NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Following the Labor Day weekend, on September 3, St. Nersess welcomed three new seminarians to its student body, bringing its total to nine seminarians. “It is exciting to begin our new school year with nine students,” remarked 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 Rev. Fr. Yeprem Kelegian,” he added.
One of the new seminarians, Dn. Narek Garabedian, was born in Canada and is a graduate of the Armenian Seminary of Jerusalem. He recently married his wife, Nune, in Armenia and joined the student body at St. Nersess to pursue his Master of Divinity degree. Also joining the student body are two females, Kathryn Ashbahian of New Jersey and Arpi Nakashian of Jerusalem. They both will be pursuing Master of Arts degrees, with concentrations in Youth Ministry and Christian Education. The remaining seminarians who are continuing their studies from last year, are: Dn. Vahe Bagdasarian, Dn. Aram Kaberjian, Saro Kalayjian, Edgar Gevorgyan, Eric Vozzy, and Levon Asdourian.
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, whose education, competence and leadership ability bring honor and vigor to the Armenian Church. The seminarians and staff look forward to relocating to the seminary’s new campus in Armonk, NY, in mid-2014.