The Popularization of the Church: From Ceremonial Tradition to Living Reality

VAROUJ TENBELIAN

For centuries, the church has played an exceptional role in the life of the Armenian people. It has been not only a place of prayer, but also a school, a cultural center, a guardian of national memory and one of the important pillars of collective identity. Especially in the period of the absence of statehood, the church has often assumed roles that usually belong to state or public institutions. For this reason, the Armenian people’s connection to the church is not only religious, but also historical, cultural and emotional. However, in the modern world, an important question is increasingly being raised: how can the church and faith be made a more popular, participatory and living reality without losing their spiritual depth?

First of all, it should be clarified that democratizing the church does not mean eliminating its spiritual authority or turning it into a simple social club, but rather how can the church become more receptive to the voice, concerns, and participation of the people. Because many people today have the impression that the church has distanced itself from the everyday person and has begun to live in its own closed circle, and only “Abisoghom Aghas” and some monopolists seem to have a place in church affairs. When the believer no longer feels like a player, faith gradually turns into a habit, and the church into an institution.

One of the first steps in democratization is the issue of language. For many, the church language is difficult to understand today, especially for the younger generations. Of course, the church language is an important part of our cultural heritage and should not simply be eliminated. However, it is possible to explain the liturgy, sermons, and theological ideas in more accessible ways, so that the people not only hear, but also understand and live the faith from within. When faith ceases to be just a ritual and becomes a conscious experience, it becomes more alive and effective. Of course, the allusion goes to the script, but not only to the script, but also to the speech, the style of transmitting and loving the faith. The word also refers to the language used by the clergy, its content, accessibility, and potential to move souls. The sermon should not only address biblical stories, but also to the issues that concern people today, from family troubles to social injustices.

The Popularization of the Church also requires wider participation. In many communities, decisions are made by small circles, while ordinary believers remain observers in the main. However, the church is not the property of the clergy alone, nor of a few secular monopolists. It is a community. When the people participate in cultural, educational, charitable and organizational life, the church becomes not a structure controlled from above, but a reality lived together. Neither our youth, nor the majority of our people are familiar with the assemblies that exist in the Armenian Church, nor with the transparency, nor with the methods of decision-making. And the greatest secret remains the representative nature of the assemblies. Who elects, who appoints, and which ones can be appointed? If all this did not have the claim to be in the name of the people and for the people, we would not give ourselves the right to speak about the internal issues of the church, but the issues mentioned are not internal. They are connected to the world of the people, they are in the name of the people and for the people, while a significant part of the people is gradually moving away from the spiritual church, at least not severing the connection with the ritual and festive church.

This is especially important in the case of young people. Many young people do not reject spirituality, but they move away from environments where they do not feel free to think, ask questions or find their place. The people’s church must be able to listen to young people, their concerns and the questions they have with the modern world. It must accept that faith does not deepen only through instructions and rhetorical speeches, but also through dialogue, trust and participation.

Popularizing faith also means bringing it back into people’s daily lives. Religion is often presented as just a matter of going to church or performing certain rituals. However, true faith is also a moral and social responsibility. When the church speaks about justice, poverty, emigration, the anxieties of youth or social injustices, it becomes closer to the real lives of people. Faith then ceases to be an abstract idea and becomes a lived experience.

Popularization also requires a certain degree of transparency and self-criticism. No institution can inspire trust if it remains completely closed to criticism. The Church has had great merits throughout history, but also mistakes and human weaknesses and shortcomings. When the institution dares to admit its mistakes and communicate more openly with the people, trust does not weaken, but deepens. For sincerity is many times more spiritual than the illusion of infallibility.