On the first day of July 1846, the Evangelical Armenians in Constantinople, to the number of forty (three of whom were females), came together to organize themselves into a Church.
The plan of organization, as drawn up at the above-mentioned meeting, was read and explained, article by article, and those present gave their solemn assent to the whole, and with perfect unanimity adopted it as theirs, and were thus constituted into THE FIRST EVANGELICAL ARMENIAN CHRUCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
There were present as witnesses of the act, besides the missionaries of the Board, the two Scotch brethren and an Armenian brother from Nicomedia, and another from Adabazar.
After the names of the church members had been recorded, a pastor was chosen by ballot, and without previous consultation, the choice fell unanimously on Mr. Apisoghom Khachadoorian.
The other church officers were then elected, and the meeting was adjourned. Although the whole had occupied from four to five hours, the deepest interest was maintained throughout; much tenderness of feeling was manifested, and many eyes were suffused with tears.
In one week from that time, the candidate was publicly ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry, as pastor of the newly formed Church.
The ecclesiastical council invited by the Church to perform this office consisted of the missionaries of the Board resident at Constantinople, and the Rev. Mr. Allen, of the mission of the Free Church of Scotland to the Jews of the capital.
The pastor elect was examined in the presence of the Church as to his piety, his views in entering the ministry, on the doctrines of the Gospel, church government, the sacraments, and the duties of the pastoral office; and his replies throughout were such as to give the highest satisfaction.
Although he had not enjoyed the advantages of so thorough a course of study and discipline as are accessible to the student in theology in America; yet, besides having to receive an education at the school of Pastimaljian—the best in the Armenian nation—he had been for years in constant intercourse with the missionaries, had attended courses of exegetical and theological lectures delivered by them, and had received much private instruction from their lips.
But, what is more than all, he seemed eminently led and taught by the Spirit of God, and he possessed a deep and experimental knowledge of the Scriptures; and even his enemies were constrained, not only to respect his talents but also to acknowledge that he was a man without guile.
His-clear perception of evangelical truth, his power of argumentation, his impressiveness of manner, his superior judgment, his boldness and earnestness, and his general weight of character—all sanctified by a pervading spirit of piety – marked him out as having been raised of God for the times in which he lived, and the very post he occupied.
Those who were present at his ordination, will not soon forget the deep and solemn emotion he manifested on that occasion. He seemed almost overwhelmed with a view of the responsibilities of the station to which he was so unexpectedly called, and during the whole ordaining prayer his tears flowed profusely, and a trembling sense of his unworthiness well-nigh prostrated him upon the earth.
A scene so new as a Protestant ordination in the capital of the Turkish Empire drew forth a crowd to our chapel, several of whom were of the Patriarch’s party. The strictest silence, however, prevailed, and the most fixed and solemn attention was given to every part of the service.
Whatever may have been the estimate placed upon these transactions by the worldly and the unfriendly, to the man of faith they were big with importance. A vine was now planted by God’s right hand, which is destined to grow and spread forth its branches, to the north and the south, to the east and the west, until it shall cover the whole land, and bless all the people with its delicious and abundant fruit.
As an act of justice to themselves, the members of this new Church lost no time in setting forth before the world the declaration of their faith, and their reasons for the step they had taken.
A pamphlet was issued in the Armenian language, containing the “Confession of Faith and Covenant of the Evangelical Armenian Church of Constantinople,” preceded by a brief statement of how they had been forced to organize themselves into a church by the compulsory measures of the Patriarch.
In the course of the same summer, churches were formed on the same basis, in Nicomedia, Adabazar, and Trebizond, with the most evident good results, although the original number of members was, in each case, small.
It is not known that the least objection was ever made to these organizations by the Turkish government or any of its officers. Indeed, the sympathies of the Mohammedans were with the persecuted, rather than their enemies.
The Armenians were often sufficiently influential with the Turks to deter a public officer, for a season, from vindicating the cause of a suffering Protestant; but the instances were many in which the persecuted found protection under the wing of some friendly Musulman, and nothing was more common than to hear the latter maintain that the Protestants were right, and the Armenians wrong.
The use of pictures in worship, the invocation of saints, and the doctrines of transubstantiation and priestly absolution, are as abhorrent to the Koran as they are to the Bible.
What occurred in Adabazar about the time of the organization of the Evangelical Church is a fair specimen of the feelings cherished generally, and often publicly avowed by Mohammedans, who have intimately known the Protestants.
Some of the brethren had been summoned to the governor’s palace, where were assembled a large number of Armenian and Greek magnates, as well as the leading Turks of the town; and they were required by the bishop to give a public promise that they would have no intercourse with Mr. Wood, who was then in the place.
They firmly answered that by the nation they were Armenians, and by faith Evangelical Christians, and regarding their civil relations, they were obedient and faithful subjects of the Sultan.
“And now,” said they, “if it is wrong to visit a teacher of like faith with ourselves because he is an American, show us that it is forbidden in the Bible, or by a law of the Sultan, and we will submit; otherwise we cannot consent to deprive ourselves of the benefit derived from intercourse with him.”
All the Turks present expressed their approbation of the ground they assumed, and the judge said, “We cannot interfere to protect you from ex-communication, but so long as you abide by the declaration you have now made, we will protect you civilly. Your goods shall be as our goods; your houses as our houses; and your persons as our persons. Go in peace.”
Rev. H. G. O. Dwight
Taken from: Mano Chil
