The Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas
Posts tagged SOCHA
SOCHA adds Aram Sarkisian as fourth director
17 months ago
by Matthew Namee
in SOCHA
We’ll have more on our recent Princeton symposium soon, but before that, a special announcement: Immediately following the symposium, SOCHA added a fourth director to its executive board — Aram Sarkisian, whose work has already been featured on OrthodoxHistory.org. Aram is a member of the Armenian Church, and his grandfather was a longtime priest in the OCA. Here is Aram’s bio, which appears on our “Administration” page:
Aram G. Sarkisian is an independent researcher based in the Detroit area. He is a 2008 graduate of the University of Michigan, holding a BA from the Center for Russian and East European Studies, and a 2011 graduate of the University of Chicago, holding an MA 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).
We’re very pleased to welcome Aram on board, and we look forward to his future contributions.
2011 Symposium Begins this Weekend
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This evening begins “Pilgrims and Pioneers: The Growth of Orthodox Christianity in 20th Century America,” a conference taking place at Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary from September 30 to October 1, 2011. Tonight’s event, a panel discussion, is free and open to the public.
Some of the figures whose lives and ministries will be discussed during the conference include St Tikhon Bellavin, St Raphael Hawaweeny, St Nikolai Velimirovich, St Alexis Toth, Fr Theoclitos Triantafilides, Archbishop Iakovos Koukouzis, Fr Georges Florovsky, Fr Alexander Schmemann, and Fr John Meyendorff.
More information is available on the conference website.
If you have any questions, please contact the Fr Georges Florovsky Orthodox Christian Theological Society of Princeton University at florov@princeton.edu.
See you there!
SOCHA interview on Ancient Faith Radio
08 months ago
by Matthew Namee
in SOCHA
A quick note to our readers: Last week, Bobby Maddex of Ancient Faith Radio interviewed me about SOCHA’s latest developments, especially the journal and the upcoming symposium. Click here to listen to the interview.
Matthew Namee
Collected Works of Nicholas Bjerring available for $1.00
8 months ago
Last week, we introduced the first issue of the Journal of American Orthodox Church History (JAOCH), which is available from Prairie Parish Press (PPP). In addition to publishing JAOCH, PPP has begun producing a “Collected Works Series,” featuring the writings of important Eastern Christian figures, with a special emphasis on American authors. The first book in the series is a collection of Nicholas Bjerring’s writings (appropriately titled Nicholas Bjerring: The Collected Works). The e-book is edited by Fr. Oliver Herbel, who has spent years researching Bjerring.
Regular OrthodoxHistory.org readers are probably familiar with Bjerring, a Roman Catholic who converted to Orthodoxy in 1870, was ordained a priest in Russia, and established the first Orthodox chapel in New York City. Bjerring published an English-language Orthodox journal and acted as a sort of embassy priest until 1883, when the Russian government closed the chapel. Rather than accept a teaching position in St. Petersburg, the discouraged Bjerring converted to Presbyterianism before ultimately returning to Roman Catholicism shortly before his death.
Nicholas Bjerring: The Collected Works opens with an introduction by Fr. Oliver, who provides an 11-page biographical sketch of the man. This is followed by two letters by Bjerring in 1870 — one to Pope Pius IX in which Bjerring denounces the dogma of papal infallibility and informs the Pope that he will become Orthodox, and the other to the Russian Holy Synod in which he requests reception into the Orthodox Church. Next come four of Bjerring’s best sermons, all from his days as an Orthodox priest. My favorite, I think, is his 1873 Sermon on Unbelief and Indifference. The last two pieces were written at the end of Bjerring’s life, when he was a Roman Catholic layman, and they are essential in understanding how the once anti-papal Bjerring came to be convinced that Rome was, in fact, his true home.
All told, if you have any interest in Bjerring, 19th century Orthodoxy, or early American Orthodox converts, this book is a must-have. The introductory price is a mere $1.00, and is available until September 1. After that, the price will go up a bit, although it will remain very affordable. I hope you’ll consider buying a copy.
And in case you missed it, here’s a link.
This article was written by Matthew Namee.
More on the Journal of American Orthodox Church History (JAOCH)
9 months ago
Earlier today, we posted a press release announcing the publication of the first issue of SOCHA’s peer-reviewed journal, the Journal of American Orthodox Church History (JAOCH). This has been in the works for a long time, and I’m really excited that it’s here. The table of contents is available here, but I thought I’d briefly discuss some of what you’ll learn if you buy the journal.
- Back in 2009, I gave a paper called “The Myth of Past Unity” at a St. Vladimir’s Seminary conference. It’s gotten a fair amount of attention, and some people took issue with my conclusion — that there was not a single, unified American Orthodox Church prior to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution (or, if you prefer the 1921 incorporation of the Greek Archdiocese). Anyway, over the past couple of years I’ve been asked many times if (or when) that paper would be published. It’s here in JAOCH, beginning on page 2.
- The second main article in the journal is by Fr. Oliver Herbel and discusses the work of Fr. Boris Burden, one of the most influential convert clergymen in American Orthodox history. Burden, and his longtime (and better-known) associate Fr. Michael Gelsinger, were behind multiple attempts to bring together the various American Orthodox jurisdictions. As far as I know, this is the first substantial scholarly treatment of Burden’s efforts.
- Fr. John Erickson is the foremost historian of American Orthodoxy, and we are very fortunate to have a major contribution from him in the first issue of JAOCH. His paper, “Slavophile Thought and Conceptions of Mission in the Russian North American Archdiocese, Late 19th-Early 20th Century,” provides an essential framework for understanding the sometimes-mythical Russian Mission in North America. This is the era of Tikhon and Platon, Hapgood and Hawaweeny, and Fr. John’s paper helps us better understand the ideas that shaped that period.
- Next, the journal features a 1967 article by ROCOR author Fr. Constantine Zaitsev, translated into English by Evgueni Kadossov. This is a remarkable text. It proposes the idea of America as a sort of “Fourth Rome.” You have to read the article, and Dr. Kadossov’s introduction, to really grasp the concept, but it’s a fascinating argument, and a wonderful contribution to JAOCH.
- Finally, the journal features two book reviews, one by Fr. Oliver and the other by Amy Slagle. Fr. Oliver reviewed Fr. John McGuckin’s ambitious Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Dr. Slagle wrote about a biography of Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, an important French Orthodox theologian who died in 2005. She taught at the famed St. Sergius Institute in Paris, which had such an influence on American Orthodoxy (by way of figures like Schmemann and Meyendorff).
The journal runs 98 pages and costs $10. There’s some really groundbreaking material in there, and I hope all the readers of OrthodoxHistory.org will get a copy. (Oh, and in case you missed it, here’s a link to purchase the journal.)
This article was written by Matthew Namee.
