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REPORT DELIVERED VERBALLY BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, MR. SOUREN SAROUKHANOFF: ======================================================= Dear fellow Armenians, I would first like to
thank you all for attending this Public Meeting, and giving us the opportunity to highlight the work of The Armenian Community & Church Council, specifically The Executive Committee which manages the social,
educational, cultural amd religious activities of the Community. The Executive Committee is appointed by the Council and comprises of seven people, two of whom are from the Council.
In turn the Executive Committee appoints people to work in its four sub-committeees. The Executive also maintains the running of the bank accounts for the ACCC and the general management of the
day-to-day running of the community. The various tasks and functions of the four sub-committees are detailed here.
Church Committee
The Church Committee is tasked under the spiritual guidance and supervision of Bishop Nathan with the organisation of the day-to-day running of the Church affairs. Their continuous hard-work goes
on every Sunday and on all festive days without fail, encompassing the Church's management in all form of detail – from the candles lit at ceremonies, the money you donate to the church collection, the
management of the Organist, Choir and Choir Master. They are also involved with the the more subtle details that may go unnoticed, altar wine, charcoal, incense, palm crosses, grapes, flowers for the altar,
even dry-cleaning of Church vestments. The Church Committee's role this year in particular, has been highlighted by the appointment of the Rev. Shnork Baghdassarian to the position of Pastor of the
Council's churches in addition to his current position as Pastor of St. Sarkis Church. As the number of our community members gradually increased, we had for a long time felt the need for a Pastor who
would attend to our pastoral needs, visit the sick, and in particular be readily available to assist and give spiritual comfort and guidance to the community. As part of his new duties, Father Shnork will
make regular visits to the Armenian schools and the youth groups to teach them the Armenian Church discipline, prayers and liturgical music, as well as visiting families and performing the age-old and revered
"Blessing of the Home" (Dnorhnek) The Church Committee works tirelessly within each of these responsibilities and it is diffiult to envisage such a smooth operation without their continual
sacrifices. As ever the need for volunteers is present, and the Church Committee would welcome volunteers such as yourselves to work within the committee as Members and also form part of their choir
group. You will find we have composed a volunteer multi-slip that we kindly ask you to complete should you be interested in helping out.
Ladies Committee
The Ladies Committee is without a doubt the backbone of the various functions, and without their hardwork and effort it would prove very difficult to run smoothly, if at all.
They have organised various successful functions throughout the year, including their annual events of the
Ø children's party,
Ø tzaghazart bazaar,
Ø father's day,
Ø soorp khtach,
Ø and also assisting different committess as per their requirements.
The Ladies Committee always appeal to volunteers to assist in their various activites and in their fundraising efforts.
Youth & Cultural Activities Committee
The Youth and Cultural Activities Committee comprises of seven people, who have undertaken a huge responsibility to bring the Armenian youth togther from the various Armenian associations that
already exist in the United Kingdom. The Committee also endeavours to pull together Armenian youth who may not be alligned to a particular association and may feel disenrfranchised from the Armenian community.
I will refer now to their mission statement; The Youth and Cultural Activities Committee is committed to the task of enriching the Diaspora experience for Armenians in Great Britain, by encourgaing
community wide organisation and promoting Armenian cultural and social activity The Youth and Cultural Activities Committee aims to facilitate links between Armenian individuals and organisations, by providing
a forum for young Armenians to make social and professional contact, obtain information and stay connected. By the pursuit of its aims, the Youth and Cultural Activities Committee hopes to discover the voices
of the Armenian youth in Great Britain and provide them with a channel for expression. Through this expression, will come improved understanding and better identification with our culture and heritage and
renewed pride, unity and dignity. As for the volunteer appeal The Youth and Cultural Activites Committee seeks additional members to their committee and active participants to assist with their
programme.
Electoral Register & Levy Committee
The Electoral Register and Levy Committee is one of the most important committees. Because of the efforts of the Electoral Register Committee we have a thorough and comprehensive list of the
members of our community – an invaluable statistical database of around 3000 households, which we are continually improving on. We always encourage everyone to complete the Levy demand if only for details
about themselves and their family to keep our statistical database up-to-date. The Levy is our major source of income and in essence allows us to continue our work in all areas of the Armenian Community and
Church Council. Our commitment to the Community has been greatly increased this year and as a result we need the support of the the community now more than ever. We also need to encourage our friends,
families and neighbours to do the same without any reservation. I would like to remind you what your Levy pays for,
Ø it pays clergy's salary, taxes and National Insurance Ø it pays the Pension for Archbishop Gizirian Ø contributes to the Armenian schools
Ø contributes to the Holy Sea of Echmiadzin Ø contributes to the Armenian Embassy Ø Subsidises the activities of CRAG, Campaign for the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide Ø And pays for all ACCC functions.
Members of the ACCC, the Trust, The Executive Committee, other committees, sub-committees do their work entirely on a voluntary basis.The volunteer
appeal for The Electoral Register and Levy Committee is for individuals who are computer-literate and have experience in database management. As part of our duty as the Executive Committee we have
undertaken to strenghten the ties between the Motherland and the UK Armenian Community. It was the Council's decision last year, to officially celebrate the Independence Day of Spetember 21st, something
which we will mark annually. This year we shall also be celebrating the liberation of Sushi and will mark this as an annual event for the future. I would like to thank my fellow Executive Committee
members, whose hardwork is unfaltering and all involved in the sub-committees for their dedication to their work. I would also like to thank our Chairman Mr. Ara Palamoudian and my fellow Council Members for being
readily available to assist in any way that is needed. A special note of gratutude for Bishop Nathan for his spiritual guidance through all our work. Lastly I would like to thank you for giving us this
opportunity to summarise for you our main activities and we thank you for all the support you have given us in the past and hope to increase this support in light of the voluntary appeals for the future.
Thank you. Souren Saroukhanoff |
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