SOCHA

The Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas is a new group that, according to their website, "desires to begin to shift the approach to studying and writing the history of Orthodoxy in the Americas (and elsewhere, of course, should members desire it) to reflect an earnest engagement with primary sources."

One of the things that the two main proponents of this group, Matthew Namee and Fr. Oliver Herbel, have done is too debunk the myth of jurisdictional unity in early 20th Century America. There have been studies that claim that everyone was basically subservient to Moscow before 1917, but according to SOCHA, a look at primary sources quickly shows that this was not the case. Either way, lively debates have been taking place online, which have lead to the formation of SOCHA; a new website - orthodoxhistory.org; and a new podcast on Ancient Faith Radio - American Orthodox History.

It is a very interesting topic and relevant to the current discussions of Orthodox Unity in America. Mr. Namee also gave a talk at the recent conference mentioned in my previous post. Follow the links there to listen to his talk on the "Myth of Past Unity."