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Raphael Morgan

1,229 bytes added, 18:36, February 14, 2010
Legacy: add note
This concurs with Matthew Namee's conclusion above, that it was Fr. Raphael who was George Alexander McGuire's inspiration to form namely an "Orthodox" church. In time the African-based portion of McGuire's ''"African Orthodox Church"'' in Kenya and Uganda, eventually did end up under the canonical jurisdiction of the [[Church of Alexandria|Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa]] in 1946. And although those two churches were already upon their own set path towards full canonical Orthodoxy, McGuire was an important part of that process at one stage, and Fr. Raphael Morgan in turn, was behind McGuire's inspiration to form an "Orthodox" church. In this regard, by planting the seed, it can be said that Fr. Raphael was also in some small measure, indirectly or incidentally, a part of that process in Africa as well.<ref group="note">Orthodoxy in East Africa had a rather unique origin as it was not the result of missionary evangelism, nor was it originally inspired by European/White introduction. Orthodox Christianity was unlike all other denominations, appealling to East Africans, such as the [[w:Kikuyu|Kikuyus]], especially because it was never associated with racism, colonialism or religious imperialism. (Metropolitan [[Makarios (Tillyrides) of Kenya]]. ''[http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/church_history/makarios_tillyrides_east_africa.htm The Origin of Orthodoxy in East Africa].'')</ref>
In the end, while Fr. Raphael Morgan's work among Jamaicans in Philadelphia appears to have been transitory, nevertheless he did serve as an important precedent for current African American interest in Orthodoxy, especially that of Father [http://unexpectedjoychurch.org/administration.html Moses Berry], director of the [http://www.oaahm.org/index.html Ozarks African American Heritage Museum], who served as the priest to the [http://unexpectedjoychurch.org/ Theotokos, the “Unexpected Joy,” Orthodox Mission] ([[OCA]]) in Ash Grove, Missouri.<ref name=Oliver/><ref group="note">As one historian has commented: "There seems to be some traction between historical Orthodoxy and African Christianity, rediscovered by African American intellectuals like Fr. [[Raphael Morgan]] and Professor [[Albert J. Raboteau|Raboteau]]. The African American tradition in the [[Orthodox church]] is obviously an exception to the rule. Consider Raboteau's colleague at Princeton, [[w:Cornel West|Cornell West]], who has most eloquently addressed Constantinian Christianity in his ''Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight against Imperialism'' (2004). For West and other liberal intellectuals, Orthodoxy's historical connections with empire ([[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]]) and state ([[Phyletism|modern nationalism]]) is a major turn-off. But for other intellectuals that have arrived to Orthodoxy through Anglicanism/Episcopalianism, the Orthodox tradition is softer and philosophically fundamental." (Kourelis, Kostis. ''"[http://kourelis.blogspot.com/2009/10/philadelphia-greeks-and-their-black.html Philadelphia Greeks and Their Black Priest.]"'' '''Objects-Building-Situation: Musings on Architecture, Art and History, with Special Focus on Mediterranean Archaeology.''' Thursday, October 29, 2009.)</ref>
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