Click here to access the updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Armenia. As I noted in a post several years ago, the Church in Armenia holds the distinction as the only former Soviet republic to have had a stake discontinued, which was primarily due to local leadership development problems and the mishandling of finances. Additionally, the Church in Armenia also struggles from very low member activity rates due to quick-baptism tactics implemented in the 2000s when the bulk of Church membership joined the Church. Convert retention has markedly improved in the 2010s due to changes in mission policies, albeit the number of converts who join the Church has significantly decreased. No other nation in the Middle East or Caucasus has as many members, congregations, and missionaries as Armenia. Moreover, no other nation in the region has Church congregations as accessible to the population as Armenia. See below for the Future Prospects section of this article.
Emigration of Armenian Church members and low member activity rates stunt greater church growth. Continued and consistent implementation of appropriate pre-baptismal preparation is necessary to break low retaining patterns of the past and foster long-term indigenous growth, and retain a Church presence in cities where congregations have been organized. Greater member-missionary efforts will be required to expand national outreach and organize additional congregations. The greatest opportunities for growth appear to exist in the Yerevan metropolitan area, where the Church has discontinued several branches in the past decade to consolidate active membership into congregations with larger numbers of active members. A stake in Yerevan may be reestablished once local leadership has been adequately self-sufficient and accountable to warrant these responsibilities.
Matt, thank you for sharing these latest updated country profiles. I am still very much looking forward to your analysis on what has changed in terms of the top ten nations with the strongest Church presence without a temple as a result of what was announced last month in General Conference. Keep up the great work, and thanks for all your efforts in this regard.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, the Church News shared the following report indicating that the Nelsons and Christoffersons have departed for their Southeast Asia Tour:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-11-14/president-russell-nelson-global-ministry-asia-166887
I will be providing full coverage of the major highlights of that tour on my blog, so anyone here who may be interested in following along can do so at the following web address:
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/
My thanks once again to you all, and especially to you, Matt, for continuing to allow me to share such updates here. Again, Matt, keep up the great work, and thanks for your continued efforts to keep us all informed on Church growth developments.
On a sidenote, Glendale California has a large Armenian population with an Armenian speaking group with one of the English Wards. There is talk of having a separate Armenian speaking branch at some point.
ReplyDeleteWas there at one point a branch or has it always been a group. My grandparents had an Armenian friend in Salt Lake (named after President Booth's wife, she was born in Syria and her parents had joined the Church before the Turks forced relocation south), who served a mission in southern California. My grandparents told me she had worked with the Armenian speaking branch, but this may have been imprecise terminology.
DeleteAnd, as I have mentioned previously, at one point in my current ward, an Armenian brother was our home teacher (before they changed over to ministering). He was a good man.I don't remember his name at the moment, so I am not sure he is still in the ward, but at one point he talked about how his family converted to the Church. If all Armenians were as open to the gospel as that man's family was, the Church would have no issues expanding in Armenia. That said, I feel horrible that, in so many places, governmental red-tape or political strife is preventing the Church from expanding the way it could. President Nelson hit the nail right on the head: we have much work to do. And I feel it will be the faith of Church members worldwide that will serve to change things for the better. Hopefully that will be able to happen, especially in Armenia.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOne of my old home teaching companions married an Armenian lady. She was born in Azerbaijan, fled the pogroms in Baku, then went to Russia due to a poor economy in Armenia and then came to the US for college. She joined the Church here in Michigan.
ReplyDeleteI served in so cal in the late 90's and there was an Armenian branch then in Glendale, sad to see it go. I think the stake got dissolved and is now with la crescenta
ReplyDeleteThere is hope for the first Christian nation.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Eduardo! Amen. I wanted to mention here a brand new development: After literal hours and days involving a lot of hard work, I have finally been able to publish a three-part series featuring the initial version of my predictions for the April 2020 General Conference. Anyone who would like to do so is welcome to read and comment on any of those posts on my blog:
ReplyDeletehttps://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/
My thanks to you all in advance for your feedback, and to Matt for his continued willingness to allow me to share such updates here.