Armenian Church of Our Saviour, Worcester, Massachusetts

In 301 A.D., the patron saint of the Armenian Church of Our Saviour, St. Gregory the Illuminator, converted the Armenian King Drtad to Christianity, leading Armenia to become the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion. Nearly 1600 years later, the Armenian Church of Our Saviour became the first Armenian Apostolic Church established in America. This parish serves as the spiritual and cultural home of the greater Worcester Armenian community and belongs to the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern). The Diocese falls under the auspices of the Mother See in Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia. The worldwide Armenian Church is an apostolic Christian Church born from the years following Jesus Christ’s resurrection when the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, inspired by the Holy Spirit, evangelized the Lord’s Good News to Armenia.

Whereas the Armenian people, by reason of persecution and abject poverty, are immigrating to America, in order to preserve these immigrants from being alienated, it was decided to build a church, and Reverend Hovsep Vartabed Sarajian was directed to undertake the necessary negotiations for that purpose.

[from the minutes of the Worcester Armenian Church Trustees – February 2, 1890]

With that momentous decision, the Founding Fathers of this parish, along with its newly appointed pastor Reverend Father Hovsep Vartabed Sarajian, undertook the incredible challenge to establish the parish and build the first Armenian Church in America. The desire and determination of the Armenian immigrants of Worcester to have their own house of worship stemmed not only from the circumstances and strange environment of their newly adopted country but also from the nature of the Armenian people themselves. Instinctively, Armenians have striven to protect and preserve their religious freedom, practice their Apostolic Christian faith, and fervently assert their identity.

Within a year, money was raised through donations and borrowing, land was purchased, and the church edifice was constructed. The first sanctuary on Laurel Street in Worcester was consecrated on January 18, 1891. That being Christmas Day according to the Gregorian calendar (followed in Jerusalem and equivalent to January 6 of the Julian calendar), the church was named the Church of Our Saviour.