After 24 years in the ministry and 16 in the corporate world, the Rev. Dr. Karnig M. Kazanjian Jr. was set to retire back in April of this year.
But, as with a lot of things in life, God had other plans.
“Ministers never really retire anyway,” he said. As it turns out, the very day Kazanjian was set to retire from his church in west Mobile, the Rev. David Johnson, longtime pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Silverhill, was also set to retire.
So just four months after retirement, Kazanjian came to serve the small congregation in Silverhill.
“It’s certainly something I didn’t foresee, but I love it here,” he said. “The people here are so like-minded and really understand the extreme importance of God’s word. It’s different from a larger congregation where you can have a large mix of people. For me at this stage of my ministry, it’s something I find delightful.”
A native of New Jersey, Kazanjian, 69, says he felt the call to ministry at the early age of 13, but after receiving his degree in psychology from the University of Maryland in 1964 and a master’s degree in psychology and counseling from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey in 1967, he spent 16 years as a customer service manager, office manager, vice president and president for four mail order companies before returning to continue his studies.
He received a Master of Divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C., in 1987 and was ordained into the public ministry of Word and Sacrament in 1987.
Sixteen years later, Kazanjian received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.
He and his wife Kathi still live in Mobile, but plan to move to Foley in the near future, he said. They have two grown sons, Keith and Kevin, daughters-in-law, Chris and Sandy, and five grandchildren, Amy, Abby, Sydney, Logan and Max.
And while he is not exactly enjoying retirement yet, Kazanjian said he is looking forward to serving Zion Lutheran and the people of Silverhill.
“It’s been a great first month,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to Heritage Day.”
The church has been an integral part of the town’s Swedish heritage for more than 100 years and will this year be part of a pair of historic walking tours, planned during the festival on Saturday, Sept. 17.
