Window Quarterly
Vol. 3, No. 1, 1992
Copyright 1992

[Permission is granted to use, print, reproduce this article 
provided the 
following acknowledgment is given:  From Window 
Quarterly 2, 4 (1992);  
ACRAG c. 1992. 

***

----------------------------------------------------
THE END OF THE BEGINNING
The Church in Armenia

by Hratch Tchilingirian

It is the end of the beginning-the euphoria that began with 
the freedom and 
independence of Armenia is over. Instead, hardship, struggle 
and anxiety 
have become part of everyday living in Armenia.  For better 
or worse,  a new 
era, a new "world order"  has commenced in the history of 
the Armenian 
nation.
	
Against this backdrop, in the next few pages, I will present a 
series of 
conversations which I  had in Armenia during a March 1992 
visit.  The 
conversations draw a wide perspective on the post-
independence 
development of religious freedom in Armenia and its 
ramifications in the life 
of the Armenian Church.  
	
Like the new Republic of Armenia, the dynamics and 
development of events 
in the Church are fascinating and yet at the same time 
depressing and 
hopeless. 
	
Like every institution in the new Republic, the Church also 
finds itself 
unprepared and 
inadequate to serve the basic needs of the people.  
	
However, the church is the only institution which has not 
collapsed.  The 
irony is that unless it collapses, it will not revive.  The old 
must fall in order 
to build the new one.  The institutional church is the Berlin 
of Armenia-the 
Wall must come down if we ever want to see the light  
behind it.  
	
While changes in political conventions and structure and 
uncertainties in a 
new country allow mistakes to be made, the incompetence 
and complacency 
of leadership are more harmful and devastating to an 
institution than any of 
its shortcomings. Leaders are not only accountable to those 
who they lead, 
but they are accountable to history as well.
	
The conversations presented in the following pages speak for 
themselves.  
As a whole, they enumerate very concrete and specific 
problems.  The voice 
of desperation could be heard in all  of them and yet the 
question remains 
whether anything is being done?
	
While each institution in Armenia is attempting to tackle its 
daily problems, 
the church is 
dormant, except for some incidental or ad hoc panacea 
dispensed to issues 
that are bound to reoccur, if not treated seriously.
	
Many would say that identifying the problems in the church 
is the easiest 
thing to do.  I 
would add that finding solutions is even easier.  The 
difficulty is accepting 
the reality, i.e. the fact that we have problems that need 
immediate attention.  
By problems I do not mean the Catholics and the Protestants 
or the cults.  
They are peripheral problems and will remain peripheral if 
we do our job.  
By problems I mean the apostolic mission of the church vis a 
vis the 
hierarchs, the clergy and the faithful.
	
Today, the urgency to move from a discretionary leadership 
to a 
participatory leadership cannot be underestimated.  The 
deficiencies of 
individual idiosyncrasy can and must be overcomed by 
collective "team" 
leadership.  Around the globe, the personality cult of the 
Cold War era is 
quickly changing into "team" effort.  As the rapid changes in 
the world 
constantly redefine the variables of leadership, the success of 
leaders are 
being measured not by what they can do individually, but by 
what kind of a 
team and ministry they can create.  Perhaps the beginning of 
this process is 
the resurrection of the Synod of Bishops and/or the National  
Ecclesiastical 
Assembly.  Unless issues are discussed on the highest level 
of the Church, 
we will remain ill for a very long time. The Armenian 
Church is expected to 
cater to the needs of 
several million Armenians.  As such, we cannot continue 
behaving as if we 
are running a parish or a small diocese.  
	
The time to face our problems is next week, next month, in 
three months the 
most... not 
next year, next anniversary, next decade.... 

***
===========================================
========
              _               _
   _   _   _ |_|    ___     _| |  ___   _   _   _
  | | | | | | _    / _ \  / _  | / _ \ | | | | | |
  | |_| |_| || |_ | | | || |_| || |_| || |_| |_| |
  \_________/\___||_| |_| \___/  \___/ \_________/

          View Of The Armenian Church 
===========================================
========

===================================================
              _               _
   _   _   _ |_|    ___     _| |  ___   _   _   _
  | | | | | | _    / _ \  / _  | / _ \ | | | | | |
  | |_| |_| || |_ | | | || |_| || |_| || |_| |_| |
  \_________/\___||_| |_| \___/  \___/ \_________/

          View Of The Armenian Church 
===================================================