Tag: parishes


In Search Of… Fr. Philip Sredanovich


I've got several new articles in the works, but law school has been brutal lately, so I haven't been able to finish any of them. In the meantime, I thought I'd republish one of my old articles. This one was originally published on June 1, 2010. Fr. Philip Sredanovich is...

From Rev. James Coucouzes to Archbishop Iakovos


Editor's note: The following article was written by Christopher Tripoulas of The National Herald, the leading Greek-American newspaper. It was originally published on The National Herald's blog on October 27. (Click here to view the original.) Many thanks to Mr. Tripoulas for allowing us to reprint the article. During an...

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...

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...

Friday Links


I'm testing out a possible new feature here at OH.org -- links to recent articles that might be of interest to readers of our website. Please let me know what you think of this feature, and if you have any suggestions for links to include in future "Friday Links" posts....

What is an Armenian parish?


Matthew Namee’s somewhat recent post concerning what constitutes a parish caught me by surprise, as I was preparing a very similar article of my own to illustrate a problem I’ve been having in continuing to tell the story of the Armenian Orthodox Church for SOCHA.  When I agreed to assist...

Neutral Principles of Law in a Bulgarian parish dispute


Today I'll be discussing Aglikin v. Kovacheff, a 1987 Illinois appellate court case involving a dispute over control of St. Sophia Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Chicago. The key question, in this case, concerns the extent of the diocesan bishop's authority over the local parish. The bishop had dismissed certain members of the parish board of...

Hanna v. Malick: the Russy-Antacky schism in the Michigan Supreme Court


Prior to Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny's death in 1915, pretty much all the Syrian (Antiochian) Orthodox in America recognized his authority. This included St. George Syrian Orthodox Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was incorporated in 1910. The parish was under St. Raphael, and all seemed to be well. But in...

George Brown: Pioneer of Orthodoxy in Chicago


In March, I gave a lecture at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Westchester, Illinois, on the subject of Chicago's Orthodox history. Since then, I've begun to probe deeper into the early history of Orthodoxy in Chicago. Many people have asked about one man in particular -- George Brown, an...

Scandal and murder: the story of Fr. Parthenios Kolonis


The following item appeared in the Washington Post (among other papers) on July 6, 1933: Martins Ferry, Ohio, July 5 (A.P.). – The Rev. Parthenios Colonis, 72, pastor of the Martins Ferry Greek Orthodox Catholic Church, died today from hatchet-inflicted wounds. He was found unconscious in the basement of the...