A Brief History of Sts. Sahag & Mesrob Armenian Church

Listing of Clergymen 1897 – 2010 Thanks to Deacon Allan Yeghia Jendian, Fresno, CA for his help with the information/photos used on this page.
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Vaghinag Sisagian 1851:1899 Ordained 1882	1897-1899
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Khat V. Markarian Defroked 1904	1899-1900
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Arsen Vehouni 1865:1927 Ordained 1895 Primate, Eastern Diocese 1913-1917	1901-1904
Very Reverend Mesrob Maksoudian Deceased
Reverend Sahag Minassian Deceased
Reverend Avedis Shaghoian Deceased
Click on photo to enlarge Reverend Theodoros Issahagian 1861:1938 Ordained 1895	1904-1907
Click on photo to enlarge Reverend Azaria Boyajian Deceased
Reverend Levont Bahlavouhni Deceased
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Drepon Bidzagian 1849:1919	1907
Reverend Tavit der Avedisian Deceased	1907-1909
Reverend Serovpe Nershabouh Deceased	1910-1911
Click on photo to enlarge Reverend Azaria Boyajian Deceased	1911-1912
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Vagharshag Arshagouni Deceased, Left Clerical Order	1913-1917
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Dirair Markarian 1876:1932 Ordained 1897	1917-1919
Reverend Tavit der Avedisian Deceased	1919-1921
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Ghevont Martougesian 1869:1936 Ordained 1899	1921-1929
Click on photo to enlarge Reverend Yeghishe Kalchinjian 1876:1946 Ordained 1899	1929-1931
Click on photo to enlarge Reverend Arsen Torossian 1867:1940 Ordained 1927	1931
Click on photo to enlarge Reverend Yeghiazar Ashjian Deceased	1931-1932
Click on photo to enlarge Reverend Yeghishe Kalchinjian 1876:1946 Ordained 1899	1932-1936
Reverend Zkon Charkoogian Deceased	1936-1938
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Sion Manoogian 1906:1991 Ordained 1930; Bishop 1945; Primate, Eastern Diocese 1958-1966	1938-1945
Very Reverend Ghevont Arabian 1895:1958 Left Clerical Order 1948	1945
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Issahag Ghazarian 1918:1985 Ordained 1941	1946-1947
Click on photo to enlarge Reverend Vahan Jelalian 1891:Deceased Ordained 1935	1947-1950
Very Reverend Krikor Voskanian Deceased Ordained 1939 Left Clerical Order	1950
Reverend Shahe Altounian 1922:2014 Ordained 1948	1950-1958
Click on photo to enlarge Reverend Haik Donikian 1919:2007 Ordained 1957	1958-1980
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Vazken Keshishian 1935:1990 Ordained 1959; Bishop 1984; Primate, Canadian Diocese 1984-1990	1980-1983
Very Reverend Shnork Kasparian 1929:2014 Ordained 1961	1983-1985
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Baret Yeretzian 1946:Retired Ordained 1966	1985-1993
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Ghevont Samoorian 1934:2013 Ordained 1965	1994-1997
Reverend Haik Donikian 1919:2007 Ordained 1957	1998-1999
Reverend Tateos Abdalian 1947: Ordained 1984 Director Diocese Mission Parishes	1999-2001
Very Reverend Shnork Kasparian 1929:2014 Ordained 1961	2001-2003
Click on photo to enlarge Very Reverend Simeon Odabashian 1962: Ordained 1996	2004-Feburary 2009
Click on photo to enlarge Rev. Fr. Sahak M. Kaishian 1962: Ordained 1993	Feburary 2009-Feburary 2010 Interm Pastor
Very Reverend Simeon Odabashian 1962: Ordained 1996 Appointed to Vicar General	Feburary 2010-January 2011
Reverend Shnork Souin 1961: Ordained 1994	July 2011-

Three native sons of our parishioners have been ordained to the priesthood in the Armenian Church.

Very Reverend Fr. Houssig Bagdasian (1934-2004), A graduate of the Seminary of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Bishop Bagdasian was ordained a priest in 1959. In 1960 he was appointed Patriarchal Vicar of Israel, and was responsible for the Armenian community in Israel as well as the properties of the Armenian Patriarchate. During his 11 years of service in the Holy Land, Bishop Bagdasian helped renovate several Armenian churches, including St. Nicholas in Jaffa, St. Elijah in Haifa, and St. Krikor Loosavorich in Jerusalem. Returning to the United States in 1971, he was assigned to the St. Mary Church, then in Irvington, NJ. He led the church in its move to Livingston in 1974. After the church was destroyed by fire in 1980, Bishop Bagdasian’s leadership was key in helping the parish faithful pull together to rebuild the church, which was consecrated in March 1982. His service to the Diocese was not limited to the St. Mary parish. He was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese and headed the Diocesan Finance Committee. He had also served as a member of the Diocesan Council. And he was dedicated to the Armenian homeland, leading a group of 26 ACYOA members to the region devastated by the 1988 earthquake to help with reconstruction efforts. Upon the recommendation of His Beatitude Patriarch Torkom Manoogian, Bishop Bagdasian was consecrated a bishop in Armenia in September 1992 by His Holiness Vazken I, the late Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

Reverend Fr. Mardiros Chevian, Born in Providence, RI, the Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian became involved with the Armenian Church at a young age, serving at the altar of his home parish of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Church. A graduate of Barrington College in Rhode Island with a degree in social sciences, Fr. Mardiros began his studies at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary as a St. Nersess Seminary student in 1973, and received a Master’s of Divinity degree in May 1976. Shortly after his graduation, Fr. Mardiros was ordained a deacon by Archbishop Torkom Manogian, then-Primate of the Eastern Diocese. Over the next two years he studied and taught at the Gevorkian Seminary of Holy Etchmiadzin. He returned to the United States in 1978, serving the next three years as deacon-in-charge of St. Gregory Church in Waukegan, IL. In 1981, Fr. Mardiros became the director of recruitment and vocation programs for St. Nersess Seminary, where he became instrumental in recruiting young Armenian men to the priesthood and in developing the curriculum and programming for the Seminary. Following his ordination in 1985, Fr. Mardiros continued to serve as the rector of St. Nersess Seminary while taking graduate courses in education at Fordham University. In 1991, he was asked by Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate, to devote his talents, especially as they related to the youth, to the task of establishing a Department of Youth Ministry at the Diocese. This became the foundation for the department, which continues today. Fr. Mardiros was named dean of St. Vartan Cathedral in 1994, where he has spearheaded a number of initiatives, including programs to attract members to the cathedral parish, and an outreach effort to assist new immigrants from Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 1999, Fr. Mardiros was elected to the Diocesan Council. Rev. Fr. Chevian recently celebrated his 25th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood, and was elevated to the rank of avak kahana (high priest).

Rev. Fr. Kapriel Mouradjian, A native of Cranston, Rhode Island, Fr. Kapriel was a life-long member of Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Armenian Church in Providence. Rev. Fr. Kapriel Mouradjian received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1985, with a concentration in economics and political science. For the next 15 years he worked in investment banking. In 1997, he was ordained as a deacon by Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate. Soon thereafter, he entered St. Nersess Seminary to prepare for the priesthood. He successfully completed the seminary’s four-year program and graduated in 2003. To expand his knowledge of pastoral ministry he participated in the Clinical Pastoral Education program at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Massachusetts, while serving as a pastoral assistant at the Church of Our Saviour in Worcester, MA. Archbishop Barsamian appointed the then-deacon to a two-year Diocesan-sponsored pastoral internship program at the St. Gregory the Enlightener Church of White Plains, NY, under the supervision of Rev. Fr. Karekin Kasparian. On July 1, 2003, Dn. Mitchell Mouradjian was appointed deacon-in-charge of the Church of the Holy Resurrection of New Britain, CT. He was ordained as Fr. Kapriel on July 17, 2005, at the Church of the Holy Resurrection, where he now serves as pastor. Fr. Kapriel and his wife, Diane Mahtesian, have two children, Mitchell Jr. and Elizabeth.