BISHOP MESROP CELEBRATES ST. JOHN’S ANNIVERSARY IN MILWAUKEE
Sunday, December 3, 2023
By David Luhrssen
Milwaukee, WI- Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan intended to celebrate St. John the Baptist Armenian Church’s 80th anniversary in fall 2022 but was still recovering from serious injuries sustained in a car crash. On Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, Bishop Mesrop, fully recovered after five surgeries, presided over the Milwaukee parish’s 81st anniversary liturgy and banquet.
In his sermon, Bishop Mesrop linked St. John’s commemoration with the 125th anniversary of the Armenian Diocese in North America. The two events are inseparable, the result of the Ottoman persecution of Armenians that culminated in the Genocide of 1915-1921. Both the Diocese and St. John in Milwaukee, WI, were founded by survivors of persecution. Speaking with warmth and eloquence, Bishop Mesrop compared history to the rear-view mirror of a car and the present to the windshield. We must look behind, but our eyes shouldn’t stray too long from where we are headed. He also addressed the courage and inner joy that were hallmarks of the faith that sustained our ancestors and should guide our lives today, despite living in a time of war and hatred.
At the end of the bishop’s sermon, Rev. Fr. Nareg Keutelian, St. John’s visiting pastor for many years, read the encyclical from His Holiness Karekin II, bestowing, at Bishop Mesrop’s recommendation, a pectoral cross on St. John’s current pastor, Rev. Fr. Guregh Hambardzumyan. The award was granted to Der Guregh for his pastoral service.
At the conclusion of badarak, a hokehankist (Requiem) was said for the founders of St. John in 1942, the parishioners responsible for building the new sanctuary in 1986, the bishops who consecrated the church and all of the deceased clergy who served the parish.
During the luncheon and program that followed, Chicago’s Hamazkayin Sardarabad Dance Ensemble performed contemporary and traditional Armenian choreography; Jan Avakian Kopatich played piano; and Donny Rask’s slide show, “81 Years of History,” provided memories of past decades. In his welcoming remarks, Parish Council Chairman Lyle Dadian stressed that “it’s the people who make this community strong.”
As the afternoon continued, Deacon Garo Garibian of the Diocesan Council spoke of entropy, the inevitable disintegration of everything in the material universe, including parishes, if they are untended. In his toast, he commended St. John for triumphing over entropy with the help of the Diocese, Der Guregh and the strength of its members. Diramayr Lynn Kaishian was presented with the Diane Blinka Award for Woman of the Year. Credited with cofounding Hye Camp, she was active for decades in numerous St. John committees and is the mother of Rev. Fr. Sahak Kaishian, who was present for the ceremony.
Der Guregh sang a powerful rendition of Komitas’ “Hayasdan” before speaking about the Church’s role as “the dawning of the Kingdom of God, a reminder of God’s providence” and the place where “Christ dwells among us.” In his closing remarks, Bishop Mesrop reflected on the meaning of time. In Greek, he said, there are two words for time: chronos, meaning the length, and chiros, referring to the quality of time. Eighty-one years is a long time and the quality of time spent at St. John can be measured by a community that hasn’t fallen to entropy but continues to live and grow in faith and heritage.
Photos courtesy of DTR (Donald Rask) Photography
Related Articles
