Fall Semester Brings Ten Students

St. Nersess welcomed three new seminarians to its student body on September 1, bringing its total to ten seminarians (nine full-time and one part-time). “It is exciting to begin our new school year with ten students,” remarked the Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian, Seminary Dean. “To help them get better acquainted with each other and with St. Nersess, all the students enjoyed an orientation retreat at the Ararat Center led by the seminary’s spiritual director the Rev. Fr. Yeprem Kelegian,” he added.

New seminarian Dn. Ivan Gyadayan was born in Armenia and is a graduate of the Seminary of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He is enrolled in the joint Master of Divinity Program at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary and St. Nersess Armenian Seminary. Lazarus Kevorkian was born in Jerusalem and is a graduate of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Lazarus is also pursuing the Master of Divinity degree. The third new student is Harry Kezelian. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Law School, and will concentrate on Armenian studies (language, music, liturgics). The remaining seminarians who are continuing their studies from last year are: Dn. Vahe Bagdasarian, Dn. Narek Garabedian, Levon Asdourian, Kathryn Ashbahian, Edgar Gevorgyan, Arpi Nakashian, and Eric Vozzy, a part-time student. Eric is now working at the Eastern Diocese’s Department of Christian Education. Subdeacon Saro Kalayjian graduated in May 2014 and is interning at St. Leon Armenian Church in Fair Lawn, NJ.

As the only Armenian seminary in the western world, St. Nersess is committed to preparing priests and lay leaders for the Armenian Church in North America.