PRIMATE'S MESSAGE
TO PARISH PRIESTS, PARISH COUNCILS, SUNDAY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS,
AND TEACHERS
"These words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit
in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."
- Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
From the earliest days of our people, the faith has been handed down from one generation to the next as the most precious inheritance a family can give. Parents taught their children at home. The Church gathered them into her worship. What was received was passed on, unbroken, across centuries and continents. That work now rests with us.
Our Sunday Schools stand at the center of this calling. There, our children learn who Christ is, why we gather at the Badarak, what the feasts and fasts mean, and that they belong to a Church that has loved them since before they were born. This is not supplementary to the life of the parish. It is the parish, forming its own future.
I ask each of you to give this ministry the attention it deserves. To our Reverend Fathers: know your Sunday School teachers and students by name, visit their classrooms, and let the children see that their pastor cares what they are learning. To our Parish Councils: place the Sunday School on your regular agenda, not only when a difficulty arises, but as a standing part of your stewardship, with adequate space, resources, and support for those who teach. To our Superintendents and Teachers: you carry out one of the most consequential ministries in our Church, often with little recognition. Please know that your labor is seen and deeply valued.
The Diocese stands ready to assist you. Through our Children and Family Ministry, curriculum, teacher training, retreats, and resources for the home are available to every parish. I encourage you to make full use of them, and to reach out whenever we can be of help.
May our Lord bless the children of our Church, strengthen those who teach them, and grant us all the grace to hand on faithfully what we have received.
Prayerfully,
Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan
Primate
About CFM
Children and Family Ministry (CFM) serves the parishes of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) in the faith formation of children from birth through seventh grade, and in supporting the families raising them.
We work alongside pastors, Sunday School superintendents, teachers, and parents to make sure that every parish, regardless of its size, has what it needs to teach the faith well.
What we provide
Sunday School curriculum for each age level
Vacation Bible School programs and seasonal materials
Teachers’ Retreats, Seminars and Webinars
Prayer books, activity materials, and resources for use at home
Guidance for parishes starting or rebuilding a Sunday School program
Our approach
Children learn the faith by taking part in it. Our materials are built around the actual life of the Armenian Church, its worship, its feasts and fasts, its saints and its language, so that what a child studies on Sunday morning connects to what they see, hear, and sing in the sanctuary. We also design with parents in mind, because what happens at home shapes a child's faith more than anything a classroom can provide.
Get in touch
Parishes, teachers, and parents are welcome to reach out with questions, requests for materials, or help with a program.
Yn. Hasmik Ajamian
Children and Family Ministry
HAjamian@armeniandiocese.org
Meet The Team
Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan, Primate, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
Fr. Hratch Sargsyan, Director of Ministries
Yn. Hasmik Ajamian, Children and Family Ministry
Fr. Garabed Kochakian, Advisor