Vahe H. Apelian
On Sunday, October 20, 2019, in the afternoon and at the conclusion of AMAA's 100th Annual Meeting held in Watertown, MA, a special gathering and Commemorative Worship Service was held in the Armenian Church of the Martyrs, Worcester, MA, where the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) was founded on June 7, 1918. The occasion marked a historical full circle. Pastors from America, Armenia, Asia, Australia, Middle East, and Europe attended the commemorative worship service heralding the global reach of the AMAA.
Last year, 2018, marked the centennial of the founding of the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA). Seizing the occasion, Rev. Vahan H. Tootikian published a 112 pages long book detailing the history of the founding of the AMAA. The book is titled “The Genesis and Early Development of the Armenian Missionary Association of America”. The book is published by the AMAA and is dedicated to the “Two Founding Fathers of the AMAA, Rev. Mihran T. Kalaidjian and Rev. Antranig A. Bedikian” and to “its 15 incorporators: Vahan S. Babasinian, Antranig A. Bedikian, Kapriel Bedrosian, Haroutune M Dadourian, Hagop M. Depoyan, Dikran B. Donchian, Aram G. Hejinian, Milton B. Ignatius, Minas S. Kondazian, Armenag Mahjoubian, John Moushekian, Garabed T. Pushman, Dikran M. Sarkissian, John G. Telfeyan, and Haig Y. Yardumian”. The author presented a brief biography of each and devoted a chapter to each of the two founding fathers. These esteemed gentlemen were all immigrants and hailed from their ancestral towns of Harpoot, Arabkir, Smyrna, Adana, Diarbekir, Caesarea, Marsovan.
Zavan Khanjian, the CEO/Director of the AMAA, in the preface of the book noted that “The genesis of the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) in 1918 was neither easy nor spontaneous.” He further elaborated noting that “the Missionary Committee of the Armenian Evangelical Union (AEU) deliberated for two years. By the time its proposal was submitted to the 1918 AEU Convention, including a name and a constitution and by-laws, the convention was ready to embark on a very important mission”, which was the founding of the AMAA as we know today.”
The book is comprised of 15 Chapters. For brevity, I will just list the heading of the chapters to give the reader a glimpse of the historical scope of the book in detailing the history of the AMAA.
1. Why in America?
2. The Early Armenian Evangelical in America.
3. The Missionary Committee of the AEU: Pioneer of the AMAA
4. The Historic Session When AMAA Was Born
5. The First Board of Directors of the AMAA
6. Steps Toward Organizational Structure for the AMAA.
7. The Constitution and Bylaws of the AMAA
8. The AMAA’s early Expansion
9. The Armenian Martyrs’ Memorial Fund
10. Rev. Mihran T. Kalaidjian’s Pivotal Role
11. Hope in Spite of Crisis
12. Light Through Darkness
13. Competent Leaders in Depression Years
14. A Momentous Anniversary and its Beneficial Effects
15. Rev Antraig A. Bedikian: Founder and Crusader of the AMAA.
A copy of the book was given gifted to those who attended the 100th Annual Meeting banquet on Saturday night in Boston. Unfortunately Rev. Dr. Vahan H. Tootikian could not attend this annual meeting.
The Armenian Church of the Martyrs was built and consecrated in 1901 and is named after the martyred victims of the 1895 Hamidian massacres. Located on 22 Ormond St (formerly Pink Street) in Worcester, Massachusetts, it is the first Armenian Protestant Evangelical church and is the oldest Armenian Church in America still in use by its congregation.
Fourteen rows of double-seated sold wooden pews make the seating for the dwindling attendants over the years. An organ still accompanies their singing. A panel of three stain glass windows inscribed in Armenian adorns its alter. Their inscriptions read: IN MEMORY OF THE APOSTLES AND ELDERS – Ի ՅԻՇԱՏԱԿ ԱՌԱՔԵԼՈՑ ԵՒ ՀԱՅ ԵՐԻՑԱՑ; IN MEMORY OF THE HOLY ARMENIAN MARTYRS – Ի ՅԻՇԱՏԱԿ ՀԱՅՈՑ ՆԱՀԱՏԱԿԱՑ; IN MEMORY OF THE TRANSLATORS OF THE HOLY BOOK – Ի ՅԻՇԱՏԱԿ ԹԱՐԳՄԱՆՉԱՑ ՀԱՅԵՐԷՆ ՍՈՒՐԲ ԳՐՈՑ.
An Armenian wording adorns around the alter alerting the worshippers to the solemnity of their presence. It reads: THE LORD IS IN HIS SACRED TEMPLE, STAY SOLEMN IN FRONT OF HIM - ՏԷՐԸ ԻՐ ՍՈՒՐԲ ՏԱՃԱՐԻՆ ՄԷՋՆ Է ԱՆՈՐ ԵՐԵՍԻՆ ԱՌՋԵՒ ԼՈՒՌ ԿԵՑԻՐ. An Armenian bible printed in Constantinople in 1883 still stays open on its communion table that has the following inscribed on it in Armenian – DO THIS TO REMEMBER ME – ԱՍԻԿԱ ԸՐԷՔ ԶԻՍ ՅԻՇԵԼՈՒ ՀԱՄԱՐ.
Most of the early, pre Genocide, Armenian immigrants gravitated to Worcester, MA as amply exemplified by the actual utterance of an early Armenian immigrant to the American immigration official in Ellis Island. When the latter welcomed the new incoming Armenian immigrant to the U.S., his recorded response was: “no, no, Worcester is America”. Indeed Worcester in MA was the America that beaconed the early Armenian immigrants. The eminent historian Dr. H. Martin Derounian used it as the title of one of his three historical books,
Dr. Hagop Martin Derounian has donated many of the bibles in shelves on the pews in memory of his mother. Last year, on mother’s day, the church leadership presented a flower to the women in remembrance of Dr. H. Martin Deranian’s mother Varter. Her husband and then her son had perpetuated remembering her annually with a bouquet on the podium on mother’s day for 87 consecutive years, from 1929 until his death on September 26, 2016. Many such esteemed individuals have graced the Armenian Church of the Martyrs.
In the sanctuary, on the right-hand sidewall, next to the entrance, there is a plaque that notes historical milestones that took place under the church’s roof and left a lasting impact not only in the life of the Armenian community in the United States but also across the globe. In short, the church exudes history.
For a few hours in the afternoon on October 20, 2019, the one hundred and one years of the AMAA coalesced under the very roof where it was founded as it sets the stage for its ongoing mission to serve the physical and spiritual needs of people in need both at home and overseas.
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