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A native of Lebanon, Sam immigrated to Canada when the civil war erupted in Beirut in the 1970’s. There he was actively involved with the First Armenian Evangelical Church of Montreal. In 1985 he earned a degree in Pure and Applied Sciences from CEGEP Vanier College in St. Laurent, Quebec. In 1991 he graduated with a Bachelor of Computer Science from Concordia University in Montreal. From 1991 to 1994 he worked as a Quality Assurance Analyst Programmer at Eicon Technology in Lachine, Quebec. The following year he moved to California and enrolled at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. During his seminary years he served as the worship leader and coordinator of single adult ministries at the Armenian Christian Fellowship of Orange County. He also served as team leader of short-term missions to Armenia under auspices of the Armenian Missionary Association of America. Sam received his Master of Divinity degree from Talbot in 1998. Upon graduation he moved to the San Francisco area and entered a one-year internship at the Calvary Armenian Congregational Church. In 1999 he married the former Tamar Paylaguian and was named Assistant Pastor for Youth Ministries at CACC. In May 2000, the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America ordained Sam as a minister of the Word and Sacrament and installed him as the Pastor for Christian Education and College and Career Ministries at CACC. In March, 2001 Sam was named the Associate Pastor for Armenian Ministries and Missions at the First Armenian Presbyterian Church in Fresno, Ca, where he served until March 2005. In October 2005, realizing God’s special intervention and by trusing His leading hand, Sam assumed the pastoral position of the Armenian Evangelical Church of Toronto. The Albarians are blessed with two sons and a daughter; Timothy, Harout and Sion.