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Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America (1794 - 1970) - Religious Group

Religious Family: Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox)
Religious Tradition: Orthodox
Description: The Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America was a predecessor of the current Orthodox Church in America. Historically, it began in 1794 with the arrival of ten Orthodox monks from Russia to Kodiak Island in Alaska, then part of Russian America. By the beginning of the 20th century, this mission to the native peoples of Alaska had evolved into the North American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. It grew considerably due to the arrival of immigrants not only from Russia, but also from Eastern and Central Europe, and from the Middle East. At that time, the other – non-Russian – Orthodox Christian ethnic groups did not have their own bishops in America, and most of them were united under a single North American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the wake of the chaos caused by the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Tikhon, directed all his parishes and dioceses outside of Russia to govern themselves autonomously. In 1924, the North American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church became a self-governing Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in America (also known popularly as "Russian Metropolia"). In 1970, this Church was granted autocephaly (full independence) by the "Mother Church," the Russian Orthodox Church, and was renamed the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
Official Site: Not available

Connections: Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America


 
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Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Members (1925 - 1969)1


Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Ministers & Churches (1925 - 1969)1


Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, Trends (1925 - 1969)1

YEAR MEMBERS MINISTERS CHURCHES
1925 200,000 300 255
1929 182,000 247 234
1931 107,550
1933 320,000 290
1935 526,000 283 346
1937 238
1942 400,000 399
1943 300,000 250
1946 300,000
1950 400,000 399
1952 750,000 335 220
1953 440,000 339 326
1955 750,000 410 350
1956 760,000 426 359
1957 755,000 411 352
1961 850,000 319 321
1962 750,000 443 360
1964 600,000 364 350
1965 393 397
1966 337 309
1967 375 357
1969 1,000,000 355 300
       

Sources

1 All data on clergy, members, and churches are taken from the National Council of Churches’ Historic Archive CD and recent print editions of the Council’s Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The CD archives all 68 editions of the Yearbook (formerly called Yearbook of the Churches and Yearbook of American Churches) from 1916 to 2000. Read more information on the Historic Archive CD and the Yearbook.

Membership figures are "inclusive." According to the Yearbook, this includes "those who are full communicant or confirmed members plus other members baptized, non-confirmed or non-communicant." Each denomination has its own criteria for membership.

When a denomination listed on the Historic Archive CD was difficult to identify, particularly in early editions of the Yearbook, the ARDA staff consulted numerous sources, including Melton’s Encyclopedia of American Religions and the Handbook of Denominations in the United States. In some cases, ARDA staff consulted the denomination’s website or contacted its offices by phone. When a denomination could not be positively identified, its data were omitted.

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