"Love is Patient, Love is Kind…”
10 November 2011
ACYOA Leadership Conference Discusses the Cardinal Christian Virtue
The conference, held November 4-6, brought together 70 young
people representing 23 parishes to examine how Christ calls his followers to
serve. Under the guidance of clergy and lay leaders of the Eastern Diocese, the
ACYOA participants discussed their roles in answering that call as leaders in
the ACYOA and the church.
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The conference was planned by the ACYOA Central Council, and held at the Don Bosco Retreat Center in Stony Point, N.Y. Also joining the ACYOA members were young representatives from sister Coptic and Indian Orthodox Churches.
Titled "Let Love In," the conference opened on Friday evening with a vespers service and introductory remarks by conference chaplain, the Rev. Fr. Krikor Sabounjian. ACYOA Central Council program coordinator Olivia Derderian and vice chair Karen Dardarian, who helped put together the sessions, welcomed participants and outlined the goals of the weekend gathering.
On Saturday morning, Fr. Sabounjian spoke about divine love and human love. He stressed that divine love is unconditional while human love is often tinged with expectations. He encouraged the young people to think about the way in which they love others, and how they might work to strengthen their relationships.
Dn. Ryan Tellalian spoke about Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders, explaining the similar emphasis on love and service found in both sacraments. He also underlined the importance of sacrifice as it applies to both marriage and the priesthood.
Dn. Benjamin Rith-Najarian led a Bible study on 1 Corinthians 13 ("Love is patient, love is kind, love envies not.") Participants reflected on the adjectives used to describe love in the well-known passage, and shared which of those characteristics they saw in themselves.
Greg Torosian of Holy Trinity Church of Cambridge, Mass., said he found this session particularly helpful. "Applying St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians on love to today's world allowed us to focus on how to better live in the world today," he said.
Yn. Arpi Kouzouian, youth director of Holy Trinity Church of Cambridge, Mass., and Maria Derderian, youth minister at St. James Church of Watertown, Mass., gave a presentation on "Service and Witness." They spoke about the importance of sharing one's gifts with others, living and sharing one's faith, and gave practical tips on identifying and addressing areas of need in one's community.
"This weekend really started from scratch by teaching us to lead by the example of loving all. This is the first step in being a leader," said Melissa Mardoian of Sts. Joachim and Anne Church of Palos Heights, Ill. "We can now go and show our love by starting good service projects in our parishes."
The evening concluded with a special workshop titled "Let's Get Creative: Self Expression Through Art"—which asked participants to summarize what they learned by presenting a skit or a song or making a collage based on the day's lessons.
"The leadership skills they worked on were not designed to teach them how to run a meeting or create a program," said Fr. Sabounjian. "They were designed to teach them how to be true servant leaders through the way they live their lives and make their decisions based on Christian love."
On Sunday, Fr. Sabounjian celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the retreat center chapel, with young people assisting on the altar and singing in the choir.
"I thank God that I was given the opportunity to serve as the chaplain for this year's ACYOA Leadership Conference," Fr. Sabounjian said after the conference. "I was, once again, extremely impressed with the quality and seriousness of purpose exhibited by these young adults of our Diocese. Their thirst for spirituality and a deeper relationship with our Lord is truly refreshing and inspiring."
Following services, the young people had an opportunity to participate in an open forum with the ACYOA Central Council in which they shared their concerns and hopes for the future of the organization.
"I learned a lot during this gathering and I am definitely taking a good chunk back home with me," said Alina Grigorian of St. Mesrob Church of Racine, Wis. "I would encourage every young person to try and attend an ACYOA Leadership Conference in the future."
ACYOA Central Council chair Danny Mantis added that he was pleased with the turnout and confident that the annual conference will continue to have an impact on young Armenian Christians.
"Since the year 2000, the ACYOA Leadership Conference has been one of the most successful programs sponsored by our organization," he said. "I was especially inspired to see so many new people attending this year's conference. There was a beautiful mix of college-aged young people and working professionals retreating from their daily lives to build a stronger connection to their faith by loving others."
