St James Armenian Church, Richmond, Virginia

We are the living body of Christ, the Christian Church of the Armenian people, who are part of a worldwide diaspora. Founded in the first century by two of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew, the Armenian Church is one of the five ancient Eastern Oriental Orthodox churches. At the beginning of the fourth century, Armenia became the first nation in the world to declare Ch

ristianity as our state religion through the work of our patron saint, St. Gregory the Illuminator, and the decree of King Trdat III. As one of the oldest autocephalous national Christian churches, for more than 1,700 years we have steadfastly and devotedly followed Our Lord Jesus Christ, His teachings, the teachings of His Holy Apostles, Our sacred Church traditions, and the teachings of our graceful Saints and Church fathers. Our Church is One, in that our Lord Jesus Christ founded one Church. Having been founded by the one Lord Jesus Christ, the Church has one faith, one liturgy, one hierarchy. The Armenian Church is one in herself and one with the great Church of our Lord, since she accepts and keeps the Church’s faith, teachings and practices, "as once delivered to the Saints" and as defined by the first three Ecumenical councils of Nicaea in 325 A.D, of Constantinople in 381 and of Ephesus in 431. Our Church is Holy, because our Lord Jesus Christ made her Holy. Many of her members have been martyred and martyred for the sake of Jesus Christ. The first known Armenian saint and martyr is Saint Santoukht, the virgin daughter of King Sanatrouk. Our Church is Universal, because she shares in the universality of the great Church of Christ, and she herself has continued to exist in spite of very great hardships throughout the centuries. Further, all faithful may join the Armenian Church. Our Church is Apostolic, because it was founded directly by two of the twelve apostles, Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew who ordained the first Armenian bishops. Our Church is Orthodox, because it has the true faith of Christ. We are a Church with over nine million faithful dispersed in every continent throughout the world. The head of the Church is Jesus Christ. The Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians is the worldwide spiritual leader of the Nation, for Armenians both in Armenia and in the Dispersion. He is Chief Shepherd and Pontiff to all Armenians dispersed throughout the world. The spiritual and administrative headquarters of the Church, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, established in 301 AD in the city of Vagharshapat, Armenia, seventeen centuries later continues to guide our devoted nation and people on the luminous paths of fulfilling the primary mission of our Church - leading people to God.