Birthdays are joyful occasions and birthday celebrations are signs of vitality and life.
Birthdays are also solemn occasions to ponder upon accomplishments, evaluate results and mobilize for the future.
A good measuring tool of self-evaluation is the celebrant’s impact observed.
The Armenian Evangelical Church is celebrating its 174th anniversary. To be accurate the founders baptized the church as “The Evangelical Church of Armenian,” there in the name bearing the self-realization of the identity of the church and the communities rallying around it.
Today, as we celebrate yet another birthday of the Evangelical Church of Armenia, we praise God for the illumination that it brought to the nation from the grounds of the historical Homeland to the Near East, all of the Armenian Diaspora and back to independent Armenia.
The Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) embraces the grateful notion that the cradle of its glorious century plus service rendered to the nation is the founding of the Evangelical Church of Armenia in 1846 in Constantinople. It could be argued that the AMAA enjoys a symbiotic relationship of interdependence with the Church where, having been delivered by it has been faithful in its mission of reinforcing, supporting and sustaining the deliverer and its mission.
The legacy of the Evangelical Church of Armenia on the stage of the nation’s modern history is one of a glowing halo of service in educational, spiritual, cultural, social and physical needs – an esteemed, applauded and glorious journey.
The Church however cannot justify its existence and stall its zest relying on past glories. The living church of Christ, of which the AMAA is an integral part, must be ready and alert to face new challenges than an ever-evolving world breeds every day. Challenges of declining morality and spiritual values, discord within the church, existential threats to Christians and minorities in the Near East and erosion of identity and the language of the founders.
It is our heartfelt wish and expectation that the Church, faithful to its core mission will share the Good News of the Gospel all over the world for a witness to all nations calling man to turn back to the fountain of eternal love and good, God Almighty.
Happy Birthday Evangelical Church of Armenia.
