The Diocese
Posted: 05/08/2020
(Courtesy of the Armenian Mirror Spectator - April 30, 2020)
The Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America maintains its integral roles as a religious, cultural and humanitarian organization and is delivering much-needed assistance to the most vulnerable populations of the community by supporting various initiatives in the Diaspora and in the homeland. Through the efforts of Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese, $100,000 was raised and transferred to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to support humanitarian programs in Armenia to help those affected by the pandemic.
During a time of high-demand for COVID-19 antibody blood testing, the Western Diocese has mobilized a drive-up testing center site in the parking lot of St. Leon Armenian Cathedral, in collaboration with HOT Clinic, to set up a mobile serology testing clinic.
“Having antibodies to COVID-19 is key in getting people back to a normal version of reality,” said Edward Zaghikian, operations manager of HOT Clinic, who estimates test results within 10 minutes. “If we have enough of the public with the IgG antibodies, we will have heard immunity and can get back to our lives.”
By offering the service as a drive-up testing site, staff and patients are protected during the process. Hundreds have already taken advantage of the conveniently located site in Burbank and HOT Clinic has secured enough testing kits to fulfill patient requests.
“The response has been extremely positive from participants,” said Zaghikian, who said patients can book their appointments online at www.hotclinic.com. “Patients are very grateful for this type of service and we try to make the process as easy possible by providing quick results as well as minimizing wait times.”
Although church doors remain closed at the Western Diocese (https://www.wdacna.com/) and all in-person liturgical services and cultural programming is on pause, social media has been a significant mode of communication with the faithful. Thanks to a state-of-the-art studio located in-house at the Cathedral, videos, podcasts and other technological programming are available online as free resources to anyone around the globe and are also broadcast on a weekly basis on USArmenia and PanArmenian TV television stations.
“When the pandemic forced us to close the doors of our churches, we were able to bring the churches to the homes of our faithful through the use of social media,” said Diran Avagyan, program director and assistant to the primate. “Having all the necessary tools to act, we live-streamed the church services, including the Holy Week and Easter and on a weekly basis recorded messages of encouragement and other materials for spiritual nourishment, including devotional messages and spiritual reflections by the Diocesan Primate and other clergy.”
The Primate’s Easter messages, recorded in both Armenian and English, were a highlight for the community, where over 200,000 viewers tuned in on Facebook. The Western Diocese has also prepared and released special video editions specifically for children. Through the Zoom platform, Saturday and Sunday schools remain functional as well as meetings, Bible study sessions, ACYO and Nerouj discussions.
In a recent show of solidarity, priests around the Western Diocese organized virtual candle-lighting ceremonies and welcomed prayer requests. Parishes are remaining active by keeping in contact with their faithful individually and organizing food preparation and delivery for the elderly and less fortunate.
