RANGOON — Pigeons flutter on the sidewalk outside, and well-wishers lean against a wall with corn kernels to feed them, but for the most part, this colonial-era church with a small white bell tower remains quiet on weekdays, tucked away in a leafy compound of downtown Rangoon.
It is only once every week, on Sunday at 10 am, that the bell tolls loudly to herald the start of a morning service, bringing the sleepy brick building to life.
Welcome to the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. John the Baptist, the oldest Christian place of worship in town.
Built in 1862 and consecrated one year later, the church at the corner of Merchant and Bo Aung Kyaw streets was erected by the Armenian community that was residing in Rangoon at the time.
Their descendants arrived in the 17th century from Iran, where they had settled after fleeing the Ottoman Empire. From there, they followed trade routes to Burma by way of British India. In 1881, a census by the colonial administration revealed that there were 466 Armenians living in the country, and a decade later that number had grown to 1,295.
But today the church at the corner of the two busy streets is struggling to keep its congregation going, with a small number of worshippers turning up each week. Of these, few trace their roots back to the community that founded the building 152 years ago. Indeed, the last full Armenian in Rangoon died last year.
Only 18 people attended a recent Sunday service, and most of the 14 pews inside the prayer hall were left vacant.
“Me and my dad are the only regular worshippers at the church,” Rachel Minus, who is part Armenian, told The Irrawaddy afterward, adding that her relatives joined sometimes.
Her father, Richard Minus, 60, said he was saddened by the low weekly turnout. “The larger the congregation we have, the better it is for the church,” he said.
When he was a child, the church was packed with Armenian worshippers who came to listen to Armenian priests, and after evening prayers on Christmas the group would head over to the nearby Strand Hotel for a holiday feast.
The current pastor, Rev. John Felix, confirmed that his current congregation was small, but added that the church still played an important role. “It is the only Armenian church in Burma that is still functional,” he told The Irrawaddy.
Now, however, the church is set to receive a high-level visitor who could help it reestablish ties with the community to which it belongs.
On Tuesday, Catholicos Karekin II, the supreme patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church—one of the most ancient Christian communities in the world—arrived in Burma for the first time.
“One of the primary objectives of His Holiness’s six-day visit to the Far East is to help strengthen the Armenian Church and maintain the Armenian heritage and legacy in Myanmar [Burma], to [make] Armenians aware of Myanmar and its people, and vice versa,” the Armenian leader’s delegation said in a statement.
Coming Together
According to Burmese historian Thant Myint-U, the Armenians were once a vital part of the Burmese political and business landscape.
“Famous Armenians served as government ministers under the Konbaung kings and were prominent businessmen up through the 1950s,” he told The Irrawaddy.
But most Armenians fled the country during World War II, and afterward many did not return. Even more left for good in 1962, when the military regime led by former dictator Gen. Ne Win seized power, kicked out foreigners and confiscated their businesses.
Despite pressure from the government, some stayed behind. Rachel’s grandfather, Alfred Simon Minus, was among them.
“I have no idea how many Armenian descendants remained in Rangoon, not to mention the whole country,” she said, adding that she hoped Karekin II’s visit would bring Armenian descendants together. “I think they will come to pay homage to the patriarch. If so, at least we’ll know how many Armenians are still here.”
During the patriarch’s visit, the church in Rangoon will hold a ceremony to install a commemorative blue plaque as part of larger project by the Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) to highlight colonial architecture. Despite its age, the church has never been officially recognized as a heritage site, though it is one of the most functional colonial-era buildings in the city.
Since August, the YHT, a heritage preservation NGO, has installed plaques outside sites of architectural and historical significance in Rangoon, with descriptions in Burmese and English languages to help the Burmese people and visitors appreciate the city’s colorful history. The Armenian church will be the third building to receive a plaque.
“We wanted to install the plaque while he was here,” Thant Myint-U, who founded the YHT, said of Karekin II’s visit. If preserved, he added, the church could become not only a tourist destination, but also a place to remember the Armenian contribution to Burmese history.
Richard Minus hopes the patriarch’s visit will help the church in the long run.
“I will ask him to send us an Armenian priest,” he said.
His daughter Rachel says she has never attended a service with an Armenian priest, and that the service this Saturday, to be led by the patriarch, will be among the most memorable events of her life.
“I am very excited,” the 34-year-old said.
“Even though I’m part Armenian, I am never reluctant to reveal that I’m of Armenian descendent. The patriarch’s visit means a lot, not only to me, but for the church and our future generation.”
