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→"Indirect Conversion of Thousands" Theory
During the 16th Annual Ancient Christianity & African-American Conference, Matthew Namee presented a 23-minute lecture on the heretofore recently discovered life of Fr Raphael Morgan. He postulates that even if Fr Raphael's missionary efforts failed outside of his immediate family, he may be indirectly responsible for the conversion of thousands.
Records for St Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virgina indicate that for a short while in 1901 Robert J. Morgan was listed as the Rector. However, being only a deacon, this would mean that Robert's position was only temporary, during an interregnum of sorts. The previous rector was one George Alexander McGuire, a an Episcopal priest.
In 1920, George McGuire became an associate of Marcus Garvey and his Black Nationalist movement. In 1921, he was made a bishop of the American Catholic Church by Joseph René Vilatte, and soon after founded the African Orthodox Church, a [[non-canonical]] Black Nationalist church. Today, it is best known for its canonisation of Jazz legend John Coltrane.
However, one deterrent from this theory comes in the familiarity had with the Orthodox Church by McGuire's ''consecrator'', Joseph René Vilatte. At various points, Vilatte come into contact with both the [[Russian_Orthodox_Church|Russian]] and [[Syriac_Orthodox_Church|Syriac]] Orthodox Churches in a move for Catholic-Orthodox reconciliation, having even been accepted for a while by Bishop Vladimir of [[Alaska]] in May of 1891.
==Further Reading==
*Manolis, Paul G. ''Raphael (Robert) Morgan: The First Black Orthodox Priest in America''. 1981.