It's just the latest milestone for the congregation, which split from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in a microcosm of the nationwide philosophical schism of the mid-2000s that saw congregations in the valley and around the country leave the Episcopal Church and align themselves with the Anglican Church.

The Anglicans differ over doctrinal issues including the interpretation of scripture, the ordination of women and gays and the blessing of same-sex unions.

In recent years, a number of Afghan Muslims have been coming to faith in Christ in Iran and in the surrounding region through the ministry of Elam's Iranian churches. Most Afghans speak Persian (Farsi), because a major language in Afghanistan is Dari, which is derived from Persian.

Reasons for growth

According to Christian organization Operation World, the Iranian church is the fastest growing church in the world.

The point of religious voluntarism was that people could respond to the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit to carry out Christian mission and service without being formally established by the church hierarchy. They looked for validation and recognition not from the bishops, but from other believers. At the start of CMS no bishops would ordain people to serve with CMS so CMS began with pastors from Germany.

"In an era where a pro-traditional marriage stance can close your business, drain your savings, and bury you in social media hate, every one of these churches in this last group takes an absolutist stance against gay marriage and the ordination of gay clergy. The currents of social change are flowing downstream and with them, a number of Christian churches, which perhaps coincidentally are also shrinking in size.