The Centennial Celebration

A hundred years, marked at the Mother Church.

The Centennial Celebration of the African Orthodox Church

The Centennial Celebration of the African Orthodox Church, held at St. Peter’s in February 2022 — a hundred years after McGuire’s founding.

Video: St. Peter’s AOC — YouTube, embed-only

The Cathedral

The clergy of the Mother Church at the altar — Archbishop George Walter Sands, center.
PLATE VII

The clergy of the Mother Church at the altar — Archbishop George Walter Sands, center.

Photograph courtesy of St. Peter’s African Orthodox Cathedral
Parish photograph, 2025.
PLATE VIII

Parish photograph, 2025.

Photograph courtesy of St. Peter’s African Orthodox Cathedral

The Centennial

Archbishop Sands presides at the Centennial Divine Liturgy, February 2022.
PLATE IX

Archbishop Sands presides at the Centennial Divine Liturgy, February 2022.

Centennial photography via The Miami Times — used with permission.
From the Centennial celebration, February 2022.
PLATE X

From the Centennial celebration, February 2022.

Centennial photography via The Miami Times — used with permission.
From the Centennial celebration, February 2022.
PLATE XI

From the Centennial celebration, February 2022.

Centennial photography via The Miami Times — used with permission.
From the Centennial celebration, February 2022.
PLATE XII

From the Centennial celebration, February 2022.

Centennial photography via The Miami Times — used with permission.
From the Centennial celebration, February 2022.
PLATE XIII

From the Centennial celebration, February 2022.

Centennial photography via The Miami Times — used with permission.

The Lineage

George Alexander McGuire, founder and first Patriarch of the African Orthodox Church, in the year of its founding, 1921.
PLATE XIV

George Alexander McGuire, founder and first Patriarch of the African Orthodox Church, in the year of its founding, 1921.

From the AOC Declaration of Faith, First General Synod, 1921. Public domain.
Patriarch Alexander I — George Alexander McGuire (1866–1934).
PLATE XV

Patriarch Alexander I — George Alexander McGuire (1866–1934).

Public domain.
Marcus Garvey, 1924. McGuire served as Chaplain-General of Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association.
PLATE XVI

Marcus Garvey, 1924. McGuire served as Chaplain-General of Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association.

George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress. No known restrictions.
The Negro Churchman, Vol. I, No. 1 — January 1923. The AOC’s own monthly, edited by Bishop George A. McGuire. Its motto: In Tenebris Lumen — a light in the darkness.
PLATE XVII

The Negro Churchman, Vol. I, No. 1 — January 1923. The AOC’s own monthly, edited by Bishop George A. McGuire. Its motto: In Tenebris Lumen — a light in the darkness.

Internet Archive. Original periodical page, 1923 — public domain.
Overtown today — the neighborhood where the parish was born.
PLATE XVIII

Overtown today — the neighborhood where the parish was born.

Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress. No known restrictions.
Store and juke joint, Black section of Homestead, Florida, January 1939 — the civic life of South Florida’s Black communities in the parish’s early era.
PLATE XIX

Store and juke joint, Black section of Homestead, Florida, January 1939 — the civic life of South Florida’s Black communities in the parish’s early era.

Marion Post Wolcott, FSA, January 1939. Library of Congress — no known restrictions.
History of Overtown Miami

The history of Overtown — the neighborhood where the parish was born.

Video: CarterG129 — YouTube, embed-only

Give to the cathedral