$100 Million Push Aims to Bridge Armenian Church with Digital-First Generations

In a world where connection happens in milliseconds, the Armenian Church in the United States finds itself struggling to keep pace.  Weekly attendance is in sharp decline, generations of participation have collapsed, and digital engagement is almost nonexistent. Khachkar Studios is confronting this challenge head-on with a sweeping, $100 million initiative designed to rebuild Armenian Christian life in America—not by clinging to the past, but by engaging the future.

At the heart of this effort is the “U.S. Armenian Christian Ecosystem 12 Body Parts” model.  Developed through 69 years of historical data, the model breaks down the Church’s functions into 12 Body Parts, such as philanthropic support, religious content across the spectrum of media, regular Sunday attendance, school students, bible studies, management, and leadership training.  

The findings were dire: 11 out of 12 Body Parts are underperforming. Armenian churches in the U.S. are operating without measurable impact in critical areas and are performing in the bottom decile of their peer groups.  In short, the Church is structured for a world that no longer exists.

To address this, Khachkar Studios is partnering with up to 37 pilot churches and ministries.  Each will receive between $300,000 and $400,000 in multi-year support to execute targeted reforms chosen from an eight-activity menu.  These include launching high value-add role model led digital storytelling teams, building online Bible literacy platforms, creating explainer video series, and redesigning lay leadership tracks for modern relevance.

But this isn’t a passive grant program.  Each participating church will be paired with a dedicated senior management team, contributing 5,000 hours of implementation support.  These experts will help design performance dashboards, guide change management, and troubleshoot real-time challenges to keep the reform on track.

Success will be measured against three main benchmarks. First, to double weekly church attendance from 12,894 to 27,847. Second, to increase daily Bible readership from 1,000 to 41,423—a transformational leap toward personal spiritual engagement. Third, achieve a 6.1x SROI (social return on investment).

To amplify these reforms, Khachkar’s “Good News” initiative will generate Christian digital content at a scale 25 times greater than all Armenian religious institutions in the U.S. combined.  Designed with micro-group targeting, the content will include seven “Good News” workstreams:  1. Short-clips, 2. Podcasts, 3. Analyses, 4. Written Content, 5. Events, 6. News, and 7. Music.—all designed to break through the noise of daily life and reach the heart of digital users.

Khachkar’s message is clear: the Armenian Church can survive—but only if it evolves.  And with $100 million, a proven model, and deep structural support, evolution is finally on the table.