Tag: Vladimir Sokolovsky


The Early History of Orthodoxy in Chicago


In 2011, I gave a talk at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Westchester, Illinois, on the early history of Orthodoxy in Chicago. Here's the text of that lecture, basically unedited since I wrote it 7+ years ago. ******* The story of Orthodoxy in Chicago really begins in the 1880s....

Joseph Vilatte and the Wisconsin Old Catholics, 1891-92


In the comments section of an old article I wrote on the first Orthodox parishes in each US state, Isa Almisry and I have recently had an interesting exchange about an Old Catholic parish in Wisconsin which discussed joining (and possibly did briefly join) the Russian Orthodox Church in 1891-92. This...

From Repki to the New World: A Belarusian Priest in America


Editor's note: For quite a while now, I have been corresponding with Ales Simakou of Gomel, Belarus. Ales describes himself as "a researcher of Belarusian-American (especially Indian) contacts," and he has been researching the life of Fr. Nikolai Grinkevich, a Belarusian priest who was ordained in San Francisco and served in...

The Historical Reality of Greek Orthodoxy in America


Last week, I was privileged to speak at the Greek Archdiocese Clergy-Laity Congress in Atlanta. I gave the same talk on two days, July 5 and 6. Below, we've published the text of my lecture. A couple of things, up front: first, I didn't include footnotes, because this was just...

The San Francisco Cathedral: Before and After


In its early years, the Russian cathedral in San Francisco had a number of homes, including: 3241 Mission St. (the home of a parishioner named Mr. Seculovich) 509 Greenwich St. 911 Jackson St. 1108 Pierce St. 829 Greenwich St. (owned by a German Lutheran church) 1713 Powell St. Most of...

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...

Fr. Kallinikos Kanellas: filling in the gaps


A couple of weeks ago, I introduced Fr. Kallinikos Kanellas, one of the first ethnic Greek priests to serve in America. At the time, I mentioned that Paul Manolis had published a letter -- in Greek -- written by Kanellas to then-Archbishop Meletios Metaxakis in 1918. I asked for help...

Fr. Kallinikos Kanellas: the first Greek priest in America?


According to some sources, Archimandrite Kallinikos Kanellas was the first ethnic Greek priest to serve in America. And those sources may be right, depending on your definition of "Greek." The only other candidates would be from the Greek church in New Orleans. Fr. Stephen Andreades was the priest in the...

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...

Orthodoxy in Chicago, 1888-1892


Back in June, I did one of my first podcasts on an attempt, in 1888, to form a multiethnic parish in Chicago. Here are the basics: By 1888, there were about a thousand Orthodox Christians living in Chicago, most of them Greeks and Serbs / Montenegrins. A few years earlier, they had organized...