The Rt. Rev. Samuel Robert Azariah, Moderator of the Church of Pakistan and Bishop in Raiwind.
Bishop (Sammy) Azariah was born on 31 August 1949 in Gujarat, the eldest son of John and Ivy Azariah. Educated at church schools in Karachi, he attended St Patrick’s College in Karachi and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971 from the University of Karachi. From 1971 to 1976 he was General Secretary of the Student Christian Movement (SCM) of Pakistan. In 1976 he began his training for the ministry at Trinity Theological College in Singapore and received a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1979. He was ordained deacon in 1979 and priest in 1980 in the Diocese of Karachi and served at St Andrew’s Church in Karachi. In 1987 he was elected Bishop in Raiwind. In 1997 he was elected Moderator of the Church of Pakistan serving until 2002, and was re-elected moderator in 2008. Since he has served on the executive committee of the World Council of Churches. He is married to the Rev. Kushnud Azariah, vicar of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Riverside, California, a congregation of the Diocese of Los Angeles. They have three children who also reside in California. As a United Church, the leader of the Church of Pakistan is called a moderator, not archbishop, and its bishops are styled “Bishop in” rather than “Bishop of” XXX.
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