Moscow's Armenian population is seeking funds to build a $10 million city center church as the community gears up to celebrate 1,700 years of Christianity in its Caucasus homeland.

The anniversary arrives in 2001, but preparations for the ceremony are already under way both in Armenia and elsewhere.

Moscow's Armenian community, estimated as high as 200,000, has only a small chapel on the territory of the Armenian cemetery in the western part of the city: the Surp Harutyun Church (Holy Resurrection).

The place of worship was built in 1815 by a member of the wealthy and influential Lazarian family, who also managed to found and support Lazarian College in Moscow, one of just three major educational institutions in the city at that time. Another small church, Surp Khach (Holy Cross), was built near the college and will now give its name to the new cathedral, church officials said.

During weekends and religious holidays, the narrow paths of the Surp Harutyun churchyard are nearly packed to capacity with visitors. That's why, leaders say, it is important for the community to fund the completion of the new church.

"The sacred duty of the Armenian Diaspora in Moscow, Russia and throughout the world is to, at all costs, build a new church in Moscow, which should then become one of the spiritual centers for Armenians," said Archbishop Tiran, head of the Russian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church and chairman of the Board of Trustees.

The current situation, with the church located in a cemetery, is a little unnerving to some attendees. "You don't feel quite easy attending a wedding ceremony at the cemetery church," said one visitor.

The Moscow government signed a decree allocating for the church a plot of land at 24 Trifonovskaya in the city center. The complex of buildings will include the church as well as the patriarch's residence, a Sunday school, meeting hall, museum, library and underground parking area.

"We must do our best to complete the church in 2001, by all means," said Vartan Aslanyan, a lawyer with the fund.

Aslanyan said fundraisers are relying on an advertising campaign, launched several months ago, to get word out to Moscow Armenians. Organizers plan to saturate central metro stations with billboards while implementing a program of radio and direct mail advertising.

Fund officials said they actually spend little on advertising, since nonprofit organizations are offered large discounts. Money donations as well as building material contributions are accepted. If they exceed the sum of $50,000, a donor's name will be imprinted on the walls of the cathedral, officials said.

Asked about the building material used in the construction, Aslanyan replied emotionally, "Of course, it will be tuff!"

Tuff, or tufa, a kind of limestone, is the only construction material used in Armenian churches. Nature offers a variety of colors. The Moscow cathedral will be of a yellowish-brown stone. A Khachkar (cross-stone) - a symbol of Armenian architecture - will be erected in the churchyard.

Generally, Armenian churches are simple and plain in style; icons are prohibited. But, one church leader said, it is their "magnificent simplicity and sincerity that catches the view, and makes one think of the Eternal and Good."

The acceptance-of-Christianity anniversary celebration has enormous implications for the Armenian community, leaders say. Church membership has been a major factor in the preservation of a national consciousness throughout Armenia's long and often tragic history.

(For information on the church, call the Fund for Financial Support of the Construction of the Cathedral at 971-7928; fax 971-7054. E-mail uniastrum@uniastrum.com.)