The Mission of The Orthodox
Church in America, the local autocephalous Orthodox
Church, is to be faithful in fulfilling the commandment
of Christ to “Go into all the world and make
disciples of all Nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit....
The Orthodox Church in America traces its origins to the arrival in Kodiak, Alaska of eight Orthodox missionaries from the Valaamo Monastery in the northern Karelia region of Russia in 1794. The missionaries made a great impact on the native Alaskan population and were responsible for bringing many to the Orthodox Christian faith....
From its humble beginnings in 1794, when a small group of missionaries landed on Kodiak Island, Alaska, Orthodoxy in America has expanded to comprise a church of over two million faithful. Yet numerous Americans from all cultural and religious backgrounds have, particularly in recent decades, joined Orthodoxy as well. Orthodoxy does have something to say to American society. Thus, the story is told on these webpages.
An official document
granting the autocephaly, or the independence,
to The Orthodox Church in America.
The
Statute of The Orthodox Church in America
The Orthodox Church in America was originally founded as a mission and later became a diocese in the Orthodox Church of Russia, uniting in its fold Orthodox Christians of various national backgrounds and traditions. It subsequently developed into a self-governing Metropolitanate, the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America. Confirmation as an Autocephalous Church was accomplished by the action of the Patriarch and Holy Synod of Russia on April 10, 1970. The Orthodox Church in America was proclaimed an Autocephalous Church on October 19, 1970, at the sessions of the All-American Council held at St Tikhon's Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania.
