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→"Indirect Conversion of Thousands" Theory
==Influence==
==="Indirect Conversion of Thousands" Theory===
During the ''16th Annual Ancient Christianity and African-American Conference'' in 2009, Matthew Namee presented a 23-minute lecture on the heretofore recently discovered life of Fr. Raphael Morgan. He postulates postulated that even if Fr. Raphael's missionary efforts failed outside of his immediate family, he may be indirectly responsible for the conversion of thousands, via contact with Episcopal priest [[George Alexander McGuire]] (1866-1934).
'''Fr. Raphael and George McGuire'''<br>
Namee questions whence the idea came for McGuire to form namely an ''Orthodox'' church. Fr. Raphael Morgan and George McGuire have had some striking similarities, including the facts that both:
* served concurrently or consecutively at [http://www.stphilipsrichmond.org/ St Philip's Episcopal Church] in Virginia,<ref group="note">[http://www.stphilipsrichmond.org/ St. Philip’s Episcopal Church] of Richmond, Virginia lists Morgan as having been the rector of their parish for a short time in 1901. He is listed as the rector from “1901-April 1901.” Morgan’s predecessor at St. Philip’s was a certain “Reverend [[George Alexander McGuire|George Alexander McQuire]],” who served the parish from April 1898 to November 1900.</ref>
* were ordained in the Episcopal Church around the same time,<ref group="note">Rev. Morgan was ordained to the Episcopal deaconate on June 20, 1895, by Bishop Leighton Coleman. George McGuire was ordained to the Episcopal deaconate on June 29, 1896 by Bishop Boyd Vincent, and to the Episcopal priesthood in 1897 by the same. (Bragg, Rev. George F. (D.D.). ''Chapter XXXVI: Negro Ordinations from 1866 to the Present''. In: '''[http://www.archive.org/details/historyofafroame00brag History of the Afro-American group of the Episcopal church (1922)].''' Baltimore, Md.: Church Advocate Press, 1922. p.273.)</ref> and
An additional point is that Garvey already knew of Fr. Raphael when McGuire joined his organization in 1920 (since Fr. Raphael had written the letter in 1916 protesting Garvey's lectures), which makes it likely that McGuire and Garvey had discussed Morgan at some point.
One deterrent from this theory comes in the familiarity he that McGuire had with the Orthodox Church by McGuire's his ''consecrator'', Joseph René Vilatte.<ref group="note">In his quest to obtain valid [[w:Apostolic succession|Apostolic Orders]], Fr. McGuire had himself re-ordained Bishop in the ''American Catholic Church'', being consecrated on September 28, 1921, in Chicago, Illinois, by Archbishop [[Joseph René Vilatte]], assisted by bishop Carl A. Nybladh who had been consecrated by Vilatte. However the [[Orthodox Church]] considers Villate to be an [[Episcopi vagantes]].</ref> 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 (Sokolovsky-Avtonomov) of the Aleutians|Vladimir]] of [[Alaska]] in May of 1891.
'''African Orthodox Church'''<br>
George McGuire became an associate of Marcus Garvey and his Black Nationalist [[w:Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League|UNIA]] movement, being appointed the first Chaplain-General of the organization at its inaugural international convention in New York in August 1920. On September 28, 1921, he was made a bishop of the American Catholic Church by [[w:Joseph René Vilatte|Joseph René Vilatte]], and soon after founded the [[w:African Orthodox Church|African Orthodox Church]], a non-canonical Black Nationalist church, in the Anglican tradition. Today, it is best known for its canonisation of Jazz legend John Coltrane.
Bishop George McGuire soon spread his African Orthodox Church throughout the United States, and soon even made a presence on the African continent in such countries as [[Archdiocese of Kampala and All Uganda|Uganda]], [[Archdiocese of Kenya|Kenya]], and [[Archdiocese of Irinopolis|Tanzania]]. Between 1924-1934 McGuire built the AOC into a thriving international church. Branches were eventually established in Canada, Barbados, Cuba, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Miami, Chicago, Harlem, Boston, Cambridge (Massachusetts), and elsewhere. The official organ of AOC, ''The Negro Churchman,'' became an effective link for the far-flung organization.<ref name="Martin"/> However, around the time of the Second World War, the African churches were cut off from the American and in the post-war period had drifted far enough way to request and come under the [[omophorion]] of the [[Church of Alexandria]]. Thus in 1946 the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa officially recognized and received the "African Orthodox Church" in Kenya and Uganda.<ref group="note">These became the ''[[Archdiocese of Kenya]]'', and the ''[[Archdiocese of Kampala and All Uganda]]''.</ref>
===Legacy===
