Khachkar Studios is betting that the next wave of church leadership won’t come from top-down mandates — but from grassroots excellence and data-informed mentoring. On April 11, 2025, the studio launched a $10+ million pilot program to equip Armenian churches in the U.S. with tools, funding, and strategy to grow both leaders and laity.
Thirty-seven churches have been selected for inclusion in the pilot, chosen for their potential to increase Non-Holiday Badarak Faithful (“The Faithful”) — the cornerstone of KPI #1. Only 13,000 Armenians currently attend such services — a critical gap this project aims to close.
Each church will receive $40,000–$80,000 annually to run eight structured activities: Bible study, outreach visits, role model development, and faith media creation among them. The Pilot Briefing Packet, published in April 2025, outlines all activities and benchmarks, including how SROI (Social Return on Investment) will be tracked and compared.
One key feature of the program is its commitment to shared leadership. With just six hours a week of time, distributed across parish-engaged individuals, churches are empowered to build collaborative ministries from the ground up.
Khachkar Studios is also investing in digital storytelling through seven workstreams including podcasts, short-form video, and music. Their budget exceeds the combined outreach efforts of all other Armenian American church groups by more than 25 times.
Backed by the Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation, JI-Analytics, and Japonica Partners, Khachkar Studios is building more than a pilot — it’s building a movement. The vision is clear: develop new leaders, multiply the faithful, and measure what matters.
