The timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in North America represents a timeline of the historical development of religious communities, institutions and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in North America.
Early visits and missions (1700–1900)
1741 Divine Liturgy celebrated on a Russian ship off the coast of Alaska.
1799 Ioasaph (Bolotov) consecrated in Irkutsk as first bishop for Alaska, but dies in a shipwreck during his return.
1803 Louisiana Purchase expands American territory beyond Mississippi River.
1804 The double-headed eagle became a motif widely used in Tlingit art, after the Russian-Tlingit Battle of Sitka in 1804, when Aleksandr Baranov, the first governor of colonial Russian Alaska and manager of the Russian-America Company, presented the Kiks.adi Sitka Tlingit leaders with a large medallion on which was found the Russian imperial symbol.[1]
1812 Russian colony of Fort Ross established on the coast 60 miles north of San Francisco.
1834 Fr. John Veniaminov moves to Sitka, Alaska; liturgy and catechism translated into Aleut.
1836 Imperial ukaz regarding Alaskan education issued from Czar Nicholas I that students were to become faithful members of the Orthodox Church, loyal subjects of the Czar, and loyal citizens; Fr. John Veniaminov returns to Russia.
1880-1920 Emigration of approximately 400,000 Greeks to the United States, one-fifth of the total population, many as hired labor for the railroads and mines of the American West.[5][6]
1886-1895 In the face of their shamans' inability to treat Old World diseases including smallpox, many Tlingit people (an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America), converted to Orthodox Christianity.[7][note 3]
1891 Fr. Alexis Toth, a Uniate priest, petitions to be received along with his parish in Minneapolis into the Russian Church; Bp. Nicholas (Adoratsky) assigned as Bishop of Alaska but is transferred before taking up his post; Nicholas (Ziorov) becomes ruling bishop of the Alaskan diocese; Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox parish-community is founded in New York.[note 4]
1892 Fr. Alexis Toth and his parish in Minneapolis received into the Russian Church; Carpatho-Russian Uniate parishes in Illinois, Connecticut, and several Pennsylvania soon follow suit; first Serbian parish established in Jackson, California; first American-born person ordained, Fr. Sebastian Dabovich.
1895 Archim. Raphael (Hawaweeny) arrives in America; first Syrian parish in Brooklyn, New York, founded by St. Raphael of Brooklyn; Fr. John Kochurov arrives in America and becomes priest of the Russian parish in Chicago; Fr. Anatolii Kamenskii arrives in Alaska; first clergy conference, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
1898 Bp. Nicholas (Ziorov) returns to Russia; Tikhon (Belavin) becomes Bishop of the Aleutians and Alaska; American annexation of Hawaii.
Beyond Alaska (1900–1918)
1900 Name of Russian mission diocese changed from the Aleutian Islands and Alaska to the Aleutian Islands and North America, thus expanding its territorial boundaries.
1901 First Orthodox church in Canada, in Vostok, Alberta.
1902 Building of St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York; first Romanian parish in North America founded in Regina, Saskatchewan.
1904 Raphael (Hawaweeny) consecrated as Bishop of Brooklyn, becoming the first Orthodox bishop to be consecrated in America; Innocent (Pustinsky) consecrated as Bishop of Alaska; first Romanian parish founded in Cleveland, Ohio.
1906 In an ukaze dated January 27, addressed to Archbishop Tikhon, the Holy Synod of Russia confirmed the practice of commemorating the American president by name, and not the Russian Tsar, during divine services; blessing of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery by hierarchs Tikhon, Raphael and Innocent; translation of Service Book by Isabel Hapgood.
1907 1st All-American Sobor held in Mayfield, PA, at which the name of the Russian mission was declared to be The Russian Orthodox Greek-Catholic Church in North America under the Hierarchy of the Russian Church; Abp. Tikhon (Belavin) returns to Russia and is succeeded in his see by Platon (Rozhdestvensky) as Archbishop of the Aleutians and North America; Uniate Bp. Stephen Ortinsky sent to the US by Rome to stem the tide of Uniate returns to Orthodoxy; Papal decree Ea Semper issued, mandating all Uniate priests in American be celibate; first Sunday of Orthodoxy service in New York; first Bulgarian parish in Madison, Illinois; ordination in Constantinople of first African-American Orthodox priest, the Very Rev. Fr. Raphael Morgan, Priest-Apostolic to America and the West Indies.
1908 Church of Constantinople gives care for Greek Orthodox parishes in the US to the Church of Greece; Fr. Theophan Noli celebrates first Divine Liturgy in the Albanian language; first Albanian parish in Boston.
1911 Minneapolis seminary transferred to Tenafly, New Jersey.
1913 Serbian clergy vote to come under Serbian Orthodox Church but meet with no official response.
1914 Abp. Platon (Rozhdestvensky) recalled to Russia and made bishop of Kishinev, after having received 72 communities (mainly ex-Uniate Carpatho-Russians) into Orthodoxy during his rule; Antiochian Metr. Germanos (Shehadi) of Zahle comes to US to organize parishes without the approval of his synod.
1917 Ex-Uniate priest Alexander Dzubay consecrated with the name Stephen as Bishop of Pittsburgh; Archim. Aftimios (Ofiesh) consecrated as Bishop of Brooklyn; St. Tikhon (Belavin) elected Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia at the All Russian Sobor of 1917–1918.
1918-24 Emigration of 70,000 Greeks to the United States.
Revolution and rivalry (1918–1943)
1918 The Bolshevik Revolution throws the Church of Russia into chaos, effectively stranding the fledgling Russian mission in America; Metr. Meletios (Metaxakis) of Athens arrives in America to organize Greek parishes; Constantinople rescinds temporary transfer of Greek parishes in US to Greece.
1919 Southern Church Council meets in Stavropol at which Higher Church Administration was formed in Southern Russia; 2nd All-American Sobor meets in Cleveland, electing Alexander (Nemolovsky) as its new diocesan bishop, and also electing bishops for the Albanian and Serbian communities, pending approval from Moscow (which never comes); Germanos (Shehadi) receives Ukrainians in Canada.
1920 St. Tikhon of Moscow issues Ukaz No. 362; first session of the Higher Church Administration outside borders of Russia.
1924 4th All-American Sobor of the Metropolia votes to establish "temporary self-government," breaking administrative ties with Moscow; Victor (Abo-Assaley) consecrated as the first Antiochian Archbishop of New York and All North America; Bp. Stephen (Dzubay) returns to the Unia; Ukrainians in Canada join Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) (non-canonical).
1926 Metr. Platon (Rozhdestvensky) of the Metropolia breaks ties with the ROCOR synod; founding of Serbian diocese.
1930 Abp. Joasaph (Skorodumov) ("The Enlightener of Canada") becomes the founding bishop of the Canadian Diocese of ROCOR; Emmanuel (Abo-Hatab) leaves the American Orthodox Catholic Church (AOCC) and returns to Metropolia, re-establishing Brooklyn diocese.
1933 Metr. Platon (Rozhdestvensky) refuses to pledge loyalty to Moscow, which declares the Metropolia to be in schism and establishes the Russian Exarchate of North America (1933–1970); Platon grants canonical release to Syrian parishes remaining under the Metropolia to come under the Church of Antioch; Germanos (Shehadi) returns to Lebanon; consecration of Leontius (Turkevich); marriage and apostasy of Ignatius (Nichols) (first with Living Church and then independently).
1934 Death of Platon; Theophilus (Pashkovsky) of San Francisco elected primate of Metropolia at 5th All-American Sobor in Cleveland, Ohio; death of Germanos (Shehadi) in Lebanon; Abp. Athenagoras (Spyrou) established the "Orthodox Observer", providing a wide range of news and information about the Church, its ministries, and the activities of its many communities to a readership that now exceeds 500,000.
1935 "Temporary Regulations of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad" signed by ROCOR synod in Karlovtsy, Serbia, including Metr. Theophilus (Pashkovsky) of the Metropolia, thus renewing relations; ROCOR is divided into four regions, including North America with Theophilus as the regional primate.
1950 Formation of the Romanian Orthodox Missionary Episcopate in America, chartered by a decision of the Romanian Holy Synod; ROCOR moves headquarters to New York; Metr. Leontius (Turkevich) becomes primate of Metropolia at 8th All-American Sobor in New York City; National Council of Churches, USA, is organized.
1961 First ever visit of a Greek Orthodox Patriarch to Canada, as Patr. Benedict of Jerusalem begins a North-American tour to raise funds for the restoration of the shrines in the Holy Land; consecration of Antiochian Abp. Michael (Shaheen) of Toledo.
1962 Antiochian Toledo archdiocese recognized by the Church of Antioch as equal to the New York archdiocese.
1963 Autonomous Serbian diocese created; beginning of rapprochement between Metropolia and Moscow Patriarchate (MP); arguing that the Metropolia's 1924 declaration of "temporary self-government" amounted to a canonical declaration of autocephaly, Toward an American Orthodox Church is published by St. Vladimir's professor Alexander Bogolepov, galvanizing the Metropolia to seek autocephaly; Abp. Iakovos (Coucouzis) vigorously supported the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that was introduced by President John F. Kennedy in his civil rights speech of June 11, 1963.
1968 Meeting between Metropolia representatives and Moscow Patriarchate in Upsala, Sweden, discussing autocephaly for the Metropolia; Synod of Bishops of the Metropolia decides to start official exploratory negotiations with MP.
1969 Consecration of Dmitri (Royster) (seen by many to be first convert bishop); official autocephaly meetings of Metropolia with Moscow Patriarchate take place on New York City, Tokyo and Geneva; Metr. Philaret (Voznesensky) of New York issues the first of a series of "Sorrowful Epistles" (1969,1971,1975) to the primates of the local Orthodox Churches, condemning forays into ecumenism.
Union and division (1970–1994)
1970 Russian Metropolia reconciles with the Church of Russia and is granted autocephaly, changing its name to the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), an act accepted by some Orthodox autocephalous churches worldwide, but condemned as uncanonical by the majority, including all four ancient patriarchates and the Church of Greece; Constantinople ceases all official contact with the OCA and declares it uncanonical; 14th All-American Sobor/1st All-American Council accepts autocephaly Tomos and approves new name of Orthodox Church in America (OCA); the Russian Exarchate of North America is dissolved, but the majority of its parishes remain under the Church of Russia; glorification of St. Herman of Alaska in separate services by the ROCOR and the OCA.
1971 ROCOR denounces Moscow's grant of autocephaly to the Metropolia; OCA receives rebel ROCOR parish in Australia; Albanian Archdiocese received into the OCA at 2nd All-American Council held at St. Tikhon's Monastery, South Canaan, PA.
1972 OCA receives the Mexican National Catholic Church, creating its Exarchate of Mexico.
1973 The 3rd All-American Council of OCA held in Pittsburgh, PA.
1988 Healing of schism between two Serbian dioceses.
1989 Glorification in Russia of St. Tikhon of Moscow; controversial spiritual leader Elder Ephraim begins founding strict Athonite-style monasteries in North America; 9th All-American Council of OCA held in Saint Louis, Missouri.
2001 Second meeting of most bishops associated with SCOBA; the 2001 data from Statistics Canada gives a total of 433,815 Orthodox in Canada.[11]
2002 Retirement of Theodosius (Lazor) and election of Herman (Swaiko) as Metropolitan of the OCA at 13th All-American Council held in Orlando, Florida.
2006 4th All-Diaspora Council of the ROCOR votes to restore full communion with Moscow Patriarchate; four priests and one deacon who departed the Antiochian Archdiocese during the Ben Lomond Crisis return to Antioch; major financial scandal in the OCA; third meeting of most SCOBA bishops agrees to work together on canonical and pastoral questions.
2009 Church of Georgia names Metr. Dimitri (Shiolashvili) of Batumi and Lazeti as bishop for North America; the OCMC's Archbishop Anastasios and Archbishop Demetrios Mission and Training Centre is opened in St. Augustine, Florida, for the training of missionaries for global assignments, being the first permanent facility of the combined Orthodox churches in America; reciprocal visit of Abp. Demetios (Trakatellis) and a delegation from the Greek Archdiocese to Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) and hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, marking the first visit of a Greek Orthodox Archbishop to ROCOR's headquarters in more than 40 years; Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference meets in Chambesy, Switzerland and mandates "Episcopal Assemblies" for various regions of the world, including North America; Metr. Jonah (Paffhausen) addressed the inaugural assembly of the newly founded Anglican Church in North America "seeking an ecumenical restoration"; an agreement was announced between St. Vladimir's Seminary and Nashotah House, an Anglican seminary, to guide ecumenical relationships and the new dialogue between the two churches; OCA Holy Synod reestablishes Diocese of Washington and Diocese of New York-New Jersey; Apostolic and Patriarchal Visit to the U.S. of Ecumenical Patr. Batholomew I (Archontonis), meeting with the Orthodox Primates of the USA; Patr. Bartholomew I officially opened the 8th Religion, Science and the Environment (RSE) Symposium, entitled "Restoring Balance: The Great Mississippi River," and is published in the Wall Street Journal in an op-ed piece entitled "Our Indivisible Environment;"Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience is issued, signed by more than 150 American religious leaders including Metr. Jonah (Paffhausen) and Bp. Basil (Essey) of Wichita.
^In 1844, St. Innocent (Veniaminov) organized the first Orthodox theological school in North America at Sitka, inaugurating a golden age of Orthodox educational ministry and mission in Alaska. This lasted until the catastrophe of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, when the last Russian-sponsored parochial school in Alaska closed.[4]
^Russian Orthodox missionaries had translated their liturgy into the Tlingit language. It has been argued that they saw Eastern Orthodox Christianity as a way of resisting assimilation to the "American way of life," which was associated with Presbyterianism.[8]
^"In the fall of 1891 there were about 500 male Greeks and perhaps 20 Greek women in New York. The establishment of the Athena Brotherhood intertwined Hellenism and Greek Orthodoxy; from these few sprung forth the first Greek association in this hemisphere and the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox parish. A small part of an Evangelical church on West 53rd Street near Ninth Avenue was rented at $50.00 per month. Holy Trinity - the second Greek Orthodox church in the Americas and the first in New York City - had found its first home."[10]
^"Chartered by a special act of the New York State Legislature in 1896, it occupied several locations. In 1904 a permanent church building, an Episcopal church of Gothic architecture at 153 East 72nd Street, was purchased. The first service was held on April 3, 1904. Later that same year, the dynamic Father Methodeos Kourkoules assumed the pastorate and remained its benevolent and resolute spiritual leader until 1940."[10]
^ abC. Moskos. "The Greeks in the United States." In: R. Clogg (cd.). The Greek Diaspora in the Twentieth Century. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1999. p.105.
^Kan, Sergei. Memory Eternal: Tlingit Culture and Russian Orthodox Christianity Through Two Centuries. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999. pp.xix-xxii.
^Yaroslaw Lozowchuk and Gerald Luciuk. Orthodox Churches. The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Retrieved: 11 July 2014.
