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Your Gift or Memorial is Meaningful
Spirit of Giving
Over the span of Christian history, the faithful have bared their feelings and expressed their love and devotion to our Lord God Jesus Christ through pious donations for his Glory. Some have used their skill and talent to create basic items such as candlesticks and lanterns. Others with an eye and hand for art express their faith with icons of the saints, paintings of the miracles of Christ and other biblical events, and bas-relief work in stone depicting the wondrous works of God. Still others with means commissioned entire church structures to be built. Sometimes, poor but pious pilgrims would save whatever they could during the year to present a small gift during a pilgrimage to a holy shrine of a saint’s relics.
All of these expressions, large and small, works of art or simple items, are accepted by the Church for the greater glory of God - that God’s house of prayer be held up shimmering like a jewel and inspiring everyone to “come and find rest for their souls”.
Perpetuity
Gifts to the Church are permanent expressions of faith and love. They might be given in celebration of a long life or for a newborn, in gratitude for a blessing, in response to answered prayers, or simply to help the parish. Large and small, these gifts are reflective of the convictions and dedication of the donor, as well as enhancing the means of the Church to glorify God in liturgical practice, form, and expression. The Church celebrates all such gifts.
Listing of Available Items and Order Form
Memorials
The Armenian Orthodox Church teaches that those who have died and “fallen asleep in Christ”, continue to be counted among the faithful. A memorial is simply a gift given to the Church in memory of a loved one - customarily one soul for one item in a one-to-one relationship. Such memorials are a means to remember loved ones in a most significant and proper way. It is also traditional for those remembered with Church memorials to be included in special annual or designated Requiem (Hokehankist) Services.
Acknowledgement
Gifts and memorial donations are acknowledged with appropriate letters and documentation. A photograph of the gifted item is planned for future acknowledgement letters. Inscriptions on ecclesiastical items is no longer practiced in Chelmsford.
At the Church in Chelmsford, a handsomely handcrafted display board at the entry to the Church contains individually inscribed brass plates which list all liturgical and ecclesiastical gifts and memorials. They contain the name of the item, donor, year, and in whose memory (if any) it was given. All plates are the same size, regardless of the donation and reinforcing the belief that Church gifts are given with the heart, and that God’s love and mercy is the same and abundant for all the faithful, no matter their means and financial resources.
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Listing of Available Items and Order Form
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