On Friday night, April 12th, the families of St. John Sunday School once again gathered together for an evening of fun and fellowship. Under the guidance of Sunday School superintendent Paula Boghossian, the families each brought a food item for a potluck dinner. The main purpose for the evening's gathering was to give our young ones an opportunity to practice for their musical performance at our annual banquet.

The contest for Choreg and Simit organized by St. John Ladies Society, took place on Easter Sunday, March 31, during Fellowship Hour. 

Our judges: Angel Ailanjian, Sima Kouyoumdjian Kesecker and Amelia Surabian had a difficult task to choose from all the delicious entries. All entries were blind, and they had to rate each entry on taste, texture, moisture, overall appearance and "would you buy this product?"

The judges choices are as follows:

Holy Week is the climactic journey of the faithful in preparation of the miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ. Come and participate in the truly special rites of the Armenian Church, and embark on your own journey with Christ.

On February 24th, Tigran Antonian, Carmen Kestekyan, and Naryne Sarkiss presented “Greetings from Armenia: An Afternoon of Pictures and Stories”.  The Church hall was filled with parishioners eager to hear about the experiences of these three young adults in Armenia for a month through the CYMA program.  A slide show presentation highlighted points of interest on the trip to Armenia.

On Thursday, February 28, his Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian visited the community of St. John Armenian Church of San Francisco.

With spiritual joy we announce that on Wednesday, February 13, the first Lenten Meditation or Hesgoom of the 2013 Great Lenten season was performed at St. John Armenian Church. With many faithful in attendance, Fr. Mesrop began the service by explaining that this year's vigils were being called meditations in order to remind us that Lent is a time for meditation, when we can focus our thoughts on God, and strip away unnecessary things. This is healthy, and spiritually rejuvenating.

Wednesday January 16, Fr. Mesrop held a Bible Study Session with the San Francisco group at the home of Mr. and Mrs. David and Marina Israelyan, and on Tuesday, January 22,  with the Peninsula group at the home of Dn. and Mrs. Sarkis and Hera Kestekyan,  there were more then 15 participants in each session that received spiritual nourishment, and why not had fun after Bible Study. We thank the Israelyan and Kestekyan families for opening their doors.

On Sunday, January 27, 2013 the Feast of St. Sarkis the Warrior was commemorated, and was Youth day at St. John Church. Fr. Mesrop Ash invited the youth for a special service and blessing and delivered a special message, he talked about who St. Sarkis was and what was his role in the Armenian Church.

A special message was offered for youth of all ages about the role of social networks in our lives, such as Facebook.

St. John Ladies Society held its annual Christmas Luncheon/Meeting on December 1, 2012. A delicious gourmet luncheon was hosted and prepared by Linda Lester and Marietta Nichols.

The following are the members of the 2013 Executive Board: Linda Lester and Anoush Maghdissian Co-Chair, Cecelia Baloian, Marietta Nichols, Arlene Barber, Helen Manougian, Yer. Annie Ash, Millie Sheehy and Isabelle Dokouzian.

On December 10, Fr. Mesop Ash attended the 2012 ArmTech Congress on the campus of Stanford University. Also in attendance was Parish Council member Greg Nemet Sr. During the conference they learned about the various initiatives taken place between Silicon Valley and the Republic of Armenia to stimulate the growth of the tech sector. In the evening Fr. Mesrop and Yn. Annie. as well as many members from our community, were invited to participate in the banquet to celebrate the conference.