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[[Image:Antiochian local synod.jpg|right|thumb|350px|'''The Local Synod of the Antiochian Archdiocese'''<br>L to R: Bp. [[Mark (Maymon) of Toledo|Mark]], Bp. [[Basil (Essey) of Wichita|Basil]], Bp. [[Antoun (Khouri) of Miami|Antoun]], Metr. [[Philip (Saliba) of New York|Philip]], Bp. [[Joseph (Al-Zehlaoui) of Los Angeles|Joseph]], Bp. [[Thomas (Joseph) of Charleston and Oakland|Thomas]], Bp. [[Alexander (Mufarrij) of Ottawa|Alexander]]]]The '''Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America''' is the sole jurisdiction of the [[Church of Antioch]] in the USA United States and Canada with exclusive jurisdiction over the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in those countries, though these faithful were originally cared for by . Its current primate is the Most Reverend [[Church Joseph (Al-Zehlaoui) of RussiaNew York|Joseph (Al-Zehlaoui)]] in , Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America.

[[Image:St Elias Ottawa.jpg|left|thumb|250px|St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, Ottawa, Canada]]However, after the Bolshevik Revolution threw the Russian Orthodox Church and its faithful abroad into chaos, the Orthodox Arab faithful in North America, simultaneously shaken by the death of their beloved bishop St. Raphael, chose to come under the direct care of the [[Church of Antioch|Patriarchate of Antioch]]. Due to internal conflicts, however, the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in North America were divided between two [[archdiocese]]s, those of New York and Toledo, generally representing those who were loyal to the [[Church of Antioch]] and the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Church of Russia]], respectively. This division of the Arabic faithful resulted significantly from the division in loyalty to the bishops who aligned themselves at the time with the [[Orthodox Church in America|Russian Metropolia]], those who were involved with the formation of the now-defunct [[American Orthodox Catholic Church]], and those who chose to have canonical recourse directly to the [[Holy Synod]] of Antioch.{{orthodoxyinamerica}}With the signing of the Articles of Reunification by Metropolitan [[Philip (Saliba) of New York|Philip (Saliba)]] and Metropolitan [[Michael (Shaheen) of Toledo|Michael (Shaheen)]] in 1975, the two Antiochian Orthodox archdioceses were united as one Archdiocese of North America (now with its headquarters in Englewood, New Jersey). Metropolitan Philip became the primate of the newly reunified archdiocese, and Metropolitan Michael became an auxiliary archbishop. Since then the Archdiocese has experienced rapid and significant growth through the [[conversion]] of a number of Evangelical Protestants&mdash;both individually and as congregations, especially with the reception of the majority of the [[Evangelical Orthodox Church]] in the 1980s&mdash;and also through ongoing evangelization and the immigration of Orthodox Arabs from the Middle East. == History The Archdiocese today ==Its current primate is Metropolitan [[Philip (Saliba) of New York|Philip (Saliba)]], who has six [[auxiliary bishop|auxiliary]] [[bishop]]s assisting him in caring for the nine [[diocese]]s of the growing Archdiocese ==, which is the third largest Orthodox Christian [[jurisdiction]] in North America, having 236 communities (38 of which are missions). Estimates of the number of faithful range from 51,320 to 84,000[http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/quick_question17.html] to 380,000[http://www.electronicchurch.org/2002/NCC_members.htm] depending on the report and the counting method being used. The number of new Antiochian parishes in the decade between 1990 and 2000 rose by approximately 33%, and the primary membership growth in the Archdiocese has been from American converts.[http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/tab2.pdf] From 2003 to 2005, an increase of 1,229 communicants was reported at the conventions, an increase of 2.5%. The Archdiocese also includes the [[Western Rite Vicariate]], a group of about 16 [[parish]]es and 7 missions which worship according to the [[Western Rite]]. [[Image:Antiochian bishops.jpg|left|thumb|250px|'''New bishops with the patriarch'''<br>Left to Right: Bp. [[Mark (Maymon) of Toledo|Mark]], Patr. [[Ignatius IV (Hazim) of Antioch|Ignatius IV]], Bp. [[Thomas (Joseph) of Charleston and Oakland|Thomas]], Bp. [[Alexander (Mufarrij) of Ottawa|Alexander]]]]On [[October 9]], 2003, the [[Holy Synod]] of the [[Church of Antioch]] granted the Archdiocese's request to be granted self-rule (as distinct from [[autonomy]], and though the words have the same literal meaning in English, they are distinct in Arabic) to allow it to better govern itself, improve and increase its outreach efforts, internally organize itself into several dioceses, and continue progress toward Orthodox administrative unity in the Americas. Three new [[bishop]]s were consecrated in December of 2004 to assist in the governance of the reorganized Archdiocese.

The first Orthodox bishop consecrated in North AmericaArchdiocese also includes one [[monasticism|monastic]] community, [[Raphael of Brooklyn|St. Raphael HawaweenyPaul Skete (Grand Junction, Tennessee)]], was consecrated a community for women. It does not run any of its own seminaries, but sends its seminarians to theological schools run by the other [[Church of Russia|Russian Orthodox Churchjurisdiction]] in America to care for the Orthodox Arab faithful in the USA and Canadas or overseas. Through his effortsThe Archdiocese does run various non-seminary educational programs, what is known today as however, including the Antiochian Archdiocese came into being[[St. Stephen's Course in Orthodox Theology]].

However, after The Antiochian Archdiocese is also a member of the [[Bolshevik RevolutionAssembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America]] threw the which superseded [[Church of Russia|Russian Orthodox ChurchSCOBA]] and its faithful abroad into chaos, the Orthodox Arab faithful in North America, simultaneously shaken by the death of their beloved bishop St. Raphael, chose to come under the direct care was formerly a member of the [[Church National Council of Antioch|Patriarchate of AntiochChurches]]. Due to internal conflicts(NCC), however, the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in North America were divided between two but on [[archdioceseJuly 28]]s, those of New York and Toledo2005, generally representing those who were loyal its Archdiocesan Convention voted unanimously to withdraw fully from that organization, thus making it the [[Church first of Antioch]] and the [[Church of Russia]], respectivelymajor Orthodox jurisdictions in the US to do so.

With Additionally, the signing of 2005 convention voted another first for a major American Orthodox jurisdiction: to alter the Articles assessment-based model of Reunification by Metropolitan archdiocesan revenue to a [[Philip (Saliba) of New Yorktithing|PHILIP (Saliba)tithe]] and Metropolitan [[Michael (Shaheen10%) of Toledo|MICHAEL each parish's income (Shaheenexcepting building funds)]] , to be phased in at 8% in 1975, the two Antiochian Orthodox archdioceses were united as one Archdiocese of North America (now with its headquarters 2007 and then followed by 1% increases in Englewood2008 and 2009, New Jersey)respectively. Metropolitan PHILIP became the primate and Metropolitan MICHAEL became an auxiliary archbishop. Since then Of the Archdiocese has experienced rapid and significant growth through the conversion of a number of Evangelical Protestants (both individually and as congregations) and also through ongoing evangelization and the immigration of Orthodox Arabs from the Middle East's 236 communities, 31 are already tithing.

== The Archdiocese Today =Diocesan structure= ==*[[Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic (Antiochian)|Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic]]*[[Diocese of Eagle River and the Northwest (Antiochian)|Diocese of Eagle River and the Northwest]]*[[Diocese of Los Angeles and the West (Antiochian)|Diocese of Los Angeles and the West]]*[[Diocese of Miami and the Southeast (Antiochian)|Diocese of Miami and the Southeast]]*[[Diocese of New York and Washington, DC (Antiochian)|Diocese of New York and Washington, D.C]].*[[Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York (Antiochian)|Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York]].*[[Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest (Antiochian)|Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest]]*[[Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America (Antiochian)|Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America]]*[[Diocese of Worcester and New England (Antiochian)|Diocese of Worcester and New England]]

Its current primate is Metropolitan [[Philip (Saliba) ===Membership figures===According to the November 2007 issue of New York|PHILIP the ''Word'' magazine (Salibap. 5)]], who has six other diocesan [[bishop]http://www.antiochian.org/assets/word/NOV2007WORD.PDF]s assisting him in caring for the nine [[diocese]]s of the growing Archdiocese, which is the third largest Orthodox Christian [[jurisdiction]] in North America. It also includes following membership figures were reported at the [[Western Rite Vicariate]], a group of about 20 [[parish]]es who follow the [[Western Rite]].2007 Archdiocesan Convention:

The {| border="1" class="toccolours" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="clear:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; font-size:95%; text-align:left; border-collapse: collapse;"|-| colspan="4" style="text-align:center; font-size:150%;" | Archdiocese membership figures (2007)|- style="vertical-align: top;"| '''Diocese'''| '''Parishes'''| '''Baptized souls'''|-|- style="vertical-align: top;"| [[Diocese of New York and Washington, DC (Antiochian)|Archdiocesan District]]| 15 | 4639 |- style="vertical-align: top;"| [[Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York (Antiochian)|Ottawa]] | 18 | 6617 |- style="vertical-align: top;"| [[Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic (Antiochian)|Charleston and Oakland]]| 29 | 5838|- style="vertical-align: top;"| [[Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America (Antiochian)|Wichita]] | 45| 6976|- style="vertical-align: top;"| [[Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest (Antiochian Archdiocese is also a member )|Toledo]] | 45| 11145|- style="vertical-align: top;"| [[Diocese of Eagle River and the Northwest (Antiochian)|Eagle River]]| 20| 2257|- style="vertical-align: top;"| [[Diocese of Worcester and New England (Antiochian)|Worcester]]| 11| 4547 |- style="vertical-align: top;"| [[Diocese of Miami and the Southeast (Antiochian)|Miami]]| 36| 4055|- style="vertical-align: top;"| [[SCOBADiocese of Los Angeles and the West (Antiochian)|Los Angeles]].| 33| 8594 |- style="vertical-align: top;"| '''Total''' | '''252'''| '''54667''' |}

*Bishop Toledo Archdiocese (1936-1975)**Metropolitan [[Demetri Samuel (KhouryDavid) of Toledo|DEMETRI Samuel (KhouryDavid)]], Auxiliary Bishop 1936-1958**Metropolitan [[Michael (retiredShaheen)of Toledo|Michael (Shaheen)]], 1958-1975

== External links ==* [http://www.antiochian.org/ Official Website Archdiocese of the Archdiocese]North America (1975-present)* *Metropolitan [[http://www.antiochpat.org/ Official Website Philip (Saliba) of the Orthodox Patriarchate of AntiochNew York|Philip (Saliba)]], 1975-2014