Rev. John Kuehnle, Presbyter
Fr. John Kuehnle was born on Long Island, NY and raised upstate in Corning, NY. He received his BA in French and Spanish from SUNY Albany (1976).
Raised as an Episcopalian, he realized as a teenager that the Episcopal Church’s teachings just didn’t “add up,” and began exploring alternatives. Following graduation from university, he encountered Orthodox Christianity and was chrismated in December of 1976.
In 1981, Fr. John began graduate studies at Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston, receiving his M.Div. in 1985. Following graduation, he spent a year studying at the University of Thessaloniki, Greece. It was during this time that he met Presbytera Jamal, a native of Beirut, Lebanon, and they were married upon her arrival in the US in 1988. Fr. John spent the next eight years in the classroom again, this time teaching high school French and Spanish.
In November of 1996, Fr. John was ordained to the Priesthood in Sacramento, CA, where he served at the Church of the Annunciation as assistant for three years. In 1999, he was transferred to St. Nicholas in Tacoma, WA, then to SS Constantine & Helen, Honolulu in 2008.
Fr. John and Pres. Jamal have two children, Nazih and Manon.
Fr John left Ss. Constantine & Helen Cathedral of the Pacific on August 31, 2013 and is currently awaiting reassignment.