28
Jul

Administration

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EXECUTIVE BOARD

The Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas (SOCHA) is governed by an Executive Board consisting of the following members:

Rev. D. Oliver Herbel, Ph.D., Executive Director

Fr. Oliver is the pastor of Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Fargo, North Dakota. He holds a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Saint Louis University. His dissertation was entitled, Turning to Tradition: Intra-Christian Converts and the Making of an American Orthodox Church. Fr. Oliver also holds a Master of Arts degree in the History of Christianity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a Master of Divinity degree from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. He is the author of Sarapion of Thmuis: Against the Manichaeans and Pastoral Letters, forthcoming (2011) from the Centre for Early Christian Studies in Australia. In addition to this book and other articles, he has published book chapters and peer-reviewed articles concerning Orthodox Christian history in America.

Rev. Andrew S. Damick, M.Div., Associate Director

Fr. Andrew is the pastor of St. Paul Orthodox Church in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. He is a 2007 summa cum laude graduate of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, graduating with Distinction with honors in Church History. His M.Div. thesis is entitled The Archbishop’s Wife: Archbishop Aftimios Ofiesh, the American Orthodox Catholic Church, and the Founding of the Antiochian Archdiocese (1880-1934). He focuses on Orthodox history in America in the early 20th century. He is one of the founding administrators and editors of the OrthodoxWiki website, specializing in articles on the history of Orthodoxy in America.

He is the author of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy: Exploring Belief Systems Through the Lens of the Ancient Christian Faith, published by Conciliar Press.

Fr. Andrew is also the author of the Roads From Emmaus and Christ in the Mountains weblogs, as well as the Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy and Roads from Emmaus podcasts from Ancient Faith Radio. Fr. Andrew and his wife Kh. Nicole live in Emmaus with their children.

Matthew F. Namee, Associate Director

Matthew Namee serves as editor of OrthodoxHistory.org. He specializes in the history of Orthodoxy in America from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. His publications include “Father Raphael Morgan: The First Orthodox Priest of African Descent in America” in St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly (2009), Wichita’s Lebanese Heritage (coauthor, 2010), and the Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches (contributing author, 2011), and “The Myth of Past Unity and the Origins of Jurisdictional Pluralism in American Orthodoxy” in The Journal of American Orthodox Church History (2011). Matthew has lectured at numerous conferences and hosts the American Orthodox History podcast on Ancient Faith Radio. He is the former research assistant to baseball author and Boston Red Sox executive Bill James, and he helped to produce the Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004). Also in 2004, Matthew cofounded The Hardball Times, a popular baseball website. He is currently pursuing his J.D. at the University of Kansas School of Law. He and his wife Catherine have two children. Matthew can be contacted at mfnamee [at] gmail [dot] com.

Aram G. Sarkisian, M.A., Associate Director

Aram G. Sarkisian is an independent researcher based in the Detroit area. He is a 2008 graduate of the University of Michigan, holding a B.A. from the Center for Russian and East European Studies, and a 2011 graduate of the University of Chicago, holding an M.A. in Social Sciences. He hopes to begin his doctoral work in 2012.

Aram’s primary research interest is Russian Orthodox Christianity in early 20th century America, focusing on issues of language, immigration, the intersection of ethnic and religious identity, and the impact of secular political and social movements on religious institutions.

He has also conducted research and written on topics concerning the Armenian Orthodox Church, including “And Always in Their Church: A Survey of English Translations of the Divine Liturgy in the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church,” published in Orientalia et Occidentalia, Vol. 8, published by the Michael Lacko Centre for East-West Spirituality (Kosice, Slovakia, 2010).

 

ADVISORY BOARD

The Society is pleased to count as members of its Advisory Board the following distinguished scholars:

V. Rev. John H. Erickson, retired Dean of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York), Peter N. Gramowich Professor of Church History Emeritus

Rev. Thomas E. FitzGerald, Th.D., Dean of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts), Professor of Church History and Historical Theology

David C. Ford, Ph.D., Professor of Church History at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Canaan, Pennsylvania)

V. Rev. Michael J. Oleksa, Ph.D., retired Dean of St. Herman Orthodox Theological Seminary (Kodiak, Alaska), Adjunct Instructor in Church History

Rev. Deacon Andrei V. Psarev, M.Th., Instructor of Canon Law and Russian Church History at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, New York)

Rev. Protodeacon Stanimir Spasovic, Ph.D., Professor of Canon Law and History at St. Sava Orthodox School of Theology (Libertyville, Illinois)

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