68th Anniversary Scholarship Luncheon April 28, 2013

ARMENIAN THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS’ AID, INC.
“Serving the Future Servants of the Church Since 1945”
7434 North Recreation Avenue Fresno, CA 93720-0163
Telephone (559) 907-8110 • Facsimile (559) 438-5301

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Edward Saliba
April 18, 2013
Telephone: (559) 907-8110

SCHOLARSHIP ORGANIZATION TO SALUTE LONGTIME OFFICERS

A graduate scholarship organization will celebrate 68 years of ministry in Central California and around the world by honoring the services of two longtime officer/directors.
Armenian Theological Students’ Aid, Inc. will salute Past President Arnold H. Gazarian, D.D.S. and honor the memory of Vice-President Bernard Asadoor Guekguezian at a celebration luncheon at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 28, 2013. The luncheon will take place in the Fellowship Hall of historic First Armenian Presbyterian Church, 430 South First Street at Huntington Boulevard in Fresno.
The theme of the day is “God’s Faithfulness.” Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and tables of eight and sponsorship opportunities are available. Proceeds benefit the global graduate scholarship programs of the Fresno-based nonprofit corporation. More information may be obtained by calling (559) 323-5502 or (559) 907-8110.
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A farm boy from Fowler, California, Dr. Gazarian was educated at the University of California (Berkeley) and the School of Dentistry at the UC San Francisco. He practiced in the Cities of Fresno and Kerman for more than three decades and was active in a host of Central California community, fraternal, church, academic, and civic activities. Following in the footsteps of his father, Gazarian has served as a director and President of the ATSA ministry for more than two decades.
A native of Antioch, Turkey, Reverend Guekguezian was educated in the schools of the Near East and immigrated to the United States in the 1950s to complete theological studies at Fuller and New York Seminaries. He was among the first recipients of financial aid from ATSA and served as Vice-President of the ministry during his record 22 years as Senior Pastor of the First Armenian Presbyterian Church. The faithful shepherd of four congregations in North America, Guekguezian passed away in Fresno on September 22, 2012.
On January 8, 1945, just five months before VE Day, Yettem resident Ezras Tellalian met with Fresno pastors Arsham K. Yeramian and Hagop Chakmakjian in the Mason Building law offices of Fresno attorney Gasper Magarian. Remembering a generation of ethnic pastors lost in the genocides of the Ottoman Empire, the quartet
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formed ATSA, a financial aid organization to assist students of Armenian descent preparing to become ministers, preachers, and teachers of the Holy Bible in the 20th Century.
In the ensuing six and one-half decades, the nonprofit organization they chartered has raised and granted more than $700,000 in scholarships to help more than 200 seminary students at home and abroad earn their entry-level graduate degrees. ATSA Scholars have matriculated in divinity schools across the United States, Dominion of Canada, Near East, Europe, and the Republic of Armenia.
ATSA works in partnership with the New Jersey-based Armenian Missionary Association of America, the Glendale-based Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, and the Beirut-based Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches of the Near East.
The April 28 luncheon will feature Canadian cuisine prepared by Chef Hrant Darakjian and his culinary team, vocal music by Vera Darakjian with accompaniment
by Adrine and Carina Tokatian, instrumental selections by premier guitarist Benjamin Hagopian, and remarks by ATSA Scholar Joseph Garabedian, Pastor of Saint Nareg Armenian Church of Whittier. -more-
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ATSA is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors: Hrant Darakjian, Arnold H. Gazarian, D.D.S., and Reverend Ara Richard Guekguezian (Class of 2012); Rafi Balabanian, D.D.S., Ann R. Karagozian-Sarafian, Ph.D., and Edward Saliba (Class of 2013); and Therese Gulesserian, Jason Keledjian, D.D.S., and Reverend Hendrik Shahnazarian (Class of 2014).
ATSA is a recognized organization of the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, an ecclesiastical confederation of Armenian Protestant churches, missions, and fellowships in the United States of America and Dominion of Canada.
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