Matthew Namee

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. He's written a lot about church history, both at this website and elsewhere, and he's spoken at numerous conferences and events. Matthew is the former research assistant to Bill James, the legendary baseball author and Boston Red Sox executive. He went on to earn a J.D. from the University of Kansas and serves as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer for Orthodox Ministry Services. He and his wife Catherine and their children attend Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in Vancouver, WA. Matthew can be contacted at mfnamee [at] gmail [dot] com.

mfnamee@gmail.com

SOCHA adds Aram Sarkisian as fourth director

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...

SOCHA interview on Ancient Faith Radio

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

Newly-discovered documents on Fr. Raphael Morgan

We've devoted a fair amount of attention here at OrthodoxHistory.org to Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first black Orthodox priest in America. Very briefly: Morgan was born in Jamaica, traveled widely, and eventually became an Episcopalian deacon in the United States. In 1907, after many years of study, he traveled to...

New York OCA Cathedral’s fight for religious freedom

If you've read the last two issues of our SOCHA newsletter, you know that Holy Protection OCA Cathedral in New York City is in the middle of a fight with the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Here's how I described the situation in the most recent newsletter: In last month's...

SOCHA Newsletter, Issue #2 (August 15, 2011)

This is the second issue of our SOCHA newsletter, first introduced last month. If you know of anything we should include in the next issue, or to offer any other feedback about the newsletter, please email me at mfnamee [at] gmail [dot] com. WHAT'S NEW AT SOCHA? Today, August 15,...

Atlas Excerpt #4: The Aborted Multiethnic Parish of Chicago

Recently, Holy Cross Orthodox Press published the Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches, edited by Alexei D. Krindatch. I contributed several pieces to the Atlas, including the article “Ten Interesting Facts About the History of Orthodox Christianity in the USA.” With Alexei’s permission, we're publishing excerpts of that article here...

Programming Note

My apologies for the lack of new material lately. All of us at SOCHA have been busy with various projects and obligations (to say nothing of our families and parishes). Personally, I am devoting a lot of my energy to my paper on Orthodoxy in the U.S. civil courts, which...

Atlas Excerpt #3: The First Two Convert Priests

Recently, Holy Cross Orthodox Press published the Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches, edited by Alexei D. Krindatch. I contributed several pieces to the Atlas, including the article “Ten Interesting Facts About the History of Orthodox Christianity in the USA.” With Alexei’s permission, we’ll publish excerpts from that article over...

Notes on an Ethiopian Orthodox court case

Right now, I'm fully immersed in work on my big paper on Orthodoxy and the civil courts. I just thought I'd offer some notes on a case I just read, Kidist Mariam Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church, Inc. v. Kidist Mariam Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church, Inc., a 1995 Georgia Court of...

Atlas Excerpt #2: Agapius Honcharenko

Recently, Holy Cross Orthodox Press published the Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches, edited by Alexei D. Krindatch. I contributed several pieces to the Atlas, including the article “Ten Interesting Facts About the History of Orthodox Christianity in the USA.” With Alexei’s permission, we’ll publish excerpts from that article over...