The Armenian Church is an ancient apostolic church whose origins extend back to the preaching and ministry of Christ’s apostles, Thaddeus and Bartholomew in the first century.

How we Started 

Armenia became the first Christian nation when King Trdat III was baptized by St. Gregory the Illuminator in the year 301AD. The Armenian Church is an Orthodox Church and is in Communion with the five Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian (Tewahdo) and Malankara (or The Syrian Orthodox in India).  In recent years, there has been rapprochement among the two branches of Orthodoxy, the Eastern Orthodox and the Lesser or Oriental Orthodox Churches who recognize the orthodox heritage and true worship of the apostles and fathers in their shared experience.

Our Mission

The Mission of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church is to preach the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to proclaim its message of salvation.  This mission is realized through worship, education, witness, service, and a common life in Jesus Christ as expressed in the distinctive faith-experience of the Armenian people.  All members of the Armenian Church–both clergy and lay–are called to participate fully in its mission.

St. Mary Armenian Church is the “Growing Church that Shares and Cares at Prayer”, located in Livingston, New Jersey.  She is officially listed as the 13th largest parish of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America and has been in existence for over 80 years. The Eastern Diocese is headed by her primate Archbishop Khajag Barsamian who resides at the Diocesan Cathedral of St. Vartan in New York City. The Diocese is under the jurisdiction of Holy Etchmiadzin in Armenia where the successor to St. Gregory the Illuminator, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all-Armenians, His Holiness KAREKIN II, resides.

St. Mary Armenian Church offers her parishioners, both old and young, a commitment to religious spiritual development and fellowship in an Armenian cultural context.

Her mission is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ by the celebration and administration of the Word and Sacraments instituted by Christ and confirmed by the apostolic teaching and doctrine, according to the Armenian Church’s Sacred Traditions.