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[[Image:George Alexander McGuire (Randall Burkett).jpg|right|frame|George Alexander McGuire (1866-1934).]]
'''George Alexander McGuire''' (1866-1934) was a bishop and founder in 1921 of the non-canonical African Orthodox Church,<ref group="note">The African Orthodox Church (AOC) is a non-canonical, primarily African-American denomination, in the [[w:High church|High church]] Anglican tradition. The AOC holds to the historic three-fold ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons, and lays strong emphasis on [[apostolic succession]]. The church celebrates the seven sacraments of the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. Its worship is liturgical, blending elements of Eastern and Western rites. The [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed|Nicene]], Apostles', and Athanasian creeds are affirmed. (Mead, Frank S. ''Handbook of Denominations in the United States.'' 10th edition. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995. pp.128-129.)</ref> which had been envisaged as a home for Blacks of the Protestant Episcopal persuasion who wanted ecclesiastical independence, based on [[Apostolic succession|Apostolic tradition]]. In addition he was Chaplain-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
==Early Life==
McGuire led small mostly black Episcopal churches in Cincinnati, Richmond, Virginia and Philadelphia. [http://www.stphilipsrichmond.org/ St. Philip’s Episcopal Church] of Richmond, Virginia lists a certain ''“Reverend George Alexander McQuire,”'' as rector from April 1898 to November 1900. Interestingly, Robert Josias Morgan (Fr. [[Raphael Morgan]]) is listed as the rector for a short time from “1901-April 1901,” indicating that the two men likely knew eachother.
[[File:GEORGE-ALEXANDER-MCGUIRE.jpg|left|thumb|150px|George Alexander McGuire - Rector of The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas (1902 – 1905)]]
By 1901 McGuire was appointed rector of [http://www.aecst.org/home.htm St. Thomas' Episcopal Church] in Philadelphia. Saint Thomas' served the African American elite of Philadelphia and was one of the most prestigious congregations in African American Christianity, having been started in 1794 by [[w:Absalom Jones|Absalom Jones]], one of the founders, together with [[w:Richard Allen (bishop)|Richard Allen]], of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.<ref name=Martin>Tony Martin. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=NgIYlUbaoAoC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false McGuire, George Alexander].'' '''Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance'''. Volume 2. Cary D. Wintz, Paul Finkelman (Eds.). Taylor & Francis, 2004. p.776.</ref> He is listed as the rector of St. Thomas' in Philadelphia from 1902-05, succeeded as rector there by A.C.V. Cartier (1906-12), the man whom Fr. [[Raphael Morgan]] had recommended for [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[ordination]] to the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriachate]].
Fr. McGuire had himself re-ordained [[Bishop]] in the ''American Catholic Church'' being consecrated on [[September 28]] 1921, in Chicago, Illinois, by Archbishop [[w:Joseph René Vilatte|Joseph René Vilatte]],<ref group="note">Joseph René Vilatte was ordained to the '''Diaconate''' on [[June 6]], 1885, and to the '''Priesthood''' on [[June 7]], 1885, by Bishop [[w:Eduard Herzog|Eduard Herzog]], the Old Catholic Bishop of Berne, Switzerland.
His '''Episcopal Consecration''' took place on [[May 29]], 1892, in the Cathedral of Archbishop Alvares in Colombo (Ceylon), when he was consecrated by the the Latin Rite [[Church of Antioch (Syriac)|Jacobite]] Bishop Mar Julious I ([[w:Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares|Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares]], of the [[w:Brahmavar (Goan) Orthodox Church|(Goan) Orthodox Church]])) and by two other Jacobite bishops, with the permission of the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch ([[w:Ignatius Peter IV|Ignatius Peter IV (III)]]). His long time 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."'' (See: '''[[Episcopi vagantes]]''').
The Episcopal Church subsequently [[Excommunication|excommunicated]] him. And the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated him both in 1900 and in 1907 (although he was reconciled to Rome from 1925 up to his death in 1929). Rene Vilatte as bishop made more than twenty subsequent consecrations of new bishops and of new churches. These consecrations became doubtful because they were made outside the authority of the Church. This prompted '''the Syro-Jacobite Church to officially withdraw recognition of the secession churches in 1938'''. Further, Vilatte was accused of not upholding the canons, nor did he remain within the jurisdiction of the Church of Antioch.<br>Some of the Old Catholic sects descended from Vilatte claim that, despite the fact that he had, in practical fact, abandoned any connection with the Jacobites, some of the Jacobite sects in India consider him a "Saint". And while the validity of Vilatte's Orders in the Roman Catholic Church was never finally settled, though personal opinions tend to the negative, most non-Roman Old Catholics maintain that his Orders were valid.</ref> assisted by bishop Carl A. Nybladh who had been consecrated by Vilatte.<ref>Right Rev. Philippe L. De Coster (B.Th., D.D. (Belgium), Latin Old Roman Catholic Church of Flanders). ''[http://www.scribd.com/doc/2199133/African-Orthodox African Orthodox Church: Its General History]''. 1st Ed. Publ. Eucharist and Devotion, 1993-2008. p.3.)</ref><ref group="note">In the earlier issues of ''The Negro Churchman'', the official organ of the AOC, there were frequent references to the validity of McGuire's consecration. On at least four occasions, a chart was printed on the cover page which traced the apostolic succession from the [[Church of Antioch (Syriac)|See of Antioch]] to McGuire:<br>
In 1924, the newly organized conclave of AOC unanimously elected McGuire [[Archbishop]] of the church. During the remaining decade of his life McGuire built AOC into a thriving international church. Branches were eventually established in Canada, Barbados, Cuba, [[Archdiocese of Johannesburg and Pretoria|South Africa]], [[Archdiocese of Kampala and All Uganda|Uganda]], [[Archdiocese of Kenya|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/>
McGuire founded a parish of his denomination in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1925. Two years after that, he consecrated an African clergyman as Metropolitan Archbishop for South Africa and central and southern Africa, [[Daniel William Daniel Alexander]]. At the same time McGuire was elected [[Patriarch]] of the denomination with the title ''Alexander I''. The church then spread to Uganda, as well.
On [[November 8]], 1931 McGuire dedicated Holy Cross [[w:Pro-cathedral|Pro-Cathedral]] in New York City. His church maintained its greatest strength in NYC.
The movement for ecclesiastical independence started by McGuire in 1921 can be viewed from two perspectives.
First, it was an expression of Black cultural independence in the United States and Africa. It was an effort to promote widespread religious unity under Black leadership. The AOC's inclusion within the apostolic succession was hoped to give it legitimacy in the eyes of both the Black community and the Christian world. This legitimacy, however, did not lead to the growth that McGuire had hoped. Although the AOC increased in size during its first decade, it was primarily through the forceful personality of its leader rather than because of the principle of apostolic succession. After his death the AOC splintered and weakened. In South Africa there was growth, but not at the rate anticipated by [[Daniel William Daniel Alexander]], whose most fruitful efforts were the spread of the AOC to Uganda and Kenya, now under the administrative umbrella of the Orthodox [[Church of Alexandria|Patriarchate of Alexandria]].
Second, in its attempt to bring together Blacks of the diaspora and Africa into a common movement, the AOC was a manifestation of Pan-Africanism. Spiritual and emotional needs left unattended in their respective countries, propelled Blacks in the United States and South Africa to affiliate and assert their autonomy in an area where the White establishments saw no threat. Discrimination, racism and second-class citizenship engendered this effort at ecclesiastical independence and racial cooperation on both sides of the Atlantic.<ref name=Natsoulas/>