Evangelical Church of Armenia Impact in the Motherland
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By Pastor Aram Babajanyan* his year, the worldwide Armenian Evangelical family is celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the Armenian Evangelical Church. It is a historic event, because with this celebration we commemorate and affirm the presence, historical role and the mission of the Armenian Evangelical Church in the Armenian reality. With this celebration, we also look forward to the completion of the second century of our history and to the vision of the next 25 years. For the Evangelical Church of Armenia (ECA) in the Motherland, especially in this jubilee year, it is very important to value, understand and deeply realize our 175-year-old past and to look to the future. It is also very important for our identity, mission, and God-pleasing and patriotic service. This 175th Anniversary represents a very important turning point in the history of our Church, especially considering the present socio-economic and other aspects of the broader context of our people and the country in which find ourselves today. When we speak about ECA in Armenia after independence, we must first understand that this should be done on the platform of historical analysis and viewed in the context of the larger history of the Armenian Evangelical Church and World Reformation in general The Reformation Movement in the sixteenth century, and later the birth of the Evangelical Church, was primarily ecclesiastical and religious in nature. However, it was not limited only to that. The Birth of the Evangelical Church and the formation of Evangelicalism became crucial events in world history. The world Evangelicalism brought with it a real leap in the history of Christian theology and manifested itself in its strong intellectual spirituality, which created a new ideological "progressive basis," a new concept of life. The Evangelicalism, through its spirituality, theology and practical translation, became the elite bringing with it scientific, educational, cultural,
Evangelical Church of Armenia in Yerevan holds Worship Services in the rented hall of the of Union of Architects House early 1990s.
political, social and legal unprecedented development and enlightenment. Today’s developed world is based on the concept of Evangelical or Protestant civilization. If we refer to the Armenian Evangelical Movement and then to the Armenian Evangelical Church, it is certainly an integral part of the Armenian Church and the Armenian reality. The Armenian Church is also a unique and important part of the world Evangelical Church. The Armenian Evangelical Church was the first Evangelical Church to be founded in the Greater Middle East. However, its foundation was not accidental either. For centuries Constantinople was the civilization, religious, intellectual, cultural and socio-economic center of the East. This is a historical reality. Just as the world Evangelicalism became an elite, the Armenian Evangelical Church also became an elite in the Armenian reality in Western Armenia, and to a lesser extent in Eastern Armenia. During the first 50 years after its founding, the Armenian Evangelical Church established among Armenians its own intellectual and practical spirituality, creating around it its own way of thinking, world view, culture and mini-civilization perception. It was during this period that the Armenian Evangelical Church with its numerous schools, colleges
and higher educational institutions in Western Armenia, and with its zealous service, printing house, school in Shushi, and its patriotic service to the orphans in Alexandropoulos, brought great spiritual, educational, cultural enlightenment and constant awakening. The Armenian Genocide and Stalin’s repressions caused the downfall and loss of Armenians and the Armenian Evangelical Church as well. The Armenian Evangelical Church in Western Armenia lost almost everything. The remnants who escaped from that hell found refuge in various parts of the world, and began to organize themselves, form communities and take the path of selfpreservation. In Eastern Armenia, because of the repressions of the Soviet government, only two underground communities of the Armenian Evangelical Church remained, which were united with local Baptist communities. One was in Yerevan and the other in Gyumri. The next 70 years was a long and difficult historical period of struggle for survival for the ECA in Soviet Armenia. Because of harsh and oppressive politics, these two surviving communities shrunk in size and became very small. They were mostly made up of representatives of the older generation. In ecclesiastical sense, this period can be AMAA NEWS, July-Aug-Sept 2021 | 17
