In 2009, the Eastern Diocese launched a Sunday School Pilot Program to cultivate attendance at the Divine Liturgy each Sunday as the goal and core of the traditional Sunday School curriculum.
Two years later, most Sunday Schools are involved and have found the effort—which is coordinated by the Diocese’s Department of Youth and Education (DYE)—helpful and productive.
Many students are in church more regularly and for longer periods, and they are receiving Holy Communion more often. Although each school’s morning schedule continues to be tweaked and challenges addressed, educators and pastors have said the program is a “success in progress.”
The program is modeled on the morning schedule that was developed at the Armenian Church of the Holy Translators in Framingham, Mass., by the parish’s pastor, the Rev. Fr. Krikor Sabounjian. Sunday School students go directly to church with their families at 9:30 a.m. They are able to hear the Epistle and Scripture Readings, recite the Nicene Creed, and respond to the prayer petitions of the deacons. They sing with the choir and other parishioners and experience the hymns where they appear in the liturgy, not just as isolated songs to be learned. Prior to receiving communion, Sunday School students sit in the chancel for an object lesson from Fr. Sabounjian. After communion, they attend Sunday School classes for approximately one hour. The program extends into fellowship, where the children are joined by their parents.
This approach recognizes that the Divine Liturgy is the central aspect of life in the church, and stresses the importance of including children in this integral portion of the Armenian faith as they grow up in the church. Holy Translators Sunday School superintendent Laurie Bejoian remembers having grown up with the experience of attending Sunday School class in the morning and then going to church at the end of Divine Liturgy. “I thought as a child that the Badarak was only communion and hokehankist,” she said. “It’s such a joy to see our young people participating in the Badarak from the beginning of the service.”
Teens regularly attend for the entire Divine Liturgy, taking on active roles during the service. On such days, the younger grades go to church in time for the object lesson and communion and remain in church through the Last Blessing and hokehankist.
By worshipping together, families begin to absorb all the movements, gestures, responses, and prayers with an active knowledge of the symbolism and purpose. And by being present from the beginning of the service, parents and children learn together.
Last year, an Instructional Badarak Sunday was added to the curriculum. Students in grades 4 and younger participated in a re-enactment of the Badarak and served as acolytes. They were instructed on the history of each of the vessels used during the service and taught the hymns. Meanwhile, in church, an instructional Badarak, complete with explanations of the different parts of the service, was offered to parishioners, as well as students in grades 5 and up.
Sunday School students throughout the Diocese are fairly well versed in the Badarak by the time they graduate, but at Holy Translators students get a truly thorough acclimation. Other parishes and pastors have addressed the challenge of accommodating classroom and Badarak worship in a variety of different ways, guided by local circumstances. Thanks to the dedication of innovative pastors and superintendents, and to model programs such as the one in place at Holy Translators, and elsewhere, Diocesan Sunday School students and their families are enjoying a more holistic Sunday morning experience.
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Photo attached: The Rev. Fr. Krikor Sabounjian delivers an object lesson to Sunday School students at the Church of the Holy Translators in Framingham, Mass.
PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
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E-mail: publicrelations@armeniandiocese.org
Website: www.armenianchurch-ed.net
December 20, 2011
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