Shortage of clergy not easily solved

Published April 1, 2005 - Glendale News Press - Los Angeles Time IN THEORY Shortage of clergy not easily solved Q: There is reportedly a shortage of clergy in the Episcopal and Catholic churches, and the percentage of clergy 35 and younger is dropping. Why do you think this shortage has come about? Are you concerned? Has it affected you locally? What can be done about it? A: The Armenian Church also suffers a tremendous clergy shortage. However, unlike other churches, there is no need to speculate or guess at the reasons why. During the Armenian Genocide of 1915, the clergy were among the first to be slaughtered by the Turks. In fact, in a volume published in 1921, a scribe named Teotig documents the annihilation of over 1200 Armenian clergymen -- Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant -- detailing their suffering and ultimate martyrdom. The numbers tell the impact of the Genocide on the Church. In 1915, the ratio of clergy to souls was roughly one clergyman to 140 individuals. Today, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the ratio is 1 to 25,000. It's alarming and paralyzing. The current Armenian Catholicos, Garegin II, has made it a top priority to recruit and educate young men for service in the church and his efforts have been greatly assisted by the fall of communism. Seminaries have opened in Armenia, producing scores of priests annually. Unfortunately, the situation in the United States is not as promising. There is only one seminary in the U.S. training Armenian priests -- in New York. Only a handful of students are enrolled. The greatest obstacle to improving these numbers is materialism. It has fostered a false sense of security that focuses on rewards for the self rather than understanding the value of service and reaching out to others. A good place to start at a solution is to replace the word "rights" with "responsibilities." A priest must understand his calling as a responsibility. Fr. Vazken Movsesian Armenian Church Youth Ministries