the Mehagians, Chakmakians, Injasoulians, Morrison, Hosepians, Shirinians and more…

The first clergy who visited this community was His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of  Jerusalem who celebrated the first Holy Mass at the Hosepian’s residence in 1963. During the Divine Liturgy, a symbolic fundraising occurred where their pocket change was collected as seeds for future endeavors.

On October 16 of 1963, the State of Arizona acknowledges the existence of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Arizona.

Few years later, upon the visit of Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian, the Hosepian family was in search of a land to build the Armenian Church. After many location considerations, they came across a vacant property on Cholla St, in Scottsdale. And while they were contemplating the possibility of the sight, an eagle flew over the land where they were standing and Archbishop Hovsepian sighed and stated that “this vacant lot will be where we will build the first Armenian Church in Arizona”. The Hosepian family graciously donated the blessed lot to their Armenian community.

In the following years, the Parish Council with its sub-organizations diligently planned and worked until in 1992, the Armenian Church Cultural Center was built that houses the Melikian Hall. Alongside the hall, the Alex and Marie Manoogian classrooms were established and later on, the Nikit and Eleanora Ordjanian library was completed.

With the help of many benefactors, the Armenian Community of Arizona was able to have its own home where its heritage and culture is celebrated through Church services as well as cultural events.

The community has one more dream to achieve! That dream of building the first Armenian Church in Arizona. We pray that, with the leadership of our Primate, Archbishop Derderian,  and the generosity of our community members, we will be able to erect the sanctuary, built on the rock of faith.

We acknowledge and thank all our benefactors as well as our community volunteers for their continued support and hard work to enable us to move forward, continuously strong and determined.

This community is looking forward of the third Pontifical visit of the Catholicos of all Armenians, his Holiness, Karekin II, to consecrate the first AZ Armenian Church in this great land of freedom and brotherhood, to be built with the generosity of its community.

Written by Parish Priest, Father Zacharia Saribekyan