Month: July 2009

Parish Histories

Yesterday, we announced the addition of some new pages on the SOCHA website, including a Resources page. In the past day, we've added links to dozens and dozens of web pages that deal with various aspects of American Orthodox history. There's actually a huge quantity of material out there on...

“This Syrian Bishop derives his authority from… Antioch”

Matthew has previously provided for us some tidbits on the ambiguous canonical status of St. Raphael of Brooklyn (Antioch? Moscow? Both? How?)—see especially his post on St. Raphael's consecration as well as listening to the relevant parts in his "The Myth of Past Unity" lecture. Here's another data point that...

Three Additions

We've made three major additions to the OrthodoxHistory.org website in the past few days that you might like to take a look at: Administration (just what it says: listing our Advisory and Executive Boards), Terms of Use (standard for many websites; please read and abide by them), and Resources (all...

The Myth of Past Unity: some clarifications

On today's episode of my American Orthodox History podcast, we're airing my talk, "The Myth of Past Unity," given at the St Vladimir's Seminary conference in June. For video of that lecture, click here. I wrote an "author's note" to go at the end of my paper. I didn't have...

Two Russian Priests in New York City, 1863

In September of 1863, in the middle of the American Civil War, a fleet of Russian ships arrived in the New York harbor. Their mission was both diplomatic and strategic, but anyway, that’s not terribly relevant here.[i] More to the point, among the crews of the ships were at least...

Why study American Orthodox history?

Those of us who are doing the tinkering on the machinery of the newly founded SOCHA have been astounded by the outpouring of attention that our site has received. From the stats, we're getting around 200 views per day on the site, and we now have more than 500 fans...

The Non-Invention of Meletios Metaxakis

It is often asserted that Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis invented the idea that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has authority to extend its jurisdiction beyond its traditional boundaries into the so-called "diaspora." This is the Patriarchate's current interpretation of Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon, which Meletios used in 1921-22 in...

Debates on unity: three issues

In various places on the Internet, there have been debates and discussions concerning the question of Orthodox administrative unity prior to 1921. Often, people seem to be talking past one another. The issue of "Orthodox unity" actually encompasses a variety of areas, some of them historical, some not. I thought I would try...

SOCHA on the AOI weblog

Interested parties may care to look at this post from the American Orthodox Institute weblog commenting on the SOCHA website. The comments section contains some notable material, as well, highlighting what SOCHA members feel is vital: an earnest engagement with the primary sources of American Orthodox history unencumbered by jurisdictional...

“Indirect Conversion of Thousands Theory”

Over at Orthodox Wiki, they have an entry on Fr Raphael Morgan, the first black Orthodox priest in America, whom I discussed last week. In the Orthodox Wiki entry, you may find the following: "Indirect Conversion of Thousands" Theory During the 16th Annual Ancient Christianity and African-American Conference, Matthew Namee...