Rev. Jerair Bizdikian

By Mihran Jizmejian, AMAC President

Rev. Jerair Bizdikian was born in Athens, Greece, in 1927 in an Armenian Evangelical home, and attended the Armenian Evangelical School of Athens. As a young child, he regularly attended the Sunday School and the church. Later, as a young man, he joined the youth group of his church, the Christian Endeavor Society. In 1942, during World War II his father died, hence his education was interrupted.

Twelve years after the death of his father, Jerair, at the age of twenty-six, continued his education at the Nazarene Bible School in Beirut, Lebanon. At the same time, he followed English language and literature courses at the British Council. Successfully passing a series of exams, he received a certificate of proficiency in English from the University of Cambridge, England in 1957. That same year he also graduated from the Nazarene Bible School.

He married Alice Mardirossian in the summer of 1957. God blessed the family with four children: three boys and one girl. Jerair was admitted to Haigazian College and the Near East School of Theology (NEST) in the spring of 1958, and graduated with a B.T. degree in 1962. After graduation, he served as Pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Church in Athens and was also appointed Director of the Church’s School. Occasionally he has served the Athens Church as a visiting pastor, relieving the local pastor for short periods.

For two semesters in 1965-66, he attended the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California. Then for two years he returned to NEST for graduate studies. During these two years, he served as Assistant Minister and Youth Leader at the First Armenian Evangelical Church of Beirut.

In 1968 the Bizdikians moved to Montreal, Canada. For a year, he worked at an institute as a supervisor of teenagers aged 12-18 years for whom the institute was a temporary home. Later, as an English language teacher he worked in the adult education system. In 1970, he was appointed as an English teacher in a public high school. He attended the McGill University and received his teacher’s diploma. He worked as a full-time teacher until he retired in 1992. As a part-time teacher, he taught English at the College of Mt. Morrency for eighteen years and retired from this teaching post in 1995.

Almost all his free time has been absorbed in serving the Armenian Evangelical Church of Montreal as a Board member, Assistant Pastor and Choir Director. He has also served as a visiting pastor for 18 months at the Memorial Church in Watertown, MA, and for three months at the Belmont Armenian Evangelical Church in Boston, MA.

Pastor Jerair received his pastoral license in 1962 from the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Middle East. He served as Pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Church of Montreal from 1978-80, and from November 1987- April 1992. From 1996 – 2002 he served as the visiting pastor to the Armenian Evangelical Chicago Church where his ordination took place in 2001 by the AEUNA.

Rev. Bizdikian has been serving in various capacities as a visiting pastor, interim Minister, instructor, and administrator in the Armenian Evangelical Churches, and has prepared a textbook for the Seminarians in the Armenian language, entitled “Introduction to New Testament.”

He is also a visiting pastor in the local Presbyterian Churches in Quebec.
Rev. and Mrs. Bizdikian have five grandchildren whom they dearly love and give thanks to the Lord.