The UAECNE Holds Its 78th General Assembly In the Presence of Reverend Dr. Paul Haidostian
Due regional issues, the three-day 78th General Assembly of the the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE) was changed to a one-day meeting, which took place on 30 June 2025 at the First Armenian Evangelical Church (Beirut), and those unable to travel joined online. There were 35 voting members in all (in person and online), plus guests and honorary members.
The Assembly began with Prayer, hymns, Bible Readings and a reflection led by Mr. George Sahili, after which Reverend Dr. Paul Haidostian, Acting President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE), President of Haigazian University in Lebanon, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) for the Evangelical Family, welcomed those present. Rev. Dr. Haroutune Selimian was chosen to be the Chair of the 78th General Assembly, Rev. Hagop Akbasharian as Clerk and Pastor Assadour Mncherian as Vice-Clerk.
The greetings sent by Ecclesiastical partners were recognized, and excerpts from Dr. Peter Makari’s (Global Ministries Board) greetings were read in Armenian by Rev. Nishan Bakalian. The Assembly also listened to Rev. Dr. Michel Aghamalian’s recorded greetings from Tehran, noting that he was invited to be the preacher for this year’s General Assembly.
In his report Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian mentioned his administrative and official activities, and in particular recounted those opportunities and challenges which the Union and all of its churches are facing. The Chair of the Central Committee, Rev. Raffi Messerlian, presented his report, giving an overview of the activities of the Central Committee over the past year (2024-2025).
As the reports were printed in the booklet, only a few of them received special attention during the Assembly:
1. Rev. Selimian gave an overview of the activities in Syria by way of a video presentation;
2. Mr. Garbis Deyirmenjian gave a brief visual presentation of the current projects of KCHAG’s (Lebanon) Construction Committee;
3. Pastor Datev Basmajian, Youth Worker of the Christian Endeavor Executive Committee presented a video of the youth work;
4. Mr. Deyirmenjian displayed the budgetary figures on-screen to the delegates.
Names of the departed were read and Rev. Nishan Bakalian offered a prayer in their memory.
As well, the elections for Central Committee members (beginning January 2026) were conducted by secret ballot.
Rev. Dr. Haidostian offered the report of the Ordination Committee, after which those present heard two testimonies of faith and calling:
1. Mr. Samuel Mayilyan - who is offering spiritual ministry to Armenians in Thessaloniki, to be a licensed preacher of the Union;
2. Mr. George Sahili - who is a recent graduate of NEST, and has been called to do two years of service in the four Armenian Evangelical churches of Beirut as a licensed preacher of the Union…
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