On April 11, 2025, Khachkar Studios formally announced a performance-based  religious support initiative that could serve as a turning point for U.S. Armenian  churches. The multimedia studio, known for its work in Christian role model  development, has committed more than US$10+ million to a pilot program focused  on growing church attendance, strengthening community engagement, and  promoting excellence in ministry. 

The initiative’s central metric is Non-Holiday Badarak Faithful (“The Faithful”) — congregants who attend Armenian church services on non-holiday Sundays. This  figure, dubbed KPI #1 by the studio, currently sits at an alarming low. According to  research conducted in 2024, only 13,000 Armenians in the U.S. regularly attend  such services, representing less than 3% of the total Armenian population and  ranking among the lowest of 24 Orthodox Christian groups. 

In response, Khachkar Studios has developed a rigorous performance framework to  identify 37 Pilot Churches that demonstrate the strongest potential to increase “The  Faithful” through eight church-driven activities. These include Good News media  creation, Bible study hour expansion, church leader training, and family outreach.  Each activity will receive financial support ranging from US$2,000 to US$9,600  annually, and each church may receive between US$40,000 and US$80,000 per  year depending on size and scope. 

What sets this initiative apart is its insistence on accountability. Churches will be  asked to evaluate every decision through one primary question: What is the Social  Return on Investment (SROI), and how does it rank among both Armenian and non Armenian benchmarks? This results-based model aligns spiritual mission with  managerial acumen and positions churches as high-impact investments. 

The philosophy behind this strategy draws from the biblical parable of the talents,  emphasizing that those entrusted with more must also be held to higher standards.  The Pilot Briefing Packet, published in April 2025, includes a consolidated financial  statement of all 164 U.S. Armenian churches, anonymized church rankings, and 10  of the most important analyses from Khachkar’s two-year research archive. 

Addressing a second performance gap — the lack of impactful media spending by  Armenian religious institutions — Khachkar Studios will invest more in Christian  media promotion than all other U.S. Armenian churches combined, with a media  arsenal spanning seven workstreams: podcasts, short videos, music, news,  analyses, events, and written content. The multiple of relative spending is 25 times  all other U.S. Armenian churches combined. 

Designed for sustainability, the initiative estimates a manageable six-hour weekly  commitment, distributed among multiple volunteers, to execute its eight church  activities effectively.

This project is backed by the Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation, JI-Analytics,  and Japonica Partners. It promises not just financial support, but a strategic blueprint  for faith renewal — a fusion of Gospel truth and modern stewardship.