Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America


The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, often referred to in North America as simply the Antiochian Archdiocese, is the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in the United States and Canada. Originally under the care of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Syro-Levantine Orthodox Christian immigrants to the United States and Canada were granted their own jurisdiction under the Church of Antioch in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution. Internal conflicts divided the Antiochian Orthodox faithful into two parallel archdioceses—those of New York and Toledo—until 1975, when Metropolitan Philip became the sole Archbishop of the reunited Antiochian Archdiocese. The Holy Synod of Antioch granted the Archdiocese an autonomous status referred to as Self-Rule in 2003, and by 2014 the Archdiocese had grown to over 275 parish churches.

History

The Antiochian Orthodox followers were originally cared for by the Russian Orthodox Church in America and the first bishop consecrated in North America, Saint Raphael of Brooklyn, was consecrated by the Russian Orthodox Church in America in 1904 to care for the Syro-Levantine Greek Orthodox Christian Ottoman immigrants to the United States and Canada, who had come chiefly from the Vilayets of Adana, Aleppo, Beirut and Damascus.
After the Bolshevik Revolution threw the Russian Orthodox Church and its faithful abroad into chaos, the Syro-Levantine Greek Orthodox Christian faithful in North America, simultaneously shaken by the death of their beloved bishop, Saint Raphael, chose to come under the direct care of the Damascus-based Patriarchate of Antioch. Due to internal conflicts, however, the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in North America were divided between two archdioceses, those of New York City and Toledo.
In 1975 the two Antiochian Orthodox archdioceses were united as one Archdiocese of North America. Since then it has experienced significant growth through ongoing evangelization and the immigration of Orthodox Arabs from the Middle East. Its leader from 1966 until 2014 was Metropolitan Philip Saliba. Six other diocesan bishops assisted the metropolitan in caring for the nine dioceses of the growing archdiocese, which is the third largest Orthodox Christian jurisdiction in North America, with 74,600 adherents in the United States, 27,300 of whom are regular church attendees. As of 2011, it also has 249 parishes in the United States with two monastic communities.
On October 9, 2003, the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church granted the archdiocese's request to be granted self-rule status to allow it to better govern itself, improve and increase its outreach efforts, internally organize itself into several dioceses, and progress further on the road to the administrative unity of the Orthodox Church in the Americas.
The Archdiocese is a participating member of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of America, however, due to stalled communication between the Patriarchate of Antioch and the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Jerusalem, Metropolitan Joseph no longer attends meetings of the Assembly.
Metropolitan Philip died in 2014 and was succeeded by Metropolitan Joseph Al-Zehlaoui.

Structure

The Antiochian Archdiocese is divided in nine territorial dioceses. Some of them, extend partially into the territory of Canada. These dioceses include: Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic ; Eagle River and the Northwest ; Los Angeles and the West ; Miami and the Southeast ; New York and Washington DC ; Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York ; Toledo and the Midwest ; Wichita and Mid-America ; Worcester and New England.

Evangelism

Many conservative former Anglicans have turned to the archdiocese as a jurisdiction, some joining and leading Western Rite parishes with liturgy more familiar to Western Christians. The current mission of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is to "bring Orthodoxy to America" and has a very active Department on Mission and Evangelism which was chaired by Fr. Peter Gillquist who led the mass conversion of the Evangelical Orthodox Church to Eastern Orthodoxy. Gillquist retired in December 2011 and died in July 2012. Fr. Michael Keiser was named as his successor as head of the department.
The archdiocese also includes Ancient Faith Ministries among its departments, with its well-known Ancient Faith Radio division, an Internet-based radio station with content themed around Orthodox Christianity, including both streaming stations and more than 100 podcasts.
As a result of its evangelism and missionary work, the Antiochian Archdiocese saw significant growth between the mid-1960s and 2012. The archdiocese had only 65 parishes across the United States in the mid-1960s and by 2011 this number had increased to 249 parishes.

Relations with other Christian bodies

The archdiocese had formerly been a member of the National Council of Churches, but its archdiocesan convention voted unanimously on July 28, 2005, to withdraw fully from that body, citing increased politicization and a generally fruitless relationship, making it the only major Orthodox jurisdiction in the US to take such a step.

Episcopacy

While American converts play a substantial role in the life of the Archdiocese, being well represented among both clergy and laity, all senior Bishops of the Antiochian Archdiocese are of Levantine descent.

Metropolitan Archbishop

Archdiocese of New York