Changes

The principal business of the sobor was to establish the diocese on a more formal and legal basis, including establishing a [[statute]] for the diocese, regularizing the financial basis for the diocese, and under Abp. Tikhon's guidance recognition of the diversity in the diocese in regard rituals and usage. But, the sobor ended on a sad note as Abp. Tikhon announced his departure for America and return to Russia.

The second sobor was originally planned to be held in 1918 after Abp. [[Evdokim (Meschersky) of the Aleutians|Evdokim]] returned from the [[All-Russian Church Council of 1917-1918|All-Russian Sobor]] of 1917. However, with the chaos caused by the October Revolution in Russia and the extended sessions of the Russian sobor into 1918, as well as disruptions in the United States caused by the events in Russia, the second All-American Sobor was delayed until 1919. The sobor was convened on [[February 12]], 1919 at the St. Theodosius Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and continued until [[February 15]].

Among the actions taken during the Sobor were election of Abp. [[Alexander (Nemolovsky) of Brussels|Alexander (Nemolovsky)]] as the diocesan bishop since Abp. Evdokim was not returning. Since the North American diocese did not have a statutes concerning the election of its own diocesan bishop, an election procedure had to be established by the sobor. Several delegates proposed the election of Bishop Alexander by acclamation of the sobor, however, a small group of delegates protested and a vote by secret ballot was then held. Bishop Alexander received 242 votes, 6 for Bishop [[Stephen (Dzubay) of Pittsburgh|Stephen]], 5 for Archbishop [[Eulogius (Georgievsky) of Paris|Evlogy]], 1 for Archpriest John Krohmalny, 8 against Bishop Alexander but without a name, and 6 blank ballots.  Other actions were, the establishment of a financial administration to handle the financial crisis caused by the loss of funding from Russia, authorizing return of Ukrainian [[Uniates]] in Canada to the Orthodox Church as members of the "Ukrainian Orthodox Church," formalized relations between Syrians and Russians, and providing for consecration of Archimandrite [[Theophan Noli]] and Archimandrite Mardary as bishops of the Albanian and Serbian communities, if they were so elected.

The sixth All-American Sobor was convened in New York City on [[October 5]]-[[October 8|8]], 1937, to confirm agreements made by Metr. Theophilus at a consultation called by Patriarch Varnnava of Serbia in 1936 with representatives of the Russian dioceses and exiles that were not administered by the Patriarchate of Russia (the ROCOR). The agreements that were subsequently ratified by the American Council of Bishops with bishops from the Church Abroad attending the meetings, made by Metr. Theophilus in which he had stressed that the autonomy of the American church remained inviolate. The sobor confirmed these agreements, but with over half of the delegates abstaining. The abstentions indicated an uneasiness about this "union" with the Church Abroad.

A major advance for the North American diocese was signaled when the sobor approved the of establishment of two theological training institutions. [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York)|St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary]] was approved as a liberal arts college based school, while a [[St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Canaan, Pennsylvania)|school]] attached to [[St. Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery (South Canaan, Pennsylvania)|St. Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery]] would provide pastoral training. By this course, the Metropola took action to alleviate the inevitable shortage of trained clergy that had been developing since the closing of [[St. Platon's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Tenafly, New Jersey)|St. Platon's Seminary]] in Tenafly in 19231924.

The eighth All-American Sobor was held in New York City and was in session [[December 5]]-[[December 8|8]], 1950 to elect a successor to Metr. Theophilus who died on [[June 27]], 1950. Although Abp. [[Leonty (Turkevich) of New York |Leonty]], who was the consensus choice in pre-Sobor discussions, was a primatial election took place in accordance with a procedure developed by the Presobor Commission. The sobor delegates voted by secret ballot to nominate three candidates from which the hierarchs would elect the new Metropolitan. The results of this secret ballot were 239 nominations for Archbishop Leonty, 8 for Bishop [[Dimtry (Magan) of Boston]], 4 for Bishop [[John (Shahovskoy) of San Francisco|John (Shahovskoy) of Brooklyn]], 1 for Bishop [[Nikon (de Greve) of Brooklyn|Nikon (de Greve) of Philadelphia]], 1 for Metropolitan [[Anastasy (Gribanovsky) of Kishinev|Anastasy (Gribanovsky)]] of the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia, and an invalid ballot. Following a brief consultation in the sanctuary by the hierarchs, Bishop [[Dionysius (Diachenko) of Pittsburgh]] announced that they had unanimously elected by acclamation Theophilus to the position of metropolitan of All-America and Canada and which was by then generally known as the "Metropolia."

The eleventh All-American Sobor was held again in New York City on [[November 12]]-[[November 15|15]], 1963. This sobor finally addressed the inadequacies of a central administration by amending the statute to provide for three national officers. These were the [[chancellor]], the secretary, and the treasurer. The individuals for these offices would be nominated by the Metropolitan Council and appointed by the synod of bishops. These three officers, with the later addition of two representatives from the Metropolitan Council were to constitute a permanent administrative committee.

Under the statutes adopted at the Ninth Sobor, the first ballot required requires a two thirds majority vote for a candidate to winbe solely nominated. If the two thirds is not obtained, or the candidate is rejected by the canonical vote of the hierarchs, a second round of voting takes place immediately. On the second vote two names would be are placed on the ballot. If again, the two thirds is not obtained, and the final selection was is then placed in the hands of the synod of bishops. The first vote produced a majority for Abp. Vladimir, but not two thirds. The second vote had the same results, and the decision was then turned to the bishops for deliberation and decision. After some minutes the holy doors on the [[iconostasis]] opened and the senior bishop, [[John (Garklavs) of Chicago]], announced that Abp. Ireney was the new Metropolitan. Then, the sobor, putting aside any ill feelings that may have been present during the voting, broke into a majestic ''Eis polla eti despota'', thus sanctifying and truly receiving the decision of the bishops. The results of the first ballot were 122 nomination votes for Archbishop [[Vladimir (Nagosky) of San Francisco|Vladimir (Nagosky)]] of Tokyo, 105 for Archbishop Ireney (Bekish) of Boston, 32 for Bishop [[Kiprian (Borisevich) of Philadelphia|Kiprian (Borisevich)]] of Philadelphia, 23 for Archbishop John (Garklavs) of Chicago, 12 for Archbishop [[John (Shahovskoy) of San Francisco|John (Shahovskoy)]] of San Francisco, 5 for Bishop [[Sylvester (Haruns) of Montreal|Sylvester (Haruns)]] of Montreal, 1 for Archbishop [[Nikon (de Greve) of Brooklyn|Nikon (de Greve)]] of Brooklyn, and two blank ballots.

The first vote produced a majority results of the second ballot were 203 votes for Abp. Archbishop Vladimir, but not two thirds. The second vote had the same results131 for Archbishop Ireney, 61 for Bishop Kiprian, 51 for Archbishop John (Garklavs), 46 for Bishop Sylvester, 44 for Archbishop Nikon, 26 for Archbishop John (Shahovskoy), and the decision was then turned to the bishops 18 for deliberation and decision. After some minutes the holy doors on the Bishop [[iconostasisMichael (Diky) of Buenos Aires]] opened and the senior bishop, John 8 for Bishop [[Amvrossy (Merejko) of Pittsburgh|Amvrossy (GarklavsMerejko) of ChicagoSitka]], announced that Abp3 for Fr. Ireney was the new Metropolitan[[Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas|Dmitri Royster]], 1 for Fr. ThenAndrew Fedetz, the sobor1 for Fr. [[Theodosius (Lazor) of Washington|Theodosius Lazor]], putting aside any ill feelings that may have been present during the voting1 for Fr. Seraphim Babich, broke into a majestic ''Eis polla eti despota'', thus sanctifying and truly receiving the decision of the bishopseight invalid ballots.

With the grant of autocephaly, it became the custom to refer to councils of this jurisdiction as ''councils'' rather than ''sobors'', and thus the Fourteenth All-American Sobor came to be known also as the '''First [[All-American Council]]'''.