History of the Orthodox Church
The One, True, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and Orthodox Church of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ began on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended from God the Father upon the Apostles.
St. Paul and the other Disciples spread the Gospel throughout the Mediterranean world during the infancy of the new Church. This was also the time when the Books of the New Testament were being written. St. Thomas traveled to India. St. Luke evangelized Greece and the Balkan region. St. James was the first Bishop of Jerusalem and was martyred about 61 A.D. St. Philip went into Asia Minor. St. Matthew is said to have done missionary work in Ethiopia. St. Andrew traveled throughout Greece, the Balkans, Georgia, and southern Russia. Saint Timothy was the Bishop of Ephesus. St. Mark evangelized Egypt. St. John traveled to Rome, Patmos, and Ephesus. St. Bartholomew went to Armenia. St. Jude went to Persia. St. Barnabas established churches in Cyprus. St. Titus established churches on Crete. St. Peter was the first bishop of Antioch and was martyred in Rome. "And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" (Acts 2:26).
Roman Emperor Constantine legalized the Christian Faith in the year 313 A.D. Constantinople became the official center of Orthodoxy in 330 A.D. when Emperor Constantine moved the Roman imperial capital there. Constantinople was know as the "New Rome." Other ancient Orthodox Patriarchates include Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria. In 392 A.D., Emperor Theodosius recognized Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The Orthodox Church has been called the "Church of the Ecumenical Councils." In fact the first Apostolic Council of the Christian Church was called in Jerusalem about 50 A.D. (Acts 25). In all there have been seven Ecumenical Councils. In 325 A.D., the First Ecumenical Council was convened in Nicea to define the divinity of the Son of God. In 381 A.D., the Second Ecumenical Council was called in Constantinople to define the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The Third Ecumenical Council was called in Ephesus in 431 A.D. to define Christ as the Incarnate Word of God and Mary as Theotokos. The Fourth Ecumenical Council was convened in Chalcedon in the year 451 A.D. to define Christ as Perfect God and Perfect Man in One Person. In 553 A.D. the Fifth Ecumenical Council met in Constantinople to reconfirm the Doctrines of the Trinity and Christ. In 680 A.D. the Sixth Ecumenical Council again met in Constantinople to affirm the True Humanity of Jesus. The Seventh Ecumenical Council met in Nicea in 787 A.D. to affirm that icons are a genuine expression of the Christian Faith.
It was the Eastern Orthodox Church which gathered together the Books of the New Testament, declaring which were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and then canonized the Bible about 400 A.D. The authoritative Old Testament used by Orthodox Christians is know as the Septuagint.
The magnificent church, Hagia Sophia, was completed in 537 A.D. in Constantinople by Emperor Justinian. In 550 A.D., the Monastery at St. Catherine on Mount Sinai was constructed at the request of Justinian. Both the Hagia Sophia Church and Sinai monastery are still in constant use today. In the 9th century, the Orthodox Faith spread throughout Eastern Europe from Constantinople due to the missionary activities of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Soon, the countries of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia were converted to Orthodox Christianity.
About the year 1054 A.D., the Western Church, centered in Rome, broke away from the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church over issues of faith, dogma, church custom, politics, and culture. Attempts by the Roman Papacy to exert control over the other four Patriarchates of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople eventually led to an official separation. In 1204 A.D., Latin Crusaders sacked the Holy City of Constantinople.
After 1453 A.D. when the Ottoman Turks conquered the Holy City of Constantinople, Moscow began to play a more important role in the Orthodox Church. Moscow became know as the "Third Rome" and began sending missionaries eastward toward the Pacific Ocean.
In 1794 A.D., eight Russian Orthodox monastics arrived on Kodiak Island, Alaska from Siberia to begin missionary activities on the North American continent. Bishop John Veniaminov (St. Innocent) was the first Orthodox bishop in the New World. Alaska became the first American Orthodox diocese in 1840 A.D. The first Orthodox priest to have been born in the United States was Sebastian Dabovich who was ordained in the 1880's. Since that time Orthodox Christians from other nations such as Greece, Albania, Romania, Ukraine, Georgia, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, and Ethiopia have arrived in America.
The ancient, first-century Christian Church stills exists today. In fact, His All Holiness Bartholomew I is the 270th successor of St. Andrew as the Patriarch of Constantinople. His Beatitude Ignatius IV is the 170th successor of St. Peter as the Patriarch of Antioch. His Beatitude Diodoros I is the successor of St. James as the Patriarch of Jerusalem. His Beatitude Peter VII is the 114th successor of St. Mark as the Patriarch of Alexandria.
In 1768 A.D., the first Greek Orthodox faithful landed on the shores of Florida. The colony of New Smyrna was settled but abandoned by 1773. The official Greek Orthodox presence in the New World is considered to be 1864 when the first Greek Orthodox church was built in New Orleans. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America was incorporated in 1921 A.D. Archbishop Spyridon is the current spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of Little Rock was first chartered as a parish in 1913 A.D. Father Nicholas J. Verdaris is our current pastor. Our parish is the living continuity with Jesus Christ, His Apostles, and all other Orthodox Christians throughout the centuries. We are a dynamic community of faithful Christians worshipping together and working together to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to all peoples.
