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→Conversion to Canonical Orthodoxy and Episcopacy
===Conversion to Canonical Orthodoxy and Episcopacy===
Archbishop Vitaly's mentoring culminating in the question of the EOCC's canonicity, which prompted Toombs and his second wife Maryangela to be tonsured monastics at [[Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Monastery]] in Jordanville, New York in early July of 1951. A few days later James (Toombs) was consecrated on the [[feast day|Feast]] of the Holy [[Apostles]] [[Apostle Peter|Peter]] and [[Apostle Paul|Paul]] on July 21 as the Bishop of Manhattan in the Diocese of Eastern America and Jersey City at the [[New Kursk-Root Hermitage (Mahopac, New York)|New Kursk-Root Hermitage]] in Mahopac, New York. Concelebrating with Metropolitan Anastasy were Archbishop Vitaly, Archbishop [[John (Maximovitch) the Wonderworker|John (Maximovich) of Paris]], Bishop [[Nikon (Rklitski) of Florida|Nikon (Rklitzky) of Florida]], and Bishop [[Seraphim (Ivanov) of Chicago|Seraphim (Ivanov) of Holy Trinity]]. James was installed at the first Bishop of Manhattan and was tasked with heading a completely autonomous American Orthodox Mission within ROCOR, insofar that we he was allowed by the Synod to stay short-haired and clean-shaven to adequately perform his duty. In 1953, Bishop James single-handedly changed the practice of receiving [[Roman Catholic|Roman Catholics]] into the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] when he delivered a report stating that the American Orthodox Mission received all [[convert|converts]] by [[baptism]], where prior to the Russian Revolution, Catholic converts were accepted simply through [[confession]]. The change garnered no opposition.
Upon his entry into ROCOR, Gregory and John Adair engaged Bishop James in a lawsuit over the Cathedral of Our Saviour on West 69th Street. Fearing that he would take the church with him, the Adair Brothers claimed rather that it was property of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church. There is speculation that a canon lawyer from the North American Metropolia came to the EOCC's aid and helped them win rights to the church in 1952, which was later sold for a great sum to make way for Lincoln Center. For the remainder of his life, Bishop James would serve in the Chapel of the Holy Apostles, built into his apartment.
