The Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas
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American Orthodox Atlas Now Available in Electronic Format
01 month ago
If you’ve seen the Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches, edited by Alexei Krindatch, you know that it’s an indispensable and utterly fascinating wealth of information on Orthodoxy in America, both past and present. I was honored to play a small role in creating the atlas, writing two articles, compiling a timeline, and providing the historical census data. But the atlas is much, much more than just that — it features profiles and statistics on every single Orthodox jurisdiction in the United States, including not only the member jurisdictions of the Assembly of Bishops, but also the Oriental Orthodox (or “Non-Chalcedonian”) churches.
We’ve just received word that the atlas is now available in a PDF edition, at a discounted price of $10.99. So if you haven’t yet bought a copy of the atlas, now is a great time to do so.
CLICK HERE to order your copy today.
Reviving the American Orthodox History podcast
12 months ago
by Matthew Namee
in Links
Today, Ancient Faith Radio aired the latest episode of my American Orthodox History podcast, which is available HERE and is basically an audio version of my “This week in American Orthodox history” article (with some ad-libbing). And in case you missed it, last week, I revived the podcast with an episode discussing Fr. Kallinikos Delveis, one of the first Greek Orthodox priests in New York and Massachusetts (listen to that episode HERE).
Today’s episode is the first of an experimental new format, using the whole “This week” theme as a framework to discuss all sorts of stories. But, as I said, it’s experimental, so if you want to offer any feedback, I’d love to hear it. My plan is to release a new episode pretty much every Monday. They’re shorter than the old ones (today’s is 13 minutes long), but I hope they’re still (perhaps more?) worth your time.
Nicholas Chapman’s new lecture on Philip Ludwell now available
03 months ago
Click the image to order a copy of Nicholas Chapman's lecture on Philip Ludwell III.
Nicholas Chapman recently gave an hour-long talk on Philip Ludwell III, the first Orthodox convert in American history. The lecture is now available for purchase, and you’ve got two options: an MP3 download for $4.95, and a boxed CD for $9.95. The boxed CD includes a newly-discovered portrait of Ludwell as a young man, and also the Ludwell family book plate. Both options — MP3 and CD — are available through Orthodox Christian Recorded Books, which features this summary:
Recent research has brought to light the existence of an Orthodox presence in colonial Virginia more than half a century before the arrival of the Russian Orthodox missionaries in Alaska. The Virginian believers were centered on Colonel Philip Ludwell III, who was the largest landowner in British Virginia. How did he come to the Faith and what did he do to bring others to the Church? Why is his story important for us today, and what can we learn from it to inspire our own love for God and desire to serve Him? Nicholas Chapman addresses these questions and others in this presentation, using materials from his upcoming book on the subject.
To order the MP3 for $4.95, CLICK HERE.
To order the boxed CD (with the Ludwell portrait and book plate) for $9.95, CLICK HERE.
Fr. Oliver Herbel interviewed at Eastern Christian Books
04 months ago
Last Friday, the excellent Eastern Christian Books blog posted an interview with Fr. Oliver Herbel, Executive Director of SOCHA. While Fr. Oliver touches on his work in American Orthodox history, the focus of the interview is on his recent book on St. Sarapion of Thmuis. Here’s a snippet:
I first learned of St. Sarapion in a liturgical theology class at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. His euchologion, or collection of prayers, has been studied and I was intrigued by them. For example, in the Eucharist and at Baptism, rather than praying for the Holy Spirit’s descent, the Word of God was asked to descend. I looked into him a little more and learned that St. Antony the Great willed one of his two cloaks to Sarapion. The other he had willed to St. Athanasios the Great. St. Athanasios’ letters to a “Sarapion” were, in fact, written to this same Sarapion and this led me to research whether any of Sarapion’s own writings were still extant. Some are: two complete letters, a treatise against Manichaeans, and a letter partially preserved, written to Antony’s disciples.
The whole interview is really well done, and anyone interested in early Christianity and the Church Fathers should take a few minutes to check it out. CLICK HERE to read it.
St. Herman and Fr. Alexander
05 months ago
Today, December 13, is the New Calendar feast day of St. Herman of Alaska. A year ago on this feast, we reprinted a life of St. Herman written by Vera Johnston and published in 1919. To read (or re-read) that biography, click here.
Today is also the 28th anniversary of the death of Fr. Alexander Schmemann, the longtime dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary and arguably the most important writer in American Orthodox history. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a few minutes and check out the Fr. Alexander Schmemann website, www.schmemann.org. There, you’ll find photos of Schmemann, a collection of his writings, and articles written about him by others. Perhaps the best memorial for Schmemann is the sermon given by his son-in-law, Fr. Thomas Hopko, at the memorial Divine Liturgy three days after Schmemann’s death. More recently, in 2008, Bishop Basil Essey gave a wonderful lecture in Schmemann’s honor at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. To listen to it on Ancient Faith Radio, click here.
