A Poisoned Chalice? Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine in 1920

As we've discussed previously, in July of 1920, an all-convert, all-English Orthodox parish was founded in New York City. Called the Church of the Transfiguration, the parish was led by the newly-converted Fr. Patrick Mythen. But it was the fulfillment of a long-held dream of the elderly Fr. Ingram Nathaniel...

Source of the Week: the 1877 Holy Synod edict

For months now, I've been posting a new article virtually every weekday. I've got some things coming up in my life that will prevent me from writing quite that often, so in an effort to organize my time a bit more efficiently (and continue to offer new historical information on...

The Mysterious Death of Fr. Paul Kedrolivansky

On today's episode of my American Orthodox History podcast on Ancient Faith Radio, I tell the story of Fr. Paul Kedrolivansky's suspicious death. For the whole story, you'll want to listen to the podcast. There are quite a few characters involved, and I thought it might be helpful to provide...

The most common names of American Orthodox clergy

Recently, I did a study of the most common names of American Orthodox parishes. In response, Christopher Orr commented, "I wonder what a similar study of clergy (bishop, priest, deacon) names would show. My guess would be Michael, John and George, and perhaps also Nicholas, with Alexander also very popular among...

Irvine warns Dabovich about the Episcopal Church

Fr. Sebastian Dabovich was a monumental figure in American Orthodox history. An American-born Serb, he founded numerous parishes -- Serbian and otherwise -- under the auspices of the Russian Mission in America. He is currently being considered by the Serbian Orthodox Church and the OCA for glorification as a saint....

Solving the mystery: the 1921 pan-Orthodox gathering of bishops

Back in July, Fr. Andrew wrote about the above photo, which depicts a gathering of American Orthodox bishops in the early 1920s: Greeks Meletios and Alexander, Russians Platon and Alexander, and Syrian Aftimios. At the time of Fr. Andrew's original post, no one knew exactly when this photo was taken,...

The Erratic Life of Fr. Patrick Mythen

Fr. Patrick Mythen was an Orthodox Christian for just four years, but in that time, he was one of the most powerful priests in the whole Russian Archdiocese. This period -- 1920-1924 -- was one of great tumult and trial for the Russian jurisdiction, as it shifted from an archdiocese...

The First English-Speaking Parish

For a while now, I have been meaning to write about the first all-English Orthodox parish in America, founded in New York City in 1920. Today, I'm going to give a brief introduction to that parish, and the main characters involved. This is hardly the whole story; it really is...

“Oh foolish parent, who hath bewitched you!”

If you are a regular reader of this website, you already know about Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine. Briefly, for those unfamiliar with him: Irvine was a longtime Episcopal priest who was defrocked by his bishop -- unjustly, so he said. St. Tikhon agreed, and, in 1905, Tikhon ordained Irvine to...

Parish Names in American Orthodoxy

Here's a trivia question for you: What is the most common name for an Orthodox parish in the United States? This isn't really an historical question, and it's opening what is not strictly an historical article. But, to answer the question: the most common parish name is "St. Nicholas," followed...