Known as Der Avedis Kahana Der Avedisian, the Der prefix meaning Reverend and Kahana meaning a married priest. He made many sacrifices in founding the Soorp Asdvadzazin (Holy Mother of God) Church in the village of Mashgerd village outside Arapkir, according to a history written of the town. An account of Mashgerd describes an older church not far from town named St. Sarkis, and opposite the church was the cemetery of Old Mashgerd with the tombs of priests and bishops, however it does not describe Soorp Asdvadzazin Church or where it was. A list of the villages of Arapkir from 1879 does list Mashgerd's operating church as Soorp Asdvadzazin. In recognition of all his sacrifices in building and shepherding the church, Der Avedis was buried in the church's courtyard. Der Avedis was the last in a line of seven priests from this family, which was called Der Avedisian likely after him as descendants of that last priest Avedis. The sixth priest was named Garabed, it is unknown if he was Avedis's father or another relative. It is said the Der Avedisian family took care of the church until the genocide of 1915. There is the ruin of a church remaining in Mashgerd (now called Çakırtaş), but it is not known if it is St. Sarkis or St. Asdvadzazin.

The dates of birth and death given here for Der Avedis are not certain and could be much different. A family tree has a date at the top 1793, presumably referring to Der Avedis's birth year, and a census record from 1832 for "Der Avedis of Mashgerd" lists him as age 35. Ages in the census are often not exact but this would point to a birth year of 1796 or 1797. The census also mentions him having a brother Hagop, age 25 so born 1806/7 if accurate. The Der Avedisian family tree seems to indicate him as the father of the five children linked to him here, who were almost certainly born in the 1840s-1850s based on when their own children are known to have been born, yet they do not seem to appear in the census. Der Avedis would have been in his 40s or 50s when he had children, which cannot be ruled out, but perhaps there was another generation in between him and these descendants. Per the family tree, his children were named Pilbos, Zakar, Haroutune (Artin Agha), Mariam (married Sourian), and Turvanda (married Varjabedian). In the 1846 census for Mashgerd, there is a family Keshishian (meaning priest) headed by Der Avedis son of Hovhannes age 65 (born about 1781) who died in 1846. His household also includes his uncle's son Hagop son of Mugurdich age 35 and Artin son of Avedis born 1852, which leaves the question who was the Avedis he was the son of, presumably different than Der Avedis and yet not in the census. A metal cross was made in Der Avedis's memory and bears the year 1863, which was either the year of his death or perhaps the year it was made after his death, so 1863 is used as his death year here but it could have been prior to that. While there is no known image of him, pictured here is the signature (unsure if written by him or more likely a scribe) and seal of "Der Avedis Kahana" from an 1848 letter by leading citizens of Arapkir to the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople in protest of various oppressions the Armenians of the area were enduring. While there is always a chance there was another Der Avedis Kahana in Arapkir at that same time, it can be relatively safely assumed that this was him. Other priests signed the letter but only as Der, he was the only one to be noted as Kahana. There is also a Movses Der Avedisian who signed the letter, possibly his son based on the name but of whom nothing is known and does not appear on the Der Avedisian family tree, but as it was constructed a century later it very well could be incorrect in some regards.