Herman of Alaska was a Russian Orthodox monk and missionary to Alaska, which was then part of Russian America. His gentle approach and ascetic life earned him the love and respect of both the native Alaskans and the Russian colonists. He is considered by many Orthodox Christians as the patron saint of North America.
The Russian colonization of North America covers the period from 1732 to 1867, when the Russian Empire laid claim to northern Pacific Coast territories in the Americas. Russian colonial possessions in the Americas are collectively known as Russian America. Russian expansion eastward began in 1552, and in 1639 Russian explorers reached the Pacific Ocean. In 1725, Emperor Peter the Great ordered navigator Vitus Bering to explore the North Pacific for potential colonization. The Russians were primarily interested in the abundance of fur-bearing mammals on Alaska's coast, as stocks had been depleted by over hunting in Siberia. Bering's first voyage was foiled by thick fog and ice, but in 1741 a second voyage by Bering and Aleksei Chirikov made sight of the North American mainland.
The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 2011, it had an estimated 84,900 members in the United States.
Saint Innocent of Alaska, also known as Saint Innocent Metropolitan of Moscow was a Russian Orthodox missionary priest, then the first Orthodox bishop and archbishop in the Americas, and finally the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia. Remembered for his missionary work, scholarship, and leadership in Alaska and the Russian Far East during the 19th century, he is known for his abilities as a scholar, linguist, and administrator, as well as his great zeal for his work.
July 1 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - July 3
July 29 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - July 31
Saint Herman’s Orthodox Theological Seminary is an Orthodox Christian seminary located in Kodiak, Alaska, with a campus in Anchorage. Established as a pastoral school in 1972, the seminary now provides a number of educational programs to prepare students for work in the Orthodox Church, as readers, choir directors, church school teachers, and clergy.
The Diocese of Alaska is a diocese of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Its territory includes parishes, monasteries, and missions located in Alaska. The diocesan chancery is located in Anchorage. The Diocese was founded when Alaska was part of Russia and is one of the oldest in the United States. The Church of the Holy Ascension (1826), which belongs to the Diocese, is one of the oldest American churches. Altogether, twenty-three churches are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; thirty churches are considered National Historic Landmarks. As of 2013, the Diocese includes 89 parishes, which represents the highest concentration of Orthodox Church in America parishes among the states.
The timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in North America represents a timeline of the historical development of religious communities, institutions and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in North America.
St. Michael's Cathedral is a cathedral of the Orthodox Church in America Diocese of Alaska, at Lincoln and Maksoutoff Streets in Sitka, Alaska. The earliest Orthodox cathedral in the New World, it was built in the nineteenth century, when Alaska was under the control of Russia, though this structure burned down in 1966. After 1872, the cathedral came under the control of the Diocese of Alaska. It had been a National Historic Landmark since 1962, notable as an important legacy of Russian influence in North America and Southeast Alaska in particular.
Holy Assumption Orthodox Church, also known as Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is a Russian Orthodox parish church in Kenai, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. Completed in 1896, it is the oldest-standing Russian Orthodox church in Alaska and was a major center for the assimilation of the local Native population. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places shortly after.
Archbishop Gregory was the Archbishop of Sitka and Alaska from 1973 to 1995, and author of books on Theology and Eastern Orthodoxy in North America in both Russian and English.
Juvenaly of Alaska, Protomartyr of America, was a Russian hieromartyr and member of the first group of Orthodox missionaries who came from the monasteries of Valaam and Konevets to evangelize the native inhabitants of Alaska. He was martyred while evangelizing among the Yupik Eskimos on the mainland of Alaska in 1796. His feast day is celebrated on July 2, and he is also commemorated with all the saints of Alaska, and with the first martyrs of the American land.
The Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Chapel is a historic Russian Orthodox church located near Ninilchik, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, that was built in 1901. It is an approximately 20-by-50-foot roughly cruxiform-shaped building, mainly designed by Alexi Andreev Oskolkoff who came from Sitka to supervise the building's construction. The 1901 church replaced an older church built near Ninilchik village's 1846 founding. As of 1977, the church competed only with a largely altered schoolhouse as an artifact of past Russian associations to the community.
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