The Most Important Seven: Why Small Numbers Can Produce Big Change for Armenian Churches

Seven can look like a discouraging number. It can also represent an extraordinary opportunity.

Khachkar Studios’ research estimates that of every 1,000 young Armenian-American women, only approximately seven attend an Armenian church on a typical non-holiday Sunday.

The immediate reaction to such a low starting point might be resignation. Khachkar Studios believes the better response is measurable action.

When participation begins at an exceptionally low level, reaching even a relatively small number of additional people can produce substantial percentage improvement.

That is one reason weekly Transparency, Accountability, and Performance – T•A•P – can become particularly valuable for Armenian church revitalization.

Instead of waiting years to determine whether broad strategies are succeeding, Armenian church leaders can observe whether specific actions produce specific results.

Suppose a church begins personal outreach to young Armenians in its community. How many people were contacted? How many received a personal invitation? How many responded? How many attended? How many returned the following week?

Those numbers create a chain connecting activity to results. They also make improvement visible.

Of every 1,000 young Armenian-American women, approximately 7 currently attend an Armenian church on a non-holiday Sunday. Each additional young woman reached therefore matters.

If 7 becomes 14, attendance doubles. If 7 becomes 28, it quadruples. The starting number is painfully small, but precisely because it is so small, measurable change is possible–and should be demanded.

This changes the way the challenge can be viewed. The objective is enormous: revitalizing Armenian Christianity and substantially increasing participation among a generation largely absent from Armenian churches.

But progress occurs person by person. One invitation. One visit. One young woman returning. One family bringing another family. One successful outreach initiative replicated by another church.

Weekly measurement captures those small changes before they disappear into annual statistics.

It can also identify where progress is not occurring. Transparency reveals the result. Accountability establishes responsibility for improving it. Performance asks whether the strategy actually worked. This approach does not suggest that a person’s faith can be represented by a number.

It recognizes instead that every number represents a person. That distinction is essential. The goal is not moving a percentage on a spreadsheet. The goal is bringing more people into an Armenian Christian community and helping create a new generation of Faithful.

Seven is therefore both a warning and a starting point. The next question is whether seven becomes eight, 14, 28, and eventually many more.

With weekly T•A•P, the Armenian community does not have to wait years to find out. It can start finding out next Sunday.

Speaking truth to power, Biblically inspired, world-class benchmarking and management excellence bring Transparency, Accountability, and Performance (T•A•P) to a power structure that has failed Armenian Christians for generations.