Very Rev. Fr. Aren Jebejian
St. John's Armenian Church
22001 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, MI 48075
(248) 569-3405
Very Rev. Fr. Aren Sarkis Jebejian was born on January 24, 1966, to Fr. Nersess and Yn. Aurora Jebejian in Detroit.
Fr. Aren grew up and went to school in Longmeadow, MA. In 1983 his family moved to Florida, where he attended St. Thomas University in Miami, a private Augustinian School.
After graduating, Fr. Aren studied at Holy Etchmiadzin from 1989-1990, where he was ordained as a deacon by Archbishop Nersess Bozabalian on June 24, 1990. He returned to the United States and graduated in 1994 from St. Nersess and St. Vladimir's Seminaries with a Master of Divinity degree. He has also completed a three-month Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) internship at Jean's Hospital in Philadelphia, PA; and studied classical Armenian and liturgics in Jerusalem.
He served as a steward at the 1991 Central Committee Meeting of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland; at the WCC Faith and Order Meeting in Santiago de Compostelia, Spain, in 1992; and as a youth representative at the WCC Central Committee Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1994.
In January of 1996, Fr. Aren was charged with working to revive the ACYOA Seniors. During his two-year tenure working in the Diocesan Department of Youth Ministry, he oversaw the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the ACYOA and worked to revitalize the seniors, juniors, and the ACYOA Armenian Studies Program.
In January of 1998, he was assigned to the St. Gregory the Illuminator parish of Chicago as its deacon-in-charge. He served on the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago and was a founding member of the Chicago Ecumenical Millennium Committee. Since 1991, he has been a member of the National Oriental Orthodox–Roman Catholic Dialogue.
In September 1999, he served as a delegate from the Eastern Diocese to the National Ecclesiastical Assembly to elect the 132nd Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin I.
He was ordained as a priest on April 24 and 25, 2004, by Archbishop Khajag Barsamian at St. Vartan Cathedral in New York City. He served as the pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator Church in Chicago until November 2015, at which time he became the pastor of St. John Church of Southfield, MI.
Fr. Aren serves on the Hye Camp board of directors, as well as the Midwest Regional Council of Armenian Churches.