According to Reverend Dajad Davidian, a pastor at Saint James, churches and schools play an important role in maintain and strengthening Armenian life in the U.S.

Davidian perches on his desk in the austere church office at 465 Mt. Auburn St., alternately fielding phone calls and answering questions.

Davidian is a gregarious man, and the respect accorded to him by the church office personnel and the favorable descriptions of him at NAASR make it clear that Davidian's zeal is a function of the enormous amount of work he invests in his parishioners.

On one side of the desk sits an organized clutter, and on the other, a leaflet that describes the New Year's Eve Extravaganza 2000 that the church is preparing.

"Armenian culture has always had a strong social component," Davidian says. "As there is a tendency for Armenian-Americans slowly to become assimilated into American culture, churches like Saint James carry a big responsibility for providing ethnic resources and programs."

"It takes 150 to 200 ethnic families in a community to sustain the sense of belonging and ethnic identification," Davidian says.

"While all 150 to 200 people do not need to attend the same church, ethnic groups do need to maintain a certain size to remain a cohesive group," he adds.