The Annual Ancient Christianity Conference hosted by the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black is scheduled to take place May 14th-16th, Anniston, Alabama. The theme of the conference this year is Jesus Christ, the Great Physician. The conference features prayer, spiritual music, Divine Liturgy, and fellowship, with a focus on Orthodox spiritual life. (more…)
Rodney (Dorotheos) Knott, member and Treasurer of St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox church, has become the Executive Director of ReEngage, Inc. a new non-profit corporation made up of concerned parents, educators, health professionals, clergy, and citizens who want to begin the process of repairing broken relationships between fathers and their families. It has as its mission to foster the reconnection of the black male with their children through outreach and counseling, education, and preparation.
Whereas many social service agencies and public policies are focused on helping women and children, there is a huge void that exists for helping men become functioning and healthy contributors in the family system.
This a bold new endeavor for our city and a much needed service for our community. May it be blessed and God bless you Dorotheos/Rodney for your vision for this work!
For more information or to see how you can become a part of this dynamic new work visit: http://reengageinc.org/index.html
A Timeline of the African Orthodox Faith (taken from Wade in the River)
| c. 1952-1589 B.C. | Probable dates of Abraham, Melchizedek, Isaac, and Jacob |
| 1000 B.C. | Reign of David, Hebrew Prophet-King of Israel |
| 950 B.C. | Queen Makeda (“Queen of Sheba”), King Solomon, and their son, Menelik I. |
| 750 B.C. | Prophecies of Isaiah |
| 722 B.C. | Fall of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, to Assyria |
| 587 B.C. | Fall of Jerusalem and Judah to Babylon |
| 586-582 B.C. | Writing of Prophecies of Jeremiah |
| 331-65 B.C. | Greek Period in Palestine |
| 167 B.C. | Revolt of Maccabees |
| c. 4 B.C. | Birth of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ |
| c. A.D. 33 (or A.D. 29) | Death, Burial and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ |
| c. A.D. 33 (or A.D. 29) | Pentecost: the birth of the ancient Church of Christ |
| A.D. 50 | Death of Philo of Alexandria, African Jewish Philosopher who mentions the early African Christian community in Egypt |
| A.D. 68 | Martyrdom of the Apostle and Evangelist St. Mark in Alexandria |
| A.D. 70 | Fall of Jerusalem |
| A.D. 95 | Book of Revelation written, last of the New Testament books. |
| A.D. 150 | St. Justin Martyr describes the liturgical worship of the Church, centered in Holy Communion. |
| A.D. 202 | Martyrdom of Ss. Perpetua and Felicity in Carthage, North Africa |
| A.D. 203 | Roman Emperor Septimus Severus issues an edict against Christianity and Judaism |
| A.D. 249-251 | Persecution under Roman Emperor Decius |
| A.D. 251-253 | Persecution under Roman Emperor Gaius |
| A.D. 253-260 | Persecution under Roman Emperor Valerian |
| A.D. 258 | Martyrdom of St. Cyprian of Carthage, African bishop, confessor and teacher. |
| A.D. 284 | Year of the Martyrs: Diocletian ascends the Roman imperial throne, and begins the most severe persecution against the Christians. During his reign, an estimated 1,000,000 martyrs are slain for Christ. |
| c. A.D. 286 | Martyrdom of St. Maurice and the 6,600 African members of the Theban Legion in the European Alps |
| A.D. 313 | Edict of Toleration issued in Milan by Emperor Constantine the Great, thereby putting a stop to the official Roman persecution of the Christian Church. |
| A.D. 325 | The Council of Nicea settles the major attack against the Apostles’ Teaching on Christ. A Libyan presbyter named Arius asserted that Christ was created by the Father. The African deacon (later Patriarch) Athanasius of Alexandria defends the Son of God as eternal and preserves the Apostolic teaching. Nicea is the first of Seven Ecumenical Councils. There the 318 Holy Fathers affirm the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. |
| A.D. 329 | St. Athanasius ordains St. Frumentius (Abba Selama) to the priesthood and commissions him to apostolic work in Ethiopia. |
| A.D. 348 | Death of St. Pachomius, African founder of community monasticism. |
| A.D. 356 | Death of St. Anthony of Egypt, African father of monasticism. |
| A.D. 373 | Death of St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria. |
| A.D. 381 | Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople. The latter part of the Nicene Creed is added on the Divinity of the Holy Spirit. |
| A.D. 392 | Death of St. Macarius the Great, African founder of skete monasticism. |
| A.D. 430 | Death of St. Augustine of Hippo, North African bishop and teacher. |
| A.D. 431 | Third Ecumenical Council, in which St. Cyril of Alexandria exposes the error in the teaching of Nestorius. Mary continues to be called the Theotokos (i.e. God-bearer), not Christotokos (i.e. Christ-bearer) as suggested by Nestorius, thereby showing that from the virginal conception Mary was truly carrying God in human flesh, not merely a human body by itself. |
| A.D. 444 | Death of St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria. |
| A.D. 451 | Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, in which the Holy Fathers affirmed that Christ has two natures, God and man, that were united without confusion in one Divine Person. Unfortunately, as a result of this council there was a division between what came to be called the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church affirmed the decision of Chalcedon, while the Oriental Orthodox Churches did not. In Alexandria, there came to be two patriarchs–depending on the response to Chalcedon. |
| A.D. 490 | Death of St. Theodora of Alexandria |
| A.D. 530 | Death of St. Mary of Egypt |
| A.D. 540 | Death of Righteous King Eles-baan (Caleb) of Ethiopia. |
| A.D. 553 | Fifth Ecumenical Council at Constantinople presided over by Emperor Justinian. |
| A.D. 570 | Birth of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam |
| A.D. 589 | A synod in Toledo, Spain adds the Filioque to the Nicene Creed (asserting that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son). Rome later adopts this error. |
| A.D. 680-81 | Sixth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople. Affirmed the teaching of St. Maximus the Confessor who showed that Christ had two natural wills (divine and human) and energies. |
| A.D. 787 | The era of Ecumenical Councils ends at Nicea with the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which restores and affirms the centuries-old use of icons by the Church. |
| A.D. 1054 | The Great Schism occurs. The two major issues of division are Rome’s claim to universal papal supremacy and her unilateral addition of the filioque clause to the Nicene Creed. |
| 1066 | Norman Conquest of Britain. Orthodox hierarchs are replaced with those loyal to Rome. |
| 1095 | The infamous Crusades are begun by the Roman Church. |
| 1204 | The sacking of Constantinople by the ‘Christian’ crusaders further estranges the East and the West. |
| 1324 | Pilgrimage to Mecca of Mansa Musa with his entourage of 80,000. |
| 1439 | The Council of Florence tries to bring about a false union between East and West, but is quickly rejected by Orthodox faithful. |
| 1441 | Portuguese ship seizes twelve Africans as slaves off West Coast of Africa. |
| 1453 | Fall of Constantinople to Sultan Mehmet II. Beginning of Ottoman Turkish Empire that would extend from Serbia to Egypt. The previous pool of Slavic slaves is closed to Europe creating demand for African slaves. |
| 1468 | Righteous Ethiopian Emperor Zer-Yacob dies. |
| 1517 | Martin Luther nails up his 95 Theses in Wittenburg, Germany, thereby beginning the Protestant Reformation. |
| 1565 | The Spanish import the first African slaves to North America. |
| 1618 | An African woman, Angela, arrives on board the Treasurer at Point Comfort, Virginia. The fact that she has a Christian name suggests that she was already baptized. |
| 1619 | First group of 20 Africans is brought to Jamestown, Virginia. |
| 1620 | The Mayflower begins its famous voyage and land at Plymouth Rock. |
| 1631 | English settlement in Caribbean, followed by eventual vast sugar plantations with the import of many African slaves. |
| 1725 | The slave population in American colonies reaches 75,000. |
| 1727 | Quakers call for an end to the institution of slavery. |
| 1770 | Crispus Attucks is killed in the Boston Massacre – the start of the American Revolution. |
| 1772 | Phyllis Wheatley publishes her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, thereby becoming the first African American to write a book of poetry. |
| 1776 | The American Declaration of Independence |
| 1794 | St. Herman and nine other Orthodox monks arrive on Kodiak Island, Alaska, thereby beginning the establishing of ancient Orthodox Christianity in America. |
| – St. Paisius Velichkovsky dies, after distributing The Philokalia, (ancient Christian texts on prayer and spiritual life,) thereby restoring the African and Byzantine monastic tradition to Russia and from there to America. | |
| – Eli Whitney patented his cotton gin. With it the demand for cotton increased, and thereby the demand for slave labor. | |
| – Absolom Jones forms the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, thereby establishing the first African American Anglican congregation. | |
| 1797 | Sojourner Truth is born as a slave in Hurley, New York. |
| 1816 | St. Philip’s Episcopal Church is organized in New York City. |
| 1817 | Samuel Ringgold Ward, future minister, abolitionist and author, is born to Margaret Ward on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. |
| 1824 | Trans–Atlantic slave trade is officially outlawed. All European nations pledge to abide by the agreement, except Portugal. Illegal traffic continues due to the demand in North America |
| 1828 | The Oblate Sisters of Providence is founded in Baltimore, Marylandthe first African-American religious order. |
| 1837 | Alexander Pushkin, black “Father of Russian Literature” dies. |
| 1838 | Frederick Douglas escapes from slavery |
| 1849 | Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland. Called the ‘Moses’ of her people, she would make a total of 19 rescue efforts in the South and bring out more than 300 slaves. |
| 1852 | Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is published in Boston, graphically illustrating the horrors of slavery and the righteousness of many that suffered under it. |
| 1856 | Booker T. Washington is born as a slave in Franklin County, Virginia. |
| 1857 | Dred Scott Decision by U.S. Supreme Court, thereby ruling against citizenship for African-Americans. |
| 1863 | Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln. |
| 1864 | George Washington Carver, the future saintly scientist, is born a slave in Diamond, Missouri. |
| 1865 | General Robert E. Lee surrenders on April 9, thereby ending the Civil War. |
| – Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, the feast of St. Mary of Egypt on the Julian Calendar. He dies on April 15. | |
| 1871 | Fisk Jubilee Singers begin their first national tour bringing the depth and beauty of the Spirituals to the rest of the world. |
| 1875 | James A. Healy, first African American Roman Catholic bishop is consecrated at Portland, Maine. |
| 1881 | Booker T. Washington established Tuskegee Institute. |
| 1883 | Righteous Sojourner Truth dies on November 26 in Battle Creek, Michigan. |
| 1888 | Brazil, colony of Portugal, becomes the last New World colony to free its slaves. |
| 1891 | Reported lynchings of 113 African Americans in 1891. |
| 1892 | Lij Tafari is born on July 23. He will later be called Ras Tafari and eventually be crowned as the emperor of Ethiopia with the name of Haile Selassie I. |
| 1893 | Frederick Douglass, righteous abolitionist, lecturer and editor dies on February 20. He was the leading spokesman for African Americans for nearly 50 years. |
| 1896 | U.S. Supreme Court upholds doctrine of “separate, but equal” in their Plessy v. Ferguson case, thereby beginning the era of Jim Crow. |
| – Ethiopia defeats Italy in the battle of Adowa. With trust in God and outdated weapons, the people of Ethiopia withstand modern weaponry and colonial intentions of Italy to remain the only African country untouched by colonial control. | |
| 1913 | Harriet Tubman, the ‘Moses’ of the Underground Railroad, dies on March 10. |
| 1915 | Booker T. Washington, educator, leader and founder of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama dies on November 14. |
| 1920 | Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), led by Marcus Mosiah Garvey, had its national convention on August 1. The UNIA peaked as a movement between 1920-21. |
| 1921 | Rev. George Alexander McGuire organizes the African Orthodox Church on September 2. He is consecrated primate and archbishop on September 28 in Chicago. |
| 1930 | Crown Prince Ras Tafari is coronated as Emperor of Ethiopia on November 2, vowing to defend the ancient Faith of the Orthodox Church. He is crowned Haile Selassie I (i.e. the Power of the Trinity). |
| 1935 | Bishop Daniel Alexander of the African Orthodox Church begins a seminary for future Kenyan priests. |
| – Italy invades Ethiopia. | |
| 1937 | Bishop Alexander ordains Arthur Gatungu Gathuna and Philip Kiande as priests in Kenya. |
| 1945 | Bob Marley, father of Reggae music, is born. |
| 1946 | Patriarch Christopheros II, of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, recognizes Fr. Reuben Spartas and Fr. Arthur Gathuna as the Vicars of the Greek African Orthodox Church in Uganda and Kenya, respectively. |
| 1955 | Rosa Parks rides in the front of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama and launches the civil rights movement in the U.S.A. |
| 1963 | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” |
| 1963 | Righteous NAACP leader Medgar Evers is assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi on June 12. |
| 1963 | Famous civil rights March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his famous, “I have a dream” speech. |
| 1963 | Passion Bearers Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins and Denise McNair, children, die in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham on September 15. |
| 1965 | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama |
| – Malcolm X (El–Hajj Malik El–Shabazz) is assassinated on February 21. | |
| 1968 | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is martyred on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee |
| 1970 | Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus baptizes 10,000 into the Orthodox Church in Kenya. |
| 1972 | Mahalia Jackson, Gospel music legend, dies in Evergreen Park, Illinois |
| 1975 | Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I is martyred at the hands of lawless men, reportedly by suffocation on August 27. This righteous emperor laid down his life for the defense of ancient Christianity. He thus became a passion bearer for Christ. |
| 1978 | Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta, freedom fighter, and co-struggler with Orthodox priests dies on August 22. |
| 1990 | Nelson Mandela is released from South African prison after 27 years of political imprisonment. |
(taken from: Door to Paradise: Jesus Christ in Ancient Orthodoxy by Youth of the Apocalypse Outreach
St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood)
When slaves were brought over from Africa, primarily from the West African coast, their existing belief systems proved fertile ground for an intuitive response to Jesus Christ. In spite of the Western “package” that Christ was presented in, millions of slaves grasped the essence of the ancient Orthodox Faith in their hearts, like Melchizedek and the Magi, although they could have no contact with the form of Orthodoxy. Many masters were afraid to teach their slaves about Christ for fear they would realize their equality and demand freedom, but the Holy Spirit provided other ways for them to learn about Him.
Sometimes masters taught them Christian precepts so that they would be obedient and stop stealing. Other times, saintly followers of Christ were sold to new plantations, where they would teach the other slaves. Others secretly learned to read and obtained copies of the Bible, becoming convinced of the truth of its teaching.
As Christians in the early Church had to meet secretly to express the Faith, so too did many slaves. They gathered in so-called “hush harbors” (brush arbors) where they could express their love, praise, and hope in God. For participating in these secret prayer meetings, not a few were severely tortured, and some died as martyrs. Others suffered as confessors and passion bearers.
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