Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
On January 27, 2001, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that "Archbishop Khajag Barsamian of the Armenian Church of America will baptize 24 recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union on Sunday at a service here that also will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of Armenia's conversion to Christianity. It is a case where new spiritual life also is keeping an ancient ethnic tradition alive. 'It's very difficult to run an ethnic church without ethnics,' said Russell Kashian, chairman of the parish council at St. John the Baptist Armenian Church." The majority of Armenians in Milwaukee and Racine came to the United States to flee the genocide of 1915 in Turkey. Until the breakup of the Soviet Union, there was very little immigration. Since 1993, about 130 immigrants of Armenian decent have come to the Milwaukee area, from Armenia and from various Soviet republics. Those immigrants being baptized today are from Turkmenistan, where they were not allowed to practice their religion. Kashian explains that "'they basically held onto their Armenian identity for 80 years, and when they came to Milwaukee, they came to the church as their cultural identity.'" This latest group of newcomers range from age 10 to age 60, and are becoming successful in a range of jobs through hard work. Kashian estimates that the three Armenian Church of America parishes in the Milwaukee area have a combined membership of Americans and immigrants of about 450 families. "'The presence of people who actually have been raised in Armenia or near it gives you connections, and so it's brought life to the parish,' Kashian said."