Impressions from the Episcopal Assembly

It was a pretty hot day in Manhattan yesterday. Despite the discomfort, though, the Orthodox Christian hierarchy of North America seemed to be in pretty decent spirits. I'm here in Manhattan at the 2010 Orthodox Episcopal Assembly of North America in an auxiliary role. I don't get to attend the...

Fr. Nicola Yanney: the first Antiochian priest in Mid-America

  Editor's note: The following article was written by Fr. Paul Hodge, pastor of St. Thomas Orthodox Church (Antiochian) in Sioux City, Iowa, and former priest of St. George Church in Kearney, Nebraska. It originally appeared in a 2008 commemorative journal, published on the occasion of a diocesan pilgrimage to...

The Russian Archbishop welcomes the Greek Archdiocese, 1921

"[I]n 1921 ... without the knowledge and canonical approval of the Russian Orthodox Church, a Greek Archdiocese was founded in America." (Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow to Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, March 17, 1970.) Patriarch Alexy's position has been shared by many people, particularly since the OCA was granted autocephaly by...

The Failed Mission of Fr. Stephen Hatherly

Yesterday, May 19, was the 126th anniversary of the arrival in America of Protopresbyter Stephen Hatherly, a convert priest from England. Hatherly served under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and spent several months in the US, attempting to establish an Orthodox parish in New York. Last July, I wrote an article on...

Our Best Chance Yet: an historical reflection on administrative unity

We've tried this before. Over the past century or so, there have been no fewer than five attempts to bring the various ethnic Orthodox jurisdictions in America into some measure of administrative unity. Next week, from May 26-28, we embark upon a sixth effort -- an effort which, compared to its predecessors,...

Early Orthodoxy in Alabama and Georgia

In June of 1900, an Archimandrite Dorotheo -- I don't know his last name -- came to Birmingham, Alabama. He had traveled there from Chicago, although I'm not sure which Chicago parish he was affiliated with. Borrowing a local Episcopal church -- the Church of the Advent -- he performed...

A Primer on American Orthodox Christian History

Our readers may be interested in a recent article by Fr. Oliver Herbel on his Frontier Orthodoxy blog. He reviews an historical narrative of American Orthodoxy offered on the website Catholic.org, and offers some necessary corrections. At the end, Fr. Oliver writes, Indeed, I think we need to develop a...

The Fate of Father Juvenaly: A story from Yup’ik history

Editor's note: The following article was written by Fr. Michael Oleksa, the foremost historian of Orthodoxy in Alaska, retired dean of St. Herman's Seminary, and member of SOCHA's advisory board. The article originally appeared as a chapter in Fr. Michael's fascinating book, Another Culture / Another World (Association of Alaska...

The World’s Parliament of Religions, 1893

Not long ago, I wrote a pair of articles on the visit of the Greek archbishop Dionysius Latas to the United States. The archbishop came to America in 1893 to attend the "World's Parliament of Religions," which was held in conjunction with the Chicago World's Fair. When we last left Abp Dionysius, he...