Armenia is well-known as the first dominion to enshrine Christianity as state religion, adopted in 301 AD upon the baptism of Arsacid King Drtad III by St. Gregory the Illuminator. The latter became the first Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the national church of Armenia and part of the Oriental Orthodox Communion. Consequently, Armenian ethno-nationality and Christian faith became primordially entwined. However, historical contingencies, combined with differences among Armenians within and without the Apostolic Church, have made Armenian Christianity more multi-faceted than most non-Armenians commonly realize.

A cluster of three institutionally distinct Armenian churches in New York City, within walking distance of each other, illustrates the grand historical turns of Armenian Christianity. The churches will be examined in the chronological order of their institutional affiliations: St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, St. Illuminator’s Armenian Apostolic Cathedral for the Holy See of Cilicia, and Armenian Evangelical Church of New York for the broader Armenian Evangelical reform movement. These diverging affiliations will reveal the arcs of continuity and change within Armenian Christianity that have unfolded between homeland and diaspora.