California’s oldest Armenian religious institution will mark 115 years of ministry at its annual autumn food bazaar.

First Armenian Presbyterian Church (FAPC) in Fresno will celebrate the milestone at its Merchant’s Lunch and Country Store on Thursday, November 15, 2012. The annual harvest season commemoration is open to the public and will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Church Campus, 430 South First Street at historic Huntington Boulevard.

Reverend Paul Irwin is the newly-designated Interim Senior Pastor of the Church, Reverend Mike Mekredijian is Associate Pastor, Reverend Philip C. Garo, Jr. is Associate Pastor for Youth and Children’s Ministries, and Maryvonne Gagliardi and Missy Karabian Statler are Co-Chairs of the 2012 Merchant’s Lunch.

Chartered by 40 immigrants in a rented hall on July 25, 1897, FAPC today is a multigenerational, multilingual congregation drawn from the Old and New Words. FAPC is a member congregation of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America. The 2012 theme of the congregation is “A New Mission.”