ABOUT
The Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries oversees the ACYOA Juniors and Seniors, as well as the Diocesan Summer Camp programs, St. Vartan Camp and Hye Camp. The mission of the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries is to inspire youth and young adults to develop their Armenian Christian identity by creating experiences which help them connect the faith and culture of the Armenian Church to their daily lives. To learn more about specific programs, please visit the Programming section of this website.
Director: Jennifer Morris
Living the Faith in Christ
Through Worship, Witness, Service, Education, and Fellowship
Statement of Purpose
We believe that the goal of Armenian Church Youth Ministry is to offer a balanced program including: liturgical experience, religious education, cultural appreciation, spiritual and moral guidance as well as social activity. The focus should always be the core of what comprises the Christian life: Worship, Witness, Service, Education, and Fellowship. We define them as follows:
Worship. This refers to our relationship with God through liturgy, prayer and sacramental life. Worship means encouraging liturgical experience and developing a penetrating program for spiritual growth, both as individuals and as groups. All other dimensions of Christian life depend on this.
Witness. This is the logical extension of worship. If we are united with God, we will reflect Him in our daily life. In the same way that Christ constantly indicated the Father, we, too, must confess Him, labor for Him, and witness to our faith through our example and our daily lifestyle according to the measure of faith which God has assigned.
Service. The emphasis in service is on charity and sharing one’s “gifts.” Christ came not to be served but to serve, and HE urges us to do the same. We can live in the image and likeness of God by loving and serving mankind. Service is an essential component of lay ministry, the Armenian Christian’s call to participate in the active ministry of the Church.
Education. This is vital to spiritual growth. The proper nurturing of our youth’s spirituality must be one of our Church’s primary concerns. The Armenian Church needs to communicate her orthodox faith to our youth. By learning about and living the Holy Scriptures, doctrines, sacraments, rites, history, and traditions of our Church, our youth will better understand the teachings of the Christian faith and be better able to live the other “circles of the cross.”
Fellowship. This refers to the way that Armenian Christians bring their faith into daily and social life. There is something holy about Christians who gather together socially and remain conscious that they are people of God. Whatever the youth do, be it in the church hall, home, or gymnasium, they must remember that they are “Temples of the Holy Spirit.” Social activities must be consistent with the reality that Armenian Christians are in constant fellowship with each other and the Holy Spirit.
OUR ULTIMATE GOAL must be to envision that our youth will grow to love Christ and His Church and to pursue the way of life to which God calls us.
Diocesan Summer Camps
St. Vartan and Hye Camps provide a physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy environment in which young Armenian-American Christians can grow and flourish as they learn about and develop a deeper understanding of their Armenian faith and culture.
Please click on the images below to visit our Diocesan Summer Camps website at www.diocesansummercamps.org. For further information please contact Jennifer Morris, Youth and Young Adult Ministries director, at (248) 648-0702, or via e-mail or Kathryn Ashbahian, Youth and Young Adult Ministries coordinator, at (212) 686-0710, ext. 143, or via e-mail.