SENIOR PASTOR

Left to Right: First Lady Tonia Natesan, Presiding Elder, Rev. Dr. Dededrick Rivers

and Rev. Krishnan Natesan, Senior Pastor

Rev. Krishnan Natesan

Pastor Krishnan Natesan is a native Washingtonian. He is the proud son of the late Dr. Ramasamy and Barbara Natesan. In 2008 he married his lovely wife, First Lady Tonia Natesan. They are the proud parents of their son, Israel and daughter, Zion.

Rev. Kris earned a BA in Political-Science, Minor in Human Development – Cum Laude (1994), Master of Public Administration – Suma Cum Laude (1999) both from North Carolina Central University. In 2012 he earned a Master of Divinity from Howard University along with earning the esteemed Vernon Johns Prophetic Preaching Award.

In 2009 he was selected for the Presidential Management Internship (PMI) program. He became the second in NC Central University history to be selected for this prestigious program. As a PMI he served at the Social Security Administration in GA, MD, and NC. Rev. Kris has owned his own businesses, worked in non-profits, and served for over eighteen combined years in local & federal government agencies.

In 2001 he began ministry at Orange Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, NC. As an Associate Minister he served in youth, college, and prison ministries. In 2004 God led him to return to his home church Ebenezer AME in Fort Washington, MD. In 2006 he became a part of the Administrative team where he assisted Pastor Tony Lee with the planting of the Community of Hope AME Church in Temple Hills, MD. He served as both a Senior Minister and the Minister to Men. On March 27, 2016, Rev. Kris launched the Love AME Church and became its founding Pastor. Church members are called Love Agents and they are trained to share love locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. In March 2019 Love AME Church became a full station church. Simultaneously, Pastor Kris said goodbye to his federal contracting career with the Department of Justice to be fully available to his church. It was another huge step of faith needed to effectively grow the Love AME Church. At the 154th Session of the North Carolina Annual Conference on Saturday May 27, 2023 he was assigned as the Pastor to Hemingway Memorial AME Church.

He currently serves as President of the AME Ministerial Alliance of DC & Vicinity and is a member of the Washington Annual Conference Board of Examiners (Second Year). In October 2026, he was appointed to serve on the Prince George’s County Ethics Committee. His commitment to leadership and clergy development extends to several other areas of service, including the Annual Conference Missions, Circuits, and Stations Committee; the Capital District Committee on Ministerial Orders; and the Second Episcopal District First Pastoral Appointment Orientation Core Committee, on which he previously served. He has also regularly facilitated training opportunities for clergy throughout the Second Episcopal District.

At the heart of Pastor Kris’ ministry is a firm belief that God simply wants to blow our minds! Driven by this conviction, he is passionate about sharing the boundless LOVE of God and making its transformative power known throughout the world.