The faith, doctrine, and dogma of the Armenian Church are based upon Apostolic teachings, Holy Tradition, and the written Word of God.

The Nicene Creed is the main statement of faith in the Armenian Church. It was adopted by the ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. St. Arisdagés, the son of St. Gregory the Illuminator, represented the Armenian Church at the council.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of God the Father, only-begotten, that is of the substance of the Father.

God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten and not made; of the same nature of the Father, by whom all things came into being in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible;

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, took body, became man, was born perfectly of the holy Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.

By whom he took body, soul and mind and everything that is in man, truly and not in semblance.

He suffered and was crucified and was buried and rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven with the same body and sat at the right hand of the Father.

He is to come with the same body and with the glory of the Father to judge the living and the dead; of His kingdom there is no end.

We believe also in the Holy Spirit, the uncreated and the perfect; who spoke through the Law and through the Prophets and through the Gospels;

Who came down upon the Jordan, preached through the apostles and dwelled in the saints.

We believe also in only one catholic and apostolic holy Church;

In one baptism with repentance for the remission and forgiveness of sins;

In the resurrection of the dead, in the everlasting judgment of souls and bodies, in the kingdom of heaven and in the life eternal.

The Mission of the Armenian Church According to St. Gregory the Illuminator

"Thus they [the Apostles] preached throughout the world, “to illumine all people who were to come into the world [Jn. 1:9],” to give saving repentance to all, to wash all men and deliver them from the bonds of darkness by baptism, to seal all nations as the band of Christ, to make the Spirit of God dwell in men’s hearts, to unite and join them to the love of the Son of God, that the heart of all might cry as one, and to unite all the world in saying: “Abba, Father” [Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6]; that the name of servitude might be taken away, and the name of adoption be placed on them by the grace of Christ [Gal. 4:7; Rom. 8:15]; to enable them to eat the flesh of the Son of God and drink the life-giving blood [Jn. 6:53; 1 Cor. 11:26], that thereby they might bring all the world into the inheritance of Christ, to become heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ [Rom. 8:17]."

The Teaching of Saint Gregory. Translation, Commentary and Introduction by Robert W. Thomson. Revised edition. (New Rochelle, NY: St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, 2001) 223.

Mission Statement of the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern)

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 the common life in 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.