Category: Orthodoxy in the Americas

Historical Studies of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad

One of our advisory board members, Deacon Andrei Psarev of Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY, operates the excellent church history website ROCORStudies.org. As the name suggests, the site is devoted to studying the history of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). Recently, we asked Deacon Andrei to...

This week in American Orthodox history (April 16-22)

Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen! April 17, 1907: Fr. Demetrios Petrides arrived in America from Greece. He went immediately to Philadelphia, taking charge of Evangelismos (Annunciation) Greek Orthodox Church in the city. One of his first acts was to write a letter to the Ecumenical Patriarchate recommending that...

Florovsky Visits America

Sixty-five years ago today, on Holy Monday, April 7, 1947—the feast of Annunciation (O.S.)—an important event in the history of Orthodoxy in America occurred, with the first visit of Father Georges Florovsky to the United States. As with so many key turns in his ecclesiastical trajectory, Florovsky's coming to America...

The 1940 Census Release: American History Moves Up a Decade

For those of us historians who work in the early twentieth century, one of the major sources of our work (and indeed a lot of what we've done here at SOCHA) are public records.  We heavily depend on things like marriage and death certificates, government documents, voter registration lists, and,...

American Orthodox Atlas Now Available in Electronic Format

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...

This week in American Orthodox history (April 2-8)

April 3, 1904: On Palm Sunday, Fr. Nicola Yanney was ordained to the priesthood by St. Raphael Hawaweeny. Fr. Nicola was a young widower living in Kearney, Nebraska. His wife had died during childbirth in 1902, just days before  her husband's 29th birthday, leaving behind three other children. In August...

History of the Malankara Church in America

Steven Kurian is a member of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Originally from Tampa, Florida, he holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida, as well as a Master's Degree in Environmental Engineering from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Currently he works as a...

This week in American Orthodox history (March 26-April 1)

March 29, 1859: Fr. Peter Ekaterinovsky (aka Lysakov) was consecrated in Irkutsk, in Siberia, and given the title Bishop of New Archangel (Sitka), Alaska. He was about 38 years old. His predecessor was St. Innocent Veniaminov, who had initially been based in Sitka as diocesan bishop. In 1852, the diocesan...

Who are the clergy around St. Raphael’s casket?

On Tuesday, Aram Sarkisian told the story of a mystery photo featuring an Orthodox priest, whom he eventually identified as the Syrian/Antiochian Fr. Job Salloom of Washington, DC. In the course of his investigation, Aram noticed that the mystery priest bore a striking resemblance to a priest in an earlier...