Your Beatitude:
I bid you grace and peace in the
name of our gracious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who revealed
to us for the salvation of the world the mystery of God’s
steadfast love from generation to generation.
To you and all our sisters and
brothers in Christ in the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, I
bring warmest greetings on behalf of the five million members of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The people of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America were honored by the invitation in
2003 to send a representative to events marking the 1700th
anniversary of the Armenian Church. The Reverend Lowell G. Almen,
secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
traveled as my representative to help mark that significant
milestone of Armenian witness and service to the glory of God.
The theme of that anniversary
observance, “17 Centuries of Walking in the Light of Our Lord,”
was a most profound one—especially as we reflect on the high
price of that walk for the Armenian Church.
The blessed church father,
Tertullian, reminded us that the blood of the martyrs is the
seed of the Church. That has been true again and again for the
people of the Armenian Church. Political, ethnic, and religious
persecution tragically occurred in many periods of the Armenian
Church’s history. Even as recently as the past century, genocide
claimed multitudes of Armenians. Yet, in the face of such
tragedy, the courageous witness of the faithful persisted in
heroic ways.
I thank you for receiving us so
graciously in this setting. This delegation is honored to have
the privilege of greeting you.
For your untiring efforts as a
servant of Christ, the people of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America offer prayers of gratitude. We thank God, in the
words of the Apostle Paul, “because of your sharing in the
Gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:5).
Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
