Tag: Portland


This week in American Orthodox history (March 5-11)


March 10, 1866: The future Archbishop Arseny Chagovtsov was born in Kharkov, in what was then the Russian Empire and what is today Ukraine. A widowed priest, he became a monk and came to America in 1903 to serve in the Russian North American Mission. He was instrumental in the...

This week in American Orthodox history (February 20-26)


February 20, 1874: The future hieromartyr Vasily Martysz was born in Poland. He served in America -- first in Alaska, and then in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and Canada -- from 1901 to 1912. He died in 1945 and was canonized by the the Orthodox Church of Poland in 2003....

What is a parish?


In my recent lecture on Orthodoxy in Chicago, given at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Westchester, Illinois, I cautiously addressed the still-controversial issue of the 1897 split in Chicago's Greek Orthodox community. Let me go over the basic details very briefly, before moving onto the broader question of what...

The first churches of Portland


It's been a week since we last posted new material, and for that, I apologize. I've been in Portland with my wife and kids, visiting the in-laws. Portland has a rich, fascinating Orthodox history, and I plan to discuss it in detail in future articles. In the meantime, I thought...

Early Orthodoxy in Portland, Oregon


Orthodoxy has been in Portland, Oregon for well over a century, and its history is of particular interest to me, as my in-laws live in the city, and I have visited there many times. Today, we're going to look at the beginnings of organized parish life in Portland. According to Brigit...