With the generous donation from Fr. Artoon Sempadian Memorial Fund, St. John's has installed an amazing mosaic mural on the Eastern wall Ashjian building to welcome people to church and to beautify the entrance to the parish garden.

The official opening ceremony will take place on Sept. 11, 2016, in conjunction with the Feast of the Holy Cross and the Antasdan blessing service.

The Tree of Life, designed by local artist, Kim Larson, integrates Armenian symbols of pomegranates, peacocks, & grapes to express the beauty of Armenian imagery. Sitting atop the Tree of Life is the radiant Armenian Cross. 

It also serves a fitting memorial of Fr. Sempadian, the first parish priest who presided over the construction of our current sanctuary, and loved gardening and children.

The mosaic mural became a community project as Sunday School children & Ladies Society members helped create the individual tiles in workshops led by the artist. The congregation was asked to contribute pieces for the mosaic, things that symbolized their lives or a loved one’s memories. In this way, members held "broken Pieces" in their hands and created a whole new work of art. The artist describes this process as "symbolizing the healing we can offer each other."

St. John hopes to raise support to extend the mosaic design to other walls as part of its Garden Ministry initiated by Yetetsgin Annie Ash.