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→Twelfth All-American Sobor
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 sixth sobor also approved a statute for the governance of the diocese, organizing it as a metropolitan district. However, without a central administration and the support of the parishes, the statutes were just another step in the maturing of the diocese as an effective organization.
==Eighth All-American Sobor==
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]], was the consensus choice in pre-Sobor discussions, 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 Dimitry [[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 [[Dionysius (Diachenko) of Pittsburgh ]] announced that they had unanimously elected Theophilus to the position of metropolitan of All-America and Canada and which was by then generally known as the "Metropolia."
==Ninth All-American Sobor==
==Eleventh All-America Sobor==
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.
==Twelfth All-American Sobor==
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 results of the second ballot were 203 votes for Archbishop Vladimir, 131 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), 18 for Bishop [[Michael (Diky) of Buenos Aires]], 8 for Bishop [[Amvrossy (Merejko) of Pittsburgh|Amvrossy (Merejko) of Sitka]], 3 for Fr. [[Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas|Dmitri Royster]], 1 for Fr. Andrew Fedetz, 1 for Fr. [[Theodosius (Lazor) of Washington|Theodosius Lazor]], 1 for Fr. Seraphim Babich, and eight invalid ballots.
==Thirteenth All-American Sobor==
While the change in the name had been broached earlier and had been studied in committee, the bishops suddenly vetoed the proposal and, after approving a straw vote that affirmed strong support for such a change, forbade discussion on the subject. While the subject was then closed, the proposal for the name change was a notice that the church had allegedly matured to see itself not as an ethnic group but as the Orthodox Church in America. But, as this attempt may have been premature, other events had transpired that would reconcile the disagreements with the mother church.
Among the decisions of the council was that of permitting parishes, upon approval of their diocesan bishop, to use the new calendar.
==Fourteenth All-American Sobor==
