American physician
George Alexander McGuire
(28 March 1866 ? 10 November 1934) was the founder of the
African Orthodox Church
,
[1]
and a prominent member of
Marcus Garvey
's
Universal Negro Improvement Association
(UNIA).
[2]
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life and adulthood
[
edit
]
McGuire was born to an
Afro-Caribbean
family on 28 March 1866 in
Swetes
,
Antigua
; McGuire's father was
Anglican
, and his mother was Moravian.
[3]
In his adulthood, he studied at the
Moravian
Miskey Seminary in the
Danish West Indies
, and at
Mico College
's Antigua campus.
[1]
[4]
From 1888 to 1894, McGuire served as pastor of a
Moravian Church
in the Danish West Indies.
Immigration and priesthood
[
edit
]
In 1894, McGuire immigrated to the
United States
. He initially joined the
African Methodist Episcopal Church
, which was the first independent
black Christian denomination
in the country, founded in the early nineteenth century. On 2 January 1895, McGuire formally joined the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States
, and two years later he was ordained as a priest.
[4]
McGuire led small, predominantly
African American
churches in
Cincinnati, Ohio
;
Richmond, Virginia
; and
Philadelphia
. St. Philip's Episcopal Church of Richmond, Virginia lists "Reverend George Alexander McQuire" as rector from April 1898 to November 1900. After McGuire's tenure, the Rev.
Robert Josias "Raphael" Morgan
was listed as the rector there from "1901 ? April 1901", likely acting on an interim basis until a full-time rector was called.
[4]
By 1901, McGuire was appointed rector of
St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Philadelphia
; this was the first black congregation in the Episcopal Church.
[5]
It had been started in 1794 by
Absalom Jones
, earlier a founder with
Richard Allen
of the
Free African Society
.
[6]
This mutual aid society preceded the African Methodist Episcopal Church founded by Allen.
[2]
McGuire was rector of St. Thomas from 1902?05.
From 1905 to 1909, McGuire served as Archdeacon for Colored Work in the
Diocese of Arkansas
. Eventually, McGuire resigned and relocated to
Cambridge, Massachusetts
. There he established St. Bartholomew's Church for West Indians who were living in the Boston area. While in Cambridge, McGuire also studied at Boston College of Physicians and Surgeons, receiving his
M.D.
degree in 1910.
[7]
When his small church was not recognized by the Episcopal diocese, McGuire resigned in 1911.
[1]
Return to Antigua
[
edit
]
In 1913, McGuire returned to the
West Indies
, caring for his mother.
[4]
While there he served for the
Church of England
in Antigua.
[1]
Return to the United States
[
edit
]
Returning to the United States in 1918, he joined the
UNIA
and was appointed
chaplain
-general for the organization. In this position, McGuire wrote two important documents of the Universal Negro Improvement Association?
Universal Negro Ritual
, and
Universal Negro Catechism
, the latter containing both religious and historical sections, reflecting his interest in religion and race history.
[2]
In 1919, McGuire established the Independent Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. Not long after, he was elected bishop by a group of autonomously governed black Episcopal churches from the United States,
Canada
, and
Cuba
.
[3]
On 2 September 1921, in the Independent Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in
New York City
, McGuire and participating black churches formed the African Orthodox Church.
Article one of the constitution for the African Orthodox church stated the following:
The name of this church, which was organized September 2nd, 1921, is and shall be THE AFRICAN ORTHODOX CHURCH. Its faith as declared, is Orthodox, in conformity with the Orthodox Churches of the East from which its Episcopate is derived. While it admits to membership and other privileges persons of all races, IT SEEKS PARTICULARLY TO REACH OUT TO THE MILLIONS OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN BOTH HEMISPHERES, and declares itself to be perpetually autonomous and controlled by Negroes. Hence the name, AFRICAN ORTHODOX.
[3]
Initiating negotiations for
episcopal ordination
, McGuire sought to acquire
apostolic succession
for this independent church; he first sought consecration through Patrick Cardinal Hayes of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and Bishop William T. Manning of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Both individuals denied his request, including officials from the Russian Orthodox Church. Following these series of denials, McGuire was consecrated by Rene Vilatte of the
American Catholic Church
,
[note 1]
[3]
who was made bishop through an
Oriental Orthodox
church after having sought consecrations from numerous mainstream Episcopal,
Old Catholic
, and
Eastern Orthodox
bodies. Vilatte was assisted by Bishop Carl A. Nybladh, who was previously consecrated by him.
[8]
Meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch
[
edit
]
McGuire attempted to gain recognition from the
Greek Orthodox
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
. In December 1921, three months after his consecration, McGuire?through the intercession of Eastern Orthodox prelates?was granted an audience with Patriarch
Meletios
while the latter was on a visit to New York City.
[9]
McGuire claimed that the patriarch accepted the African Orthodox Church as an Orthodox jurisdiction, but would not afford it
communion
with Eastern Orthodoxy until it demonstrated stability and growth.
[10]
Nonetheless, the African Orthodox Church was essentially
Anglo-Catholic
, and it was Orthodox only to the extent that its leader had the title of patriarch, that the original form of the
Nicene Creed
had been adopted, and that its episcopal source was in an Oriental Orthodox church.
[10]
Church consolidation and growth
[
edit
]
In 1924, the newly organized conclave of African Orthodox Church unanimously elected McGuire as archbishop of the church. During the remaining decade of his life, the official organ of African Orthodox Church?
The Negro Churchman
?was an effective link for the far-flung organization, with McGuire as its
editor
.
[2]
Endich Theological Seminary was founded shortly thereafter,
[11]
as well as an Order of
Deaconesses
.
[12]
In 1925, McGuire founded an African Orthodox parish in
West Palm Beach, Florida
.
[12]
Two years after that, he consecrated Daniel William Alexander?an African clergyman?as metropolitan archbishop for
South Africa
and
central
and
southern Africa
. At the same time, McGuire was elected
patriarch
of the denomination with the title
Alexander I
. The church spread to
Uganda
as well, where it grew to about 10,000 members.
[12]
On 8 November 1931, McGuire dedicated Holy Cross
Pro-Cathedral
in
Harlem
(New York).
[12]
Death
[
edit
]
McGuire died 10 November 1934; he is buried in
Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx
, New York. He was survived by his wife, Ada Robert McGuire (also a native of Antigua), and one daughter.
[12]
At the time of his death in 1934, the African Orthodox Church claimed over 30,000 members, fifty clergy, and thirty churches located on three continents: North America, South America and Africa.
[note 2]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Joseph Rene Vilatte
was ordained to the diaconate on 6 June 1885, and to the priesthood on 7 June 1885, by Bishop
Eduard Herzog
, the
Old Catholic Bishop of Berne, Switzerland
.
Vilatte's episcopal consecration took place on 29 May 1892, in the Cathedral of Archbishop Alvares in
Colombo
(
Ceylon
), when he was consecrated by the Western Rite
Jacobite
Bishop Mar Julious I (
Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares
, of the
Brahmavar (Goan) Orthodox Church
) and by two other Jacobite bishops, with the permission of the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch
Ignatius Peter IV (III)
. Vilatte's longtime goal had been to be recognized as the "Old Catholic Archbishop of North America." The Jacobites consecrated him as: "Mar Timotheous I, Jacobite Old Catholic Bishop of North America."
The Episcopal Church subsequently
excommunicated
Vilatte. The Roman Catholic Church
excommunicated
him both in 1900 and in 1907 (but he was reconciled to Rome from 1925 up to his death in 1929). As bishop, Rene Vilatte consecrated more than 20 new bishops and new churches. Because these consecrations were made outside the authority of the Church, they were called into question. The Syro-Jacobite Church officially withdrew recognition of the secession churches in 1938. Vilatte was accused of not upholding the canons. He was excluded from the jurisdiction of the
Church of Antioch
and was considered an
Episcopi vagantes
.
Some of the Old Catholic sects descended from Vilatte's consecrations claim that, although he had practically abandoned any connection with the Jacobites, some of the Jacobite sects in India consider him a "Saint". The validity of Vilatte's Orders in the Roman Catholic Church was never settled, but most non-Roman
Old Catholics
maintain that his Orders were valid.
- ^
In 1946 the African-based portion of McGuire's "African Orthodox Church" in Kenya and
Uganda
went under the jurisdiction of the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa
. By 2010, the
Eastern Orthodox Church
in
Kenya
had over 650,000 members,
[13]
making it the largest Orthodox Church in Africa.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Historic Boston Inc (HBI) | Garvey, McGuire, and God: The Origins of the African Orthodox Church"
. 28 February 2019
. Retrieved
17 April
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Wintz, Cary D.; Finkelman, Paul (2004).
Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
. Routledge.
ISBN
978-1-57958-389-7
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Platt, Warren C. (1989).
"The African Orthodox Church: An Analysis of Its First Decade"
.
Church History
.
58
(4): 474?488.
doi
:
10.2307/3168210
.
ISSN
0009-6407
.
JSTOR
3168210
.
S2CID
162034894
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Gallaher, Rachel (31 May 2008).
"George Alexander McGuire (1866-1934)"
.
BlackPast
. Retrieved
17 April
2023
.
- ^
"10. St. Thomas African Episcopal Church"
.
Philadelphia Methodist History Walking Tour
. Retrieved
17 April
2023
.
- ^
"African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas"
.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
. Retrieved
17 April
2023
.
- ^
"College of Physicians and Surgeons (Boston, Mass.)"
.
Social Networks and Archival Context
. Retrieved
17 April
2023
.
- ^
Right Rev. Philippe L. De Coster (B.Th., D.D. (Belgium), Latin Old Roman Catholic Church of Flanders).
African Orthodox Church: Its General History
Archived
11 February 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
.
1st Ed. Publ. Eucharist and Devotion, 1993?2008. p.3.
- ^
White, Gavin (1969).
"Patriarch McGuire and The Episcopal Church"
.
Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church
.
38
(2): 109?141.
ISSN
0018-2486
.
JSTOR
43748171
.
- ^
a
b
Theodore Natsoulas. "Patriarch McGuire and the Spread of the African Orthodox Church to Africa",
Journal of Religion in Africa,
Vol. 12, Fasc. 2 (1981), pp.81?104.
- ^
Murphy, Larry G.; Melton, J. Gordon; Ward, Gary L. (20 November 2013).
Encyclopedia of African American Religions
. Routledge.
ISBN
978-1-135-51338-2
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"African Orthodox Church Inc. | Orthodox church in New York City, NY | Powered by Net Ministries"
.
www.netministries.org
. Retrieved
17 April
2023
.
- ^
Table: Christian Population in Numbers by Country
.
Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life. 19 DECEMBER 2011. Retrieved: 7 February 2017.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Byron Rushing.
"A Note on the Origin of the African Orthodox Church."
The Journal of Negro History 57:1 (Jan. 1972).
- David Levinson.
African Orthodox Church.
In: Stephen D. Glazier (Ed.).
Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions
. Routledge Encyclopedias of Religion and Society. Taylor & Francis, 2001. pp. 15?16.
- Frank S Mead.
Handbook of Denominations in the United States.
10th Ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995.
- Gavin White.
Patriarch McGuire and the Episcopal Church.
In: Randall K. Burkett and Richard Newman (Eds.). Black Apostles: Afro-American Clergy Confront the Twentieth Century. G. K. Hall, 1978. pp. 151?180.
- John Hope Franklin and August Meier (Eds.).
Black Leaders of the Twentieth Century
. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1982.
- Makarios (Tillyrides) of Kenya.
The Origin of Orthodoxy in East Africa].
Orthodox Research Institute.
- Rachel Gallaher.
McGuire, George Alexander (1866?1934)
. BlackPast.org.
- Rayford W. Logan and Michael R. Winston (Eds.).
Dictionary of American Negro Biography
. New York: W.W. Norton, 1982.
- Right Rev. Philippe L. De Coster (B.Th., D.D. (Belgium), Latin Old Roman Catholic Church of Flanders).
African Orthodox Church: Its General History
Archived
12 October 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
. 1st Ed. Publ. Eucharist and Devotion, 1993?2008. 67 pp.
- Theodore Natsoulas.
Patriarch McGuire and the Spread of the African Orthodox Church to Africa.
Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 12, Fasc. 2 (1981), pp. 81?104.
- Tony Martin.
McGuire, George Alexander
.
Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. Volume 2. Cary D. Wintz, Paul Finkelman (Eds.). Taylor & Francis, 2004. pp. 776?777.
- Warren C. Platt.
The African Orthodox Church: An Analysis of Its First Decade.
Church History, Vol. 58, No. 4 (Dec. 1989), pp. 474?488.
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