The Very Reverend John Khoury was born on December 20, 1938, in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of the late Very Reverend Issa and the late Basna Khoury. His priestly background can be traced back five full centuries.  He is proud and very grateful to honorably wear the mantle of priesthood he received from his father and forefathers.

             Being impressed and inspired by the holy life of his parents, at the age of fourteen, he joined Saint Ephraim's Theological School in Mosul, Iraq, in the summer of 1953 and graduated in 1958.  .

            In 1963 the Board of Trustees of our church, Assyrian Apostolic Church of Virgin Mary, located in West New York, New Jersey. selected him to be their future priest. In 1964, with the blessing and approval of the late and beloved Archbishop His Eminence Mor Athanasius Y. Samuel, Primate of the Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the United States and Canada, Deacon John took a leap of faith and came to America. He continued his studies at the General Theological Seminary in New York City.

In 1966, Deacon John married his wife Linda Eknoian. They have three children, Mary, Katherine and Thomas.

On December 4, 1966, Deacon John was ordained to the Holy Order of Priesthood by our late Eminence Archbishop Mor Athanasius Y. Samuel.  He attended Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, from 1966-1974, where he was made a member of the honorary Phi Zeta Kappa Society, in May 1970 and Phi Omega Epsilon Society in May 1974.  He earned a Bachelor Degree, Cum Laude, with distinction.  He continued to further his education and in 1979 earned a Master Degree in English and Comparative Literature from Fairleigh Dickinson University. 

On December 4, 1983, with the approval and blessings of His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, our late His Eminence Archbishop Mor Athanasius Y. Samuel honored Reverend John by elevating him to the rank of Chor-episcopus:  Very Reverend.

             In 2007 Very Reverend John Khoury celebrated his forty year anniversary of priesthood. He continues to faithfully serve the holy church and looks forward, with humility, to continue being God's servant and to obediently serve His faithful.