Most recent news | Released Friday, August 15, 2008
30TH ANNUAL MARDIGIAN INSTITUTE GREAT SUCCESS FOR DIOCESAN SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS
The 30th Mardigian Institute drew Sunday School educators from across the Diocese to the Diocesan Center in New York on July 21 for a week of worship, classes and other activities designed to help Sunday School teachers and superintendents strengthen Christian education programs at the parish level.
“We met as a group of strangers and left as a true community, a family,” noted Mardigian Institute participant Seta Buchter, superintendent of the Holy Trinity Sunday School in Cambridge, Mass.
“Removed from day to day events to focus on how to teach and lead in the church was so rejuvenating,” Buchter added. “Personally, I am going back to my parish with a very different approach…I’ll be thinking out of the box.”
Thinking “out of the box” perfectly echoed the Institute’s theme, “From Information to Transformation,” which centered on the transforming character of true Christian education. From a core course to supporting classes to a concluding retreat, the program challenged participants to rethink the purpose of Sunday School and return home to refashion their programs accordingly.
The Mardigian Institute, endowed by Helen and the late Edward Mardigian to fully underwrite the cost of training Sunday School staffers, has become one of the flagship programs offered by the Diocesan Department of Youth and Education (DYE). Four days of worship, classes and tours culminate in a two-day spiritual retreat at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, creating a fruitful mix of head knowledge and personal spiritual growth.
DYE Christian education coordinators Elise Antreassian and Megan Jendian enthusiastically confirmed the value of the program.
“It’s the perfect set of circumstances. Participants learn important information about their faith and how to teach it. They meet our Primate and other Diocesan staff, seeing the Cathedral and the office complex, often for the first time,” said Antreassian. “They wind down at our beautiful Seminary and are awed by what that’s all about. Most importantly, they meet each other and make collegial friendships that last for years beyond the Institute. Only a few days after returning home they have already started networking via email!”
For the first time this year, the Mardigian Institute took place at the same time as the Armenian Teachers College, a DYE training event for Armenian school teachers. This allowed for some jointly-held classes and shared meals, all of which were enjoyed and appreciated by the two sets of teachers. It worked so well, future sessions may be held together with even more opportunities built in for interaction, said Antreassian.
Each day at the Diocese began with worship at the Cathedral followed by classes on both faith and faith formation. The core course, “Changing Water to Wine: The Sacred Work of an Orthodox Christian Religious Educator,” was taught by Rev. Frank Marangos of the Greek Archdiocese who captivated listeners with the paradigms drawn from the story of Christ’s first miracle.
“We educators need to be like Mary: scanning the horizon, assessing the problems and needs and then bringing them to Jesus,” Rev. Frank Marangos told participants. “We might also see ourselves as the servants filling the jars with water and allowing God to make the transformation into wine.”
Other classes and instructors include Very Rev. Fr. Daniel Finidkyan, dean of St, Nersess Seminary, who spoke on the origins of the Armenian Divine Liturgy and its important characteristics; Very Rev. Fr. Vahan Hovhanessian , pastor of the Armenian Church of the Holy Martyrs in Bayside, who addressed the topic of how the Biblical canon was formed and the important “basics” teachers need to know about the Bible; Diocesan Vicar Very Rev. Fr. Haigazoun Najarian, who enlightened participants on the life and works of the beloved mystic saint Gregory of Narek; Rev. Fr. Garabed Kochakian, pastor of St. John’s in Southfield, Mich., who spoke on the topic of Sacraments.
Music and art were also addressed to the delight of one and all: first via an arts and crafts session conducted by Fashion Institute of Technology professor and artist Suzanne Froundjian that had all participants applying glue, glitter and paint on Armenian icon ornaments and prayer cards as they produced crafts for Armenian feast days. Maestro Khoren Mekanejian, coordinator of music ministry at the Diocese, led participants through a tour de force rehearsal of liturgical hymns, inviting teachers to transfer the techniques they practiced to their own classrooms. Christian education forums were conducted by DYE staff along with veteran workshop instructor Andrea Carden, Sunday School superintendent at St. Leon Armenian Church of Fair Lawn , N.J.
Mardigian Institute participant Grace Meranshian, of Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Cheltenham, Pa., said the classes and workshops helped her rediscover “a whole new passion for Sunday School which I kind of lost over the past year.”
One of the Institute’s highlights has always been a private dinner with the Primate. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), was pleased by the joint gathering of Sunday School and Armenian School teachers and dinner conversation was animated and extended.
“The Mardigian Institute is truly a great opportunity for Armenian Christian educators to acquire new pedagogical techniques, which they can take back to their local parishes and share with our youth,” the Primate said.
A special excursion this year was to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where School of Visual Arts Professor Raphy Sarkissian led participants on a brisk tour through the museum, starting with the huge medieval khachkar prominently mounted on the museum’s main floor. The days of classes, tours and meetings ended in a retreat at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary. Many Mardigian Institute participants had never been to the Seminary and were inspired by its atmosphere and productivity – more than half of Diocesan parish pastors and most of the DYE staff are St. Nersess alums. This year’s retreat, entitled “The Joy of Jesus,” was led by Rev. Fr. Yeprem Kelegian, pastor of St. Mesrob Church in Racine, Wis., and past spiritual director at the Seminary. Participants agreed that it was an inspirational conclusion to the Mardigian Institute.
On Sunday, July 27, participants attended the Divine Liturgy at St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral and a farewell luncheon at which certificates and gifts were awarded by Cathedral Dean and DYE Interim Director Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian.
Participants shared their highlights with emotion. Alice Pakhtigian, part of a renewal effort at her Sunday School at Sts. Sahag & Mesrob Armenian Church in Wynnewood, Pa., said she was “looking forward to bringing all these resources and ideas into our revitalized Sunday School.”
For Linda Karibian, of St. John Armenian Church in Southfield, Mich., “the knowledge was amazing, but how helpful on a spiritual level to learn how to be a better Christian!”
Helen Yedigarian, of St. Mary’s Armenian Church in Washington, D.C., gratefully shared that “it was a privilege to be here and learn so many teaching techniques and strategies.”
With a final prayer of thanks to the Mardigians and all involved in the Institute, participants left for their hometowns with the bittersweet knowledge that all good things come to an end but that, happily, family and parish awaited them with great expectations.
“This has really been about transforming water into wine, strangers into friends,” said Laurie Bejoian of the Armenian Church of the Holy Translators in Framingham, Mass. “What resources we have in the DYE and in each other!”
Institute participants take a break from their workshop to pose for a picture.
DYE Christian Education coordinator Megan Jendian helps participants explore Church and Home resources on a computer.
Institute participants with retreat leader Rev. Fr. Yeprem Kelegian at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary.
Rev. Fr. Garabed Kochakian speaks to Mardigian Institute participants about the Sacraments of the Armenian Church.