Archbishop Alexei (Trader), or Alexis,Election of Bishop Alexis
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secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth ...

John Trader (born January 31, 1965) is the Archbishop of the

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In ...

Diocese of Alaska since 2022.The Most Reverend Alexei - Orthodox Church in America
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Early life and education

Alexei was born on February 24, 1965, as John Trader in

Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...

. He was raised

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

; his grandfather was a Methodist pastor. He attended

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1787 as Franklin College and later merged with Marshall College in 1853, it is one of the oldest colleges in the United St ...

and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

where he obtained a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a masters in religion, respectively. He also obtained a masters of divinity at

Saint Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary Saint Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary () is an Eastern Orthodoxy, Orthodox Christian seminary located in South Canaan Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania. It is one of three seminaries operated by the Orthodox Church in America, the other ...

and a doctorate in patristic studies and psychology from the

University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest Tertiary education, tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stagira (anc ...

.Diocese of Sitka and Alaska
/ref> In 1990, Alexei joined Saint Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery as a rasophore, where he also taught courses. In 1995, he went to Greece in

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

to Karakallou Monastery, where he was also known as Alexios Karakallinos. In 1996, he was ordained to the

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Catholi ...

, to the priesthood in 2001, and to the episcopate on January 25, 2020.

Bishop

In 2018, Alexei was called back from Greece on invitation from Metropolitan Tikhon in order to serve as bishop. On November 12, 2019, he was elected Bishop of Bethesda. He was elected Bishop of Sitka and Alaska on March 15, 2022, and enthroned on March 27, 2022, at Saint Innocent Cathedral in

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

. He was elevated to the rank of Archbishop on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at a meeting of the Holy Synod.

Bibliography

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References

Living people 1965 births 21st-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America People from Dover, Delaware Franklin & Marshall College alumni University of Chicago Divinity School alumni Saint Tikhon's Orthodox University alumni Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni Orthodox Church in America {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub