Hratch Tchilingirian (2014) "The Armenian Apostolic Church" in Lucian Leustean (ed.) Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century.  Routledge. (Amazon)

Armenia's independence in 1991 turned a new page in the life of the Armenian nation and provided the Church an opportunity to renew herself and reinvigorate her mission. The realities at the beginning of the 21st century in a post-Soviet Armenia provide both challenges and opportunities to the Armenian Church.  This chapter discusses the key issues in the Armenian Church today: the role of the church in a post-Soviet society and in a country still in social, political and economic transition; the challenges and complexities in Church-State relations since independence; and the critical questions in the Church's relationship with the Armenian communities spread around the world, the Diaspora. The. Twenty years since independence, while the physical rebuilding of churches and religious institutions continue, the religious hierarchy continues to struggle, like their counterparts in other former Communist countries, to make the Church relevant again in the life of Armenian society. 

The Volume

Lucian Leustean (ed.) Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century

Routledge, March 2014 (Amazon)

This book provides an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of Eastern Christian churches in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia and the US. Written by leading international scholars in the field, it examines both Eastern Orthodox and Oriental churches from the end of the Cold War until the present day. The book addresses a number of key issues, including the religious revival after the fall of communism; relations between churches and the political realm; religious education; monastic life; theological publications; and inter-ecclesiastical dialogue at national and international levels. It goes on to analyse new challenges faced by Eastern Christian churches, such as religious minorities; religious boundaries and migration; relations with the European Union; and, the impact of globalisation on Eastern Christianity in the twenty-first century.