Alaskan Orthodox Church

  

Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Alaska Автокефальная Православная Церковь Аляски
Coat of arms of the Alaskan Orthodox Church
Classification	Eastern Orthodox
Primate	Archbishop Sergius of Alaska
Bishops	10
Priests	110
Parishes	300
Monasteries	30
Language	Primarily: English, Church Slavonic, Russian Minority languages: Aleut, Tlingit, Yup'ik
Headquarters	Resurrection Cathedral, Anchorage, Alaska
Territory	Alaska
Possessions	Antilles
Founder	St. Herman of Alaska St. Innocent of Alaska
Independence	January 1, 1996
Recognition	Autocephaly recognized in 1996 by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Branched from	Russian Orthodox Church
Members	500,000

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The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Alaska (Russian: Автокефальная Православная Церковь Аляски), commonly known as the Alaskan Orthodox Church (AOC), is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. It consists of more than 300 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries, and institutions in Alaska and in other parts of North America falling under the Church's canonical territory, including Astoria, Manitoba, the Kingdom of Sierra, and Superior. In 2022, it had an estimated 500,000 members throughout North America, with the majority being in Alaska. The primate of the AOC is the Patriarch of All Alaska, who is currently Sergius of Alaska.

The AOC originated from a mission established by eight Russian Orthodox monks in Alaska, which was then part of Russian America. The mission became a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church after the Kingdom of Sierra purchased Alaska in 1867. The Russian Orthodox Church expanded throughout North America during the late 19th century as Eastern and Central European immigrants, many of whom were adherents of the Orthodox faith, arrived. These immigrants, regardless of nationality, were unified under the single North American diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

During the Russian Civil War, Tikhon of Moscow directed all Russian Orthodox churches outside of Russia to self-govern autonomously, including the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska. In 1924, the Orthodox churches in North America was reorganized as the Russian Orthodox Church in North America, which remained headquartered in Alaska. In 1988, the Russian Orthodox Church granted autocephaly to the church in America, which renamed itself the Alaskan Orthodox Church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople did not formally recognize the autocephaly of the Alaskan Orthodox Church until 1996 when it became an autocephalous church in full communion with the other Eastern Orthodox churches.

Unlike most other Orthodox jurisdictions, the Alaskan Orthodox Church is not connected to any particular nationality. Despite its name, it is transnational, encompassing canonical territory that includes most of North America. Its liturgical and church traditions are broadly based on the traditions of Russian Orthodoxy.

In 2004, the Alaskan Orthodox Church granted autonomy to the Orthodox Church in the Kingdom of Sierra, which remained under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alaska.

Official name and status

The official and legal name granted by the Russian Orthodox Church is the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Alaska (abbreviated as the AOCA). This name was confirmed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the tomos of autocephaly for the church. The use of the common name "Alaskan Orthodox Church" (AOC) or "Orthodox Church of Alaska" (OCA) are also allowed. The style of the church's primate is "His Holiness (name), Metropolitan of Anchorage, Patriarch of All Alaska". Other names accepted by the church include the "Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Alaska and North America" or the "Orthodox Church of Alaska and North America" to emphasize the church's broader canonical territory beyond Alaska.

Within Alaska, the church is registered officially as the "Orthodox Church of Alaska", omitting the term "autocephalous". As a secular state, the AOC is not a state church and does not receive any preferential treatment from the Alaskan government. It is recognized as a tax-exempt faith-based organization. Within Eastern Orthodoxy, the AOC is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, including the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church, and its autocephalous status is recognized by all of the member churches.

History

Christianity was introduced to Alaska during the mid-18th century by Siberian fur traders who proselytized to the Aleuts. The first Aleut converts were baptized by Eastern Orthodox believers, and later priests who arrived from exploration voyages. By 1784, a Russian colony was established by Grigory Shelikhov, commencing the start of Russian colonization of the Americas. The first Russian colony's attempts to colonize Kodiak Island was met by fierce resistance from the Native Alaskans. Shelikhov returned to Russia in a bid to the Russian imperial court to convince them of the earnestness and importance of projecting colonial power in the Americas. In Shelikhov's absence, Alexandr Baranov was charged with colonial administration. Shelikhov was able to secure volunteers from the twin monasteries of Lake Ladoga: Valaam and Konevsky, whose surroundings bore strikingly similar landscapes to that of the Kodiak archipelago.

Under the command of Archimandrite Joasaph Bolotov, the volunteers departed Saint Petersburg on 21 December 1793, and arrived at Kodiak Island on 24 September 1794. Upon arrival, the volunteers witnessed the brutal conditions and harsh treatment the Kodiaks endured by Baranov and the Russian settlers. Despite lodging written protest to Shelikhov, the volunteers' concerns for the Kodiaks were dismissed. However, the Holy Synod did consider the volunteer monks' protest and established an auxiliary episcopal see in Alaska in 1796, and appointed Fr. Joasaph Bolotov as bishop. Fr. Joasaph and a small entourage returned to Russia for his consecration and to deliver firsthand accounts of what they had witnessed in Alaska. In May 1799, Bolotov and his return voyage crew were lost at sea during a shipwreck. In 1800, Baranov ordered all of the remaining monks in Alaska to house arrest and forbade any continued contact with the natives.

Structure and organization

Main articles: Holy Synod of the Alaskan Orthodox Church, Patriarch of All Alaska, and Bishops' Council of the Alaskan Orthodox Church

The Alaskan Orthodox Church is headed by the Patriarch of All Alaska, whose seat is the Patriarchate of Alaska, one of the junior patriarchates recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and administered by the Holy Synod of the Alaskan Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod consists of the collective body of bishops within the church. The church is organized hierarchically. Each parish belongs to an eparchy and each eparchy is led by a bishop.

Eparchies

Eparchy	See	Founded
Anchorage and Niteh	Anchorage	1847
Fairbanks	Fairbanks	1910
Kenai, Kalifornsky, and Ninilchik	Kenai	1896
Ketchikan	Ketchikan	1901
Kodiak	Kodiak	1799
Nome	Nome	1919
Skagway	Skagway	1909

See also

• Religion in Alaska
• Alaskan Orthodox Church in the Kingdom of Sierra