Contact: Alexei Krindatch, 773-551-7226, akrindatch@aol.com
MEDIA ADVISORY, June 16, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The first ever "Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches" is published by the Holy Cross Orthodox Press. For detailed information about the Atlas and to look at sample chapters and pages, go to www.orthodoxreality.org.
The Atlas ($ 19.95) is available on www.amazon.com or directly from publisher (www.holycrossbookstore.com, 800-245-0599).
What is this Book about?
The Atlas provides a detailed overview of all Orthodox Christian Churches in the United States: both Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. It is addressed for the wide - Orthodox and non-Orthodox, academic and non-academic - audiences. Simultaneously, this book is an atlas, a reference book and a thematic monograph. It is an atlas because it contains numerous maps to show the historical development and present patterns of Orthodox Church life in America. It is a thematic monograph because the essays in this book tell the story of the Orthodox Christian past and present in the United States. It is a reference book because it furnishes comprehensive information and statistical data on all American Orthodox Christian Churches.
The Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches consists of four parts. Chapter one looks at the historical development of the American Orthodox Churches and presents many interesting facts about particular churches, local communities, and personalities associated with Orthodoxy in America. Chapter two offers an overview of twenty-one national Orthodox Church bodies. The short articles with information about each Church are accompanied by two maps: a state-by-state map of parishes and a county-by-county map of membership in this Church. The third chapter is devoted to Orthodox monasteries in the United States. It gives a general introduction into Orthodox monasticism in America and offers a systematic database for the eighty-one Orthodox monasteries in this country. The accompanying map shows their distribution across the country. Chapter four furnishes data from the 2010 US National Orthodox Census. Tables and maps in this chapter contain statistics of parishes, membership, and church attendance for twenty-one different national Orthodox Church bodies. This information is available church-by-church and state-by-state and county-by-county
Praise for the Atlas:
"Why are pictures worth a thousand words? Because they engage multiple senses and ways of knowing that stretch and deepen our understanding. Good pictures also tell compelling stories. Good maps are good pictures, and this makes the Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches, with its alternation and synthesis of picture and story, a persuasive way of presenting a rich historical journey of Orthodox Christianity on American soil. The telling is persuasive for both scholars and adherents. It is also provocative and suggestive for the American public as we continue to struggle with two issues, in particular, that have been at the center of the Orthodox experience in the United States: how to create and maintain unity cross vast terrains of cultural and ethnic difference; and how to negotiate American culture as a religious other without losing one's soul.
David Roozen, Director
Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary
