Very Rev. Archpriest Ayman Kfouf

Biography

Father Ayman Kfouf was raised in Amman, Jordan, within reach of Bethany beyond the Jordan, where the Lord was baptized, and of the landscape of the Gospel. His theological formation began in the tradition of the Church of Antioch—the Church of Saints Ignatius the God-bearer, John Chrysostom, and John of Damascus—with its attention to the historical sense of Scripture and to the full humanity of the incarnate Word.

His early years were shaped by the Orthodox Youth Movement (MJO), founded in Lebanon in 1942, with the future Metropolitan George (Khodr) among its founders, and later established in Amman. He passed from student to leader within the Movement and represented the parishes of Amman as a delegate of the Movement and of SYNDESMOS, the World Fellowship of Orthodox Youth, at conferences in the Middle East and Europe.

He spent five years at the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology at the University of Balamand in Lebanon, studying theology in an ecclesial setting shaped by the patristic tradition, the liturgical cycle, Byzantine chant, and the ascetic and communal life of the Church. He completed his undergraduate theological degree, having studied under teachers who included the late Patriarch Ignatius IV, His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Metropolitan George (Khodr), and the late Father John Romanides.

Three pilgrimages to Mount Athos brought him into direct contact with the monastic and ascetic life of the Holy Mountain. It was there that he met Saint Paisios the Athonite and received his blessing.

After completing his studies, Father Ayman returned to Jordan and took up the work of catechesis in Amman, teaching and establishing programs of Christian education in the parishes and in the city’s Orthodox schools. During these years, he also represented the Church at gatherings of Orthodox and other religious leaders in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Switzerland, and Poland.

His graduate studies followed at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York, where he studied under Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, Dr. Paul Meyendorff, the Very Rev. Dr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, and the Very Rev. Dr. John Behr. He completed his graduate theological degree with a thesis on Christian–Islamic relations, directed by the Very Rev. John Erickson and published in St. Vladimir’s Chronicles.

Father Ayman was ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood in 2007 and elevated to the dignity of Archpriest in 2013. After serving as pastor of St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church in Sylvania, Ohio, he was appointed in 2023 as Dean and pastor of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Coral Gables, Florida, where he serves today.

At St. George, his ministry is given to preaching and teaching—including the formation of adults, youth, inquirers, and catechumens, and instruction in Byzantine chant—and to the spiritual and institutional life of the parish entrusted to his care. Beyond the parish, he serves as Spiritual Advisor to Teen SOYO for the Diocese of Miami and the Southeast.

Father Ayman and Khouria Elaina have three daughters.

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