Category: Firsts
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The first biography of St. Innocent, part 2
Editor’s note: Last week, we presented the first part of the first biography of St. Innocent, written by the Episcopalian clergyman Charles R. Hale. What follows is Part 2, which details the introduction of…
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The first biography of St. Innocent, part 1
Editor’s note: The first biography of St. Innocent of Alaska was not written by an Orthodox author, but by an Episcopalian, Charles R. Hale, in 1877 (a year before St. Innocent’s death). Hale (1837-1900)…
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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…
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A church in New York in 1850?
The first Orthodox place of worship in New York was founded in 1870, when the Russian Church established an embassy chapel under the care of Fr. Nicholas Bjerring. As we’ve discussed before, the idea…
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The first convert priests… or… the first American apostates
Editor’s note: Last year, on September 30, I aired a podcast on James Chrystal and Nicholas Bjerring, the first two convert priests in American Orthodox history. On the same day, I published an article…
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Episcopal Assembly issues statement
The hierarchs of the Episcopal Assembly, which has just concluded, issued the following statement: We glorify the name of the Triune God for gathering us at this first Episcopal Assembly of this region in…
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Fr. Nicola Yanney: the first Antiochian priest in Mid-America
Editor’s note: The following article was written by Fr. Paul Hodge, pastor of St. Thomas Orthodox Church (Antiochian) in Sioux City, Iowa, and former priest of St. George Church in Kearney, Nebraska. It…
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Early Orthodoxy in Alabama and Georgia
In June of 1900, an Archimandrite Dorotheo — I don’t know his last name — came to Birmingham, Alabama. He had traveled there from Chicago, although I’m not sure which Chicago parish he was…
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The Fate of Father Juvenaly: A story from Yup’ik history
Editor’s note: The following article was written by Fr. Michael Oleksa, the foremost historian of Orthodoxy in Alaska, retired dean of St. Herman’s Seminary, and member of SOCHA’s advisory board. The article originally appeared…