“Armenian Church” redirects here. For other uses, see Armenian Church (disambiguation).

The Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenian: Հայ Առաքելական Եկեղեցի, Hay Aṙak’elakan Yekeghetsi)^[a] is the national church of the Armenian people. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian communities.^[3] Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in the early 4th century.^[4] The church claims to have originated in the missions of Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus in the 1st century.

It is sometimes referred to as the Armenian Orthodox Church or Gregorian Church. The latter is not preferred by the church itself, as it views the Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus as its founders, and St. Gregory the Illuminator as merely the first official governor of the church. It is also simply known as the Armenian Church.