The Most Rev. George Alexander McGuire was the first Bishop, Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the African Orthodox Church (AOC). A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight In Hierarchical Christian churches the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the Diocesan bishop or A primate is a member of the biological order Primates ( Latin: "prime first rank" the group that contains Lemurs the Aye-aye The African Orthodox Church is a primarily African-American denomination in the Anglican tradition founded in the United States in 1919 He was an Episcopal Priest who became involved in a movement to establish a Black Anglican denomination. The Episcopal Church is the official name of the Province of the Anglican Communion in the United States. A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs He was consecrated a Bishop 28 September 1921 in Chicago, Illinois by Joseph Rene Vilatte, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of America of the Syrian Church of Antioch. Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service usually religious Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Joseph René Vilatte ( January 24, 1854 - July 8, 1929) was at different times a Archbishop Vilatte was assisted by Bishop Carl A. Nybladh. This consecration placed Bishop McGuire in valid apostolic succession, something he greatly desired.
The AOC was originally called the Independent Episcopal Church. At its first Conclave (i. e. , meeting of its House of Bishops), 10 September 1924, the name was changed to African Orthodox Church. Rev. McGuire was unanimously elected Archbishop of this new Church, enthroned with the title Archbishop Alexander.
Rev. McGuire has previously served for several years as the Chaplain of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA), an organization founded and led by Marcus Garvey. A chaplain is typically a Priest, Pastor, ordained Deacon, Rabbi, Imam or other member of the Clergy serving a group of Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr, National Hero of Jamaica (17 August 1887 10 June 1940 was a Publisher, Journalist, Entrepreneur, Black nationalist When he decided in 1924 to relocate UNIA headquarters to the West Indies, McGuire decided to leave UNIA and instead devote himself to the expansion of his Church. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Endick Theological Seminary was founded shortly thereafter, as well as an Order of Deaconesses. Deaconess (and also Deacon) comes from a Greek word diakonos (διακονος A church magazine, the Negro Churchman, also began publication with McGuire as its Editor. Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally Editing Language, Images or Sound through correction condensation organization and other modifications in various media
McGuire founded a parish of his denomination in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1925. West Palm Beach, also known as West Palm, is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA. Two years after that, he consecrated an African clergy as Metropolitan Archbishop for South Africa and central and southern Africa, William Daniel Alexander. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa At the same time McGuire was elected Patriarch of the denomination with the title Alexander I. Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a Pater familias over an extended family The church then spread to Uganda, as well.
On 8 November 1931 McGuire dedicated Holy Cross Pro-Cathedral in New York City. A Pro-cathedral is a Parish Church that is temporarily serving as the Cathedral or Co-cathedral of a Diocese. The City of New York His church maintained its greatest strength in NYC.
Patriarch McGuire died 10 November 1934. He was survived by his wife, Ada Robert McGuire (a native of Antigua), and one daughter. At the time of his death the African Orthodox Church had about 30,000 members and about fifty clergy in thirty parishes located in the U.S.A., Africa, Cuba, Antigua and Venezuela. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la Antigua (ænˈtiːgə an-TEE-gah) is an Island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region the main Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the