ABOUT REV J FRITZ BAZIN

Mark Twain once said, "Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never work a day in your life." This statement more than aptly describes the ministry of Jean Fritz Bazin.  The Venerable Jean Fritz Bazin, D. Min., has spent more than half a century joyfully spreading the gospel and tenaciously fighting for the voiceless and marginalized in several places around the world.

Archdeacon Bazin was appointed Archdeacon for immigration and Social Justice in the fall of 2007.  A native of Haiti, Bazin is fluent in four languages and moves easily among the many ethnic groups in the Diocese of South East Florida.

Archdeacon Bazin received both his Bachelor's in Theology and a masters degree in Divinity from the Episcopal Seminary of the Caribbean in Puerto Rico.  Hey was ordained to the priesthood in 1967 and went on to serve churches in Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados and Brooklyn, New York.  In 1980 he was named Human Rights Officer for the conference of Churches based in Barbados.  In that position, he also served as liaison fro French and Latin American territories.

In 1982, he was called to St Paul et les martyrs d'Haiti, Miami the first Diocesan ministry for Miami's emerging Haitian community.  Additionally, he served as an associate priest at the predominantly Spanish Todos Los Santos and The Church of the Incarnation, a chiefly African-American community.  He served at St Paul for more than 25 years before assuming his current role.  Archdeacon Bazin also served as the Episcopal chaplain at Jackson Memorial Hospital for ten years and the Miami Police Department for three years.

He received a Doctor of Ministry degree in 2002 from the South Florida Center for Theological Studies.  In 2003, he received an honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree from Jean Price Mars University in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  He was made an honorary canon at Trinity Cathedral in 2013.  In January 2014, he was named honorary canon at Cathedrale Ste Trinite in Port-au-Prince for the work he has done for the people of Haiti through the diaspora.

Archdeacon Bazin has received numerous honors and awards and among those most cherished is the Gahndi-King-Ikeda award from Morehouse College for his work for justice and human rights, received in 2002.  Most recently he was honored with the Silver Medallion award for Religious Leader of the Year 2016 by the MCCJ.

Archdeacon Bazin resides in Miami with his wife Pamela, daughter Ingrid and grand daughter Michele.