On Saturday January 29, 2011 St. Marks church hall was filled with the delicious aroma of roast beef and the joyous sounds of friends and family having  fun!  About 90 people came out to enjoy the all you can eat roast beef, drinks and desserts.  People had a chance to sit and relax and reconnect with each other.  The children played games and watched movies on the new tv.  There was even a raffle of beautiful baskets created and donated by Terry and Patrick Dempsey.  Thank you to everyone who donated money and most especially their time to make this evening a success.  A special Thank You to Aram and Linda Bohdjelian for sponsoring the event.  It was a great way to kick off the new year of events!  Look for pictures from Family Night coming soon.

On January 2, 2011 our parishoners shared a wonderful lunch prepared by our own Mike Palma.  It was a delicious Italian sausage sandwich with onions and green peppers.  It was a big hit with everyone and set a standard for future lunches.  Thank you Mike for all your hard work and cooking skills! 

There are plans to do have more lunches in the future.  Make sure you don’t miss out on all the good food and fun!

 PAND Presentation – St. Marks

http://www.pandevents.org/index.php

In accord with PAND’s mission to foster cultural and social unity and provide financial assistance to Philadelphia’s Armenian churches, PAND held a reception to distribute Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000) to each of the following churches: Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, Cheltenham, PA, St. Sahag & St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church, Wynnewood, PA, St. Gregory The Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church, Philadelphia, PA, Armenian Martyrs Congregational Church, Havertown, PA, St. Marks Armenian Catholic Church, Wynnewood, PA.  These latest donations brings PAND’s financial assistance, to the five Armenian churches of Philadelphia, since inception, to nearly Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000). In addition, PAND has contributed forty thousand dollars ($40,000) to the Armenian Sister’s Academy, Radnor, PA, for scholarship and/or financial aid services, in recognition of the vital role it has and continues to play in our community.
The check presentation reception was held November 18,2010 at the newly constructed and well appointed “Founders Hall” at St. Gregory The Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church. Lasting approximately two hours in length, with over fifty representatives from the various boards of trustees and clergy in attendance, the reception was an overwhelming success. After a brief opening statement from PAND’s president, each church, along with their particular PAND committee representative(s), was asked to come up to take a picture and receive their donation. The check presentation was followed by a Q&A session that was informative, insightful, and dare we say “unifying.” One by one, representatives stood up to tell their story about PAND and the good works it has done and continues to do for Philadelphia’s Armenian community; before anyone had realized, our time together had come to an end. Particularly striking was how a simple message like “unity” still resonated with so many of the representatives present, and appeared to have reconnected them with PAND and its endeavors; as if new life had been breathed into a forgotten ideal. With God’s willingness and a renewed enthusiasm for “unity,” the last chapter of PAND’s unique success story, among Armenian communities, won’t be written for decades to come.  For more information about P.A.N.D. please click on the link under the picture.

On Sunday February 6,2011 we had 20 Seminarians visit from St. Charles Seminary.  For many it was their first time participating in an Armenian Badarak.  After Mass everyone enjoyed a wonderful lunch and the opportunity to talk and make new friends.  Father Mikael had an impromptu question and answer session where the Seminarians had the oportunity to learn more about our Armenian Badarak and find out about some of the differences and the reasons why there are differences.   Everyone learned something new.  It seemed the Seminarians enjoyed spending time with us as much as we enjoyed spending time with them.    We all look forward to next year!  Click on ‘PHOTOS’ to view pictures taken by Mr. John Von Terzian.  Thank you for sharing!