Tag: converts

Nicholas Chapman’s new lecture on Philip Ludwell now available

Nicholas Chapman recently gave an hour-long talk on Philip Ludwell III, the first Orthodox convert in American history. The lecture is now available for purchase, and you've got two options: an MP3 download for $4.95, and a boxed CD for $9.95. The boxed CD includes a newly-discovered portrait of Ludwell...

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

January 16, 1924: Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow -- former Archbishop of North America, and future canonized saint -- issued an ukaz removing Metropolitan Platon Rozhdestvensky from his post as primate in America for "public acts of counter-revolution." Of course, Tikhon was under pressure from the Soviet government. Really, "pressure" is...

A Virginian Apostle: The First Orthodox Catechism in the Americas?

Editor's note: We're extremely pleased to present another article by Nicholas Chapman, who continues to excavate the very earliest origins of Orthodoxy in America. To read more about Nicholas and his exciting research, check out the upcoming edition of the journal Road to Emmaus, which features a lengthy interview with...

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...

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...

30 Year Anniversary of Bob Marley’s Death

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the passing of Bob Marley, who finished his life as a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (his baptism was just six months before his death), we're reposting this piece we posted last year featuring the program from his funeral in Jamaica. Memory...

Bishop Joseph Zuk: A brief biographical overview

Joseph A. Zuk was the first Ukrainian Orthodox bishop in America, but little has been written about his life. I don't know a lot, but from the sources I've collected, we can piece together a brief biographical sketch. This isn't much, but I thought it might be worthwhile to get...

Fr. Irvine & the Orthodox women’s college of Brooklyn

Editor's note: The following article originally appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on November 28, 1915: The Holy Orthodox Russo-Greek Catholic Church has established a college for young women at the corner of Pennsylvania and Glenmore avenues, in the East New York section. About nine years ago Archbishop Platon and...

Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine and Isabel Hapgood

Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine and Isabel Florence Hapgood were the two people most responsible for the spread of English in early 20th century American Orthodoxy. Hapgood, a lifelong Episcopalian, was a renowned translator, honored by the Tsar, and she is still remembered today for her landmark 1906 English translation of the Orthodox...

Irvine responds to Hapgood on St. Raphael’s funeral

Last week, we reprinted Isabel Hapgood's account of St. Raphael's funeral. The Hapgood article appeared in the New York Tribune on March 8, 1915. Two days later, the paper published the following letter to the editor from Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine: To the Editor of The Tribune. Sir: An unfortunate...