History of the OCA

First Missionaries Arrive in Alaska

Eight Orthodox missionaries from the Valaamo Monastery in northern Karelia, Russia, arrived in Kodiak, Alaska. They made a profound impact on the native Alaskan population and were responsible for bringing many to the Orthodox Christian faith.

Father John Veniaminov — Apostle to America

Father John Veniaminov arrived in Alaska and continued the missionary work. Among his many accomplishments was the translation of Scripture and the liturgical services into native dialects, for which he also devised a grammar and an alphabet.

Around 1840, Father John was elected to the episcopacy, taking the name Innocent. He visited California and the Orthodox community at Fort Ross, north of San Francisco, eventually returning to Russia where he was named Metropolitan of Moscow.

A Parish in San Francisco

A parish was established in San Francisco by Serbians, Russians, and Greeks — today this is the OCA's Holy Trinity Cathedral. Gradually other parishes were established across the United States.

With the great waves of immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Southern Europe at the end of the 19th century, the headquarters of the North American Orthodox Diocese moved first to San Francisco, then to New York.

A United North American Diocese

By the early 1900s, almost all Orthodox communities — regardless of ethnic background — were united in a single diocese under the Russian Orthodox Church. This was a remarkable expression of Orthodox unity on American soil.

Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny became the first bishop for Arab-Americans and the first Orthodox Christian consecrated to the episcopacy in North America. He and the parishes under his direction were an integral part of the North American Diocese.

The Russian Revolution and Its Consequences

The Russian Revolution severely hindered communications between the North American Diocese and the Church in Russia. In the early 1920s, Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow — who had himself served as Bishop of the North American Diocese for ten years — issued a decree calling on dioceses outside Russia to organize themselves autonomously.

At a Council of all hierarchs, clergy, and parish delegates, it was decided that the Church in North America could no longer maintain strict administrative ties with Russia, especially as Patriarch Tikhon had been arrested. He died in 1925.

Rise of Multiple Jurisdictions

Various ethnic groups that had been part of the single diocese organized separate dioceses and placed themselves under their respective Mother Churches. This gave rise to the present situation of multiple overlapping jurisdictions in North America based on ethnic background — rather than the canonical principle of a single Church in a given territory.

At that time, the OCA was known as the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of North America, or simply The Metropolia.

Autocephaly — The Orthodox Church in America Is Born

In the early 1960s, The Metropolia entered into dialogue with the Moscow Patriarchate to regularize its status. In 1970, it once again entered into communion with Moscow, which promptly granted it autocephaly — full administrative self-governance.

At a Council held at Saint Tikhon's Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, it was decided that the Church should be renamed The Orthodox Church in America. This marked a turning point: for the first time, an Orthodox Church on American soil was fully self-governing.

Signing of the Autocephaly Agreement, 1970. Photo: OCA Archives.