While the title “Diocese of the West” has been in use only since the 1970s, the ecclesiastical entity is associated with it’s see city, San Francisco, residence of the ruling bishops of the North American mission/diocese from the time of Bishop John (Mitropolsky), 1872, until Bishop (later Saint) Tikhon moved the American cathedra to New York, 1905. San Francisco, as the seat of one completely unified canonical administration, can be called the Mother Church of all the American parishes erected and received into the Orthodox Church (save new Alaskan parishes) during that entire period, 1872-1905, after which no one city could claim the title. With the removal of the American cathedra to New York, church administration in the United States was divided into three geographical areas, or “rural deaneries,” and it is one of these three, the Deanery of Western States which became the embryo of what has come to be called “Diocese of the West.” The first hierarch to reside in that deanery and to hold at the same time the local title, Bishop of San Francisco, was Bishop Apollinary (1926-7), auxiliary to Metropolitan Platon. Those holding the title after Bishop Apollinary (and as auxiliary bishops to Metropolitan Platon) were Bishops Alexei and Theophilus. The latter became Archbishop of San Francisco and Metropolitan of All America and Canada in 1934. Ruling diocesan bishops as such begin with Archbishop John (Shahovskoy) of San Francisco and Western US (1950-72 and 1975-79), and include Metropolitan Vladimir, Archbishop of Berkeley and the Western United States (1972-75), Bishop Basil of San Francisco and the Diocese of the West (1980-83), Bishop Tikhon of San Francisco and the West, 1987-2007, Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West, 2007-2025, and Bishop Vasily of San Francisco and the West, 2025-present.
It was in 1957 that the first diocesan assembly was held, Archbishop John presiding. Until the term of Metropolitan Vladimir, the character of the diocese was that of parishes formed in a somewhat ad hoc manner through the settlement of Orthodox faithful in a given area, where they would form a community to which the bishop would appoint a priest. Under Metropolitan Vladimir’s rule, the diocese developed a highly structured missionary effort. At the same time, diocesan administration in general was “fleshed out” and was made vigorously collective in nature. The diocese began to elect effective diocesan councils and those appointed chancellors from this general period until now have played a major, positive role in the strong missionary character of today’s diocese: These are the names of those chancellors: Frs. George Benigsen, Sergei Glagolev, Thaddeus Wojcik, Boris Geeza, Stephen Fitzgerald, Basil Rhodes, Vadim Pogrebniak, Archimandrite Nicholas (Soraich), Fr Ian MacKinnon, Bishop Daniel of Santa Rosa, and the present Archpriest Kirill Sokolov.
While the diocese has a more definite Great Russian character in the make-up of its parishes than any other diocese of the OCA, this is by no means the only important ethnic element in the diocese — on the contrary, the parishes of the flourishing and venerable Rocky Mountain Deanery reflect very clearly the ethnic mixture which typified the old Missionary Diocese before the tragic breakup into jurisdictions after the Bolshevik Revolution, since only the Greek Orthodox seceded to form their own parishes in that area. One can look around while attending services in Colorado and see the same vigorous mixture which obtained in the original San Francisco community. Serbian, Slovak, Bulgarian, Carpatho-Russian, Galician, Ukrainian, Romanian influences and people are everywhere present. (Of late, some ethnic elements have begun missions apart from the established, harmonious “melting pot”: Romanian and Arabic.) The growth of the Church in the past decade has led to the influx of many persons and families from backgrounds not formerly associated with our Church, and we are seeing large growth in all parishes from every background.
After the San Francisco cathedral community, and during the term of Bishop Nikolai, the Seattle and Wilkenson, Washington parishes were established, services were held regularly in Portland, Oregon, and the first Serbian communities (now part of the Serbian Patriarchate) were formed, due to the vigorous missionary labors of Saint Sebastian Dabovich, the first person born in America to be ordained an Orthodox Priest (in San Francisco, by Bishop Nikolai, on the same day that Saint Alexis of Minneapolis and his community were officially united to the Orthodox Church). In Colorado, St. Michael of Pueblo, Dormition of Holy Virgin Mary in Calhan, and Transfiguration of Denver were formed and accepted into the American diocese and the Western States Deanery in the first decade of the last century, by Bishop (now Saint) Tikhon. During Metropolitan Platon’s administration, the Los Angeles Holy Virgin Mary Rescuer of the Perishing parish was formed, likewise that of the Protection Church of the Home of Mercy in San Francisco, and the Holy Myrrhbearers’ Church in Bryte (now West Sacramento). In Metropolitan Theophilus’ time, St. John the Baptist of Berkeley, the Protection Church of Santa Rosa, the Dormition Convent in Calistoga, and the St. Vladimir Church of Santa Barbara, all in California, came into existence. During Archbishop John’s administration, the following were added to the diocese: Nativity of the Virgin, Menlo Park; St. Nicholas, Saratoga; Christ the Savior, San Francisco; St. Innocent, Tarzana, St. Nicholas, San Anselmo; all in California, and SS. Peter and Paul in Phoenix, Arizona. During Metropolitan Vladimir’s tenure, St. Herman of Littleton, and SS. Constantine and Helen of Colorado Springs, Colorado; St. Michael of Walnut Creek (later Danville and ultimately Concord) and St. Herman of Oxnard, California, were formed. During the second tenure of Archbishop John, St. John of Damascus, Poway, and Elevation of the Cross, Sacramento, California, were formed. The Annunciation in Santa Maria and Transfiguration in La Habra, California, the St. Andrew of Delta, Colorado, and the St. Peter the Aleut of Lake Havasu, Arizona, missions were formed under the omophorion of Bishop Basil. During the administration of Bishop Boris, St. George, Hesperia, and St. Mary Magdalene, Merced, California, missions were organized. Under Bishop Tikhon, the St. Innocent Mission, Fremont, California; St. Nicholas of South Canaan, Billings, Montana; St. Paul, Las Vegas, Nevada, and the St. Anne Mission, Albany, Oregon were formed. The newest mission efforts are in Helena, MT and Ogden, UT.
Monasticism has been and remains an important element in diocesan life. The work of the late, ever-memorable Father Dimitry (Egorov) of, first, St. Eugene’s Hermitage, Point Reyes Station (now Monastery of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, Manton), and later of the women’s Skete of Our Lady of Kazan, Santa Rosa, continues to witness to a quiet, most unpretentious and prayerful monasticism, the fruits of which will be plain to all at the Last Day. A women’s monastery, that of the Holy Assumption, was founded in Metropolitan Theophilus’ time in Calistoga and in 2009 it was rejuvenated with 10 sisters from the burgeoning community of St. Barbara’s moving there. The founding of two women’s monasteries followed one upon the other also, in this period: St. Barbara’s of Santa Barbara, California, and Holy Protection in Colorado.
The strong missionary emphasis begun in the era of Metropolitan Vladimir has continued without letup in the intervening years until now. In 1994, a new consolidation of missionary vision and effort was realized in the formation of the prototypical Las Vegas/Missionary Deanery. This effort proved worthwhile and very productive and led to the formation of a Mission Deanery to coordinate the planting, nurturing and growth of missions throughout the whole diocese. In 2025, all the missions were absorbed into geographical deaneries, in recognition of the truly missionary character of all of our parishes. In addition, the Mission Board helped inspire the missionary zeal of the diocese, and gave birth to the Orthodox Church Capital Improvement Fund, a now stand alone 501(c)3 organization that provides capital to growing parishes that need to purchase, remodel, or build (OCCIF.com).
As we move into the mid-21st century under the guidance of His Grace, Bishop Vasily, the Diocese of the West continues to grow and spread the Word of God to a land thirsting for Christ. From the Rocky Mountains to the Desert Southwest, to the Pacific Northwest, and all the way to Hawaii, clergy and faithful continue the labors of all those gone before us.
Listed below is a listing (in reverse chronological order) of hierarchs ruling on the territory of the Diocese of the West from 1872 until our current archbishop:
• BENJAMIN, Archbishop of San Francisco and the West, 2007-2025
• TIKHON, Bishop of San Francisco and the West, 1987-2007
◦ (Temporary administrators: JOB, 1987; BORIS, 1984-1987; GREGORY, 1983-1984)
• BASIL, Bishop of San Francisco and the Diocese of the West, 1980-1983
• JOHN, Archbishop of San Francisco and the West, 1975-1979
◦ (Temporary administrators: DMITRI, 1979; GREGORY, 1978-1979; HERMAN, 1975)
• VLADIMIR, Archbishop of Berkeley and the Western United States, 1972-1975
• JOHN, Archbishop of San Francisco and the Western United States, 1950-1972
• (Direct rule of Metropolitan THEOPHILUS) 1946-50
• TIKHON, Archbishop of Seattle and Western America, 1935-1946
• THEOPHILUS, Archbishop of San Francisco, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, 1934-1950
• THEOPHILUS, Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, 1931-1934
• ALEXEI, Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, 1927-1931
• APOLLINARY, Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, 1926-1927
• (Direct rule of Metropolitan PLATON) 1922-1934
• (Direct rule of Metropolitan ALEXANDER) 1917-1921
• (Direct rule of Metropolitan EVDOKIM) 1914-1917
• (Direct rule of Metropolitan PLATON) 1907-1914
• TIKHON, Bishop of the Diocese of Aleutian Islands and Alaska, 1898-1907
• NIKOLAI, Bishop of the Diocese of Aleutian Islands and Alaska, 1891-1898
• VLADIMIR, Archbishop of the Diocese of Aleutian Islands and Alaska, 1888-1891
• NESTOR, Bishop of the Diocese of Aleutian Islands and Alaska, 1879-1882
• JOHN, Bishop of the Diocese of Aleutian Islands and Alaska, 1870-1876
