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It began with the missionary work of the Orthodox Church of Russia in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands in the late 18th century (see Russian colonization of the Americas, Herman of Alaska and Saint Innocent of Alaska). In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution brought communication between the churches in North America and Russia to an almost complete halt. In the early 1920sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 Events and trends Technology John Logie Baird invents the first working t, Patriarch Tikhon of MoscowSaint Tikhon of Moscow ( January 19, 1865 March 25, 1925), born Vasily Ivanovich Belavin, was the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church during the early years of the Soviet Union. From 1878 to 1883, Vasily studied at the Pskov Theological Seminary. directed all Russian Orthodox churches outside of Russia to govern themselves autonomously until regular communication and travel could be resumed. At that time, parishes which had been part of a single North American Diocese organized separate dioceses and placed themselves under various other mother churches, giving rise to the current situation of multiple overlapping Orthodox Church jurisdictions in North America.

In the early 1960s, the Orthodox Church in America resumed communication with the Patriarch of Moscow, and in 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. January full communionFull communion is a mutual recognition between Christian churches or denominations that the partner churches hold "the essentials of the Christian faith". It includes mutual recognition of members common celebration of the Lord's Supper/Holy Communion/Euc was restored. In April of that year, the Patriarch of Moscow signed a tomos granting the OCA autocephaly, or self-governing administrative status.

Within the past twenty years, the OCA has established over 220 new parishes. It is a member of the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in AmericaThe Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) is an Eastern Orthodox organization designed to help cooperation among the several Eastern Orthodox Christian jurisdictions to be found in the Americas. It acts as a clearin (SCOBA), together with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (which does not recognize the OCA's autocephaly even though it is in full communion with the OCA), the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, and other member jurisdictions. See also: List of Orthodox jurisdictions in North America.