Western Diocese

Staff

Richard Mushegain, Parish Council Chair

About St. Gregory Armenian Church

St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church

Pasadena, California

Hebrews 3:4 "For every house is built by someone but the builder of all things is God"

When 23 of Armenian faithful gathered for a meeting in June of 1947 you form a parish and have church services, it was beyond their wildest imagination that their vision was going to develop into the church we have today on 2215 E. Colorado Boulevard.

The new sanctuary, whose construction project took around five years of planning, designing, architectural ingenuity, fund raising and dedicated committee work, was finally completed in the summer of 2007. On September 8 and 9, 2007 our Western Diocese Primate, His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian Conducted the blessing and consecreation ceremony of the new majestic sanctuary which will be an edifice of pride for all Armenians, especially for those living in Pasadena, California, and adjacent communities.

Many pastors contributed to making this new sanctuary a reality. They toiled relentlessly hand in hand with the resolute lay leadership of the Church, inspiring everyone with patience and perseverance, fostering our spiritual resilience until the project was completed with God's will.

The leadership of our Primate, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian was exemplary. Every step of the way he was an integral part of the construction project, emphasizing the need for love, harmony, peaceful deliberations and keeping at heart the words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in the Second Epistle of John, Verse 5:

"....That we love one another...."

On October 1, 2007, we were blessed to have His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians consecrate the main Altar of the Sanctuary with the participation of many clergymen from the Western Diocese and the Primates of Western and Eastern Dioceses, Archbishops Hovnan Derderian  and Khajag Barsamian as well as our previous Primate, Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian. This ceremony culminated the consecration celebrations of St. Gregory, Pasadena with the Grace of Almighty God.