The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America (ROEA)
In 1929 delegates from the various, scattered Romanian Orthodox parishes in the United States and Canada met to establish the Romanian Orthodox Missionary Episcopate of America. (NAMES) represented Presentation, which had been founded fifteen years earlier. The Episcopate was established under the protection of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and a bishop was requested to shepherd the Romanian-American flock. With the coming of communism to Romania after World War II, ties with the Romanian Church were severed.
Below: The Chancery of the ROEA in Grass Lake, Michigan.
Today the Episcopate is a diocese of the Orthodox Church in America. Her hierarchs are members of the OCA”s Synod of Bishops and of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North America. Since the fall of communism, she enjoys full canonical and eucharistic relations with the Romanian Orthodox Church and all Orthodox Churches in the world. The supreme legislative body of the Diocese is the annual Diocesan Congress, composed of one clergy and two lay delegates from each parish.
Below: A clergy delegate addresses the Episcopate Congress.
Visit the website of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America HERE.
And Finally, a Little Nostalgia:
Here is a vintage 1950s-1964 era video about the Episcopate (make yourself a snack first — it”s an hour long!):