Recognizing with reverence our Lord as provider of all, we are grateful for His provision to the AEUNA’s ministry and leadership, as Rev. Hendrik Shanazarian assumes his post as Interim Minister to the Union of the AEUNA on October 1, 2021. He was unanimously confirmed by vote of the AEUNA Board of Directors in June 2021, and will be officially presented as the candidate to the full AEUNA General Assembly for approval as Minister to the Union during the next biennial meeting of the General Assembly in June 2022.
Born in Tehran, Rev. Shanazarian was ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament in November 2000 in the Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church of Iran. He holds a B.A. in Clinical Psychology from the Allameh Tabatabaie University in Tehran, Iran, and M.Div. from the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon. Rev. Shanazarian is married to Dr. Mariet Mikaelian, and they have two children, Anna and Tadeh.
In 1981, he started his ministry in the Armenian Evangelical Church in Tehran as a youth leader, and has served in different capacities since then. Before coming to the U.S. in 2007, he served on the leadership of the Synod of the Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church in Iran, and taught Old Testament, Systematic Theology, and Christian Counseling and Worship at the Synod's Bible School.
Rev. Shanazarian was elected Moderator of the AEUNA at the General Assembly 2020 meeting held virtually, and was instrumental in assisting with ecclesiastical and community projects. He was most recently Associate Pastor at United Armenian Congregational Church, Los Angeles.