merchants. The first permanent community was founded in New York City in 1892, today's Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the See of the Archbishop of America. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America was incorporated in 1921 and officially recognized by the State of New York in 1922. In 1908, the Church of Greece received authority over the Greek Orthodox congregation of America, but in 1922 Patriarch Meletius IV of Constantinople transferred the archdiocese back to the jurisdiction of the Church of Constantinople. In 1996, the archdiocese was split by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, into four separate archdioceses: those of America (the USA), Canada, Central America, and South America. By 2019, there were rumors, that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America was suffering financially and was now in "financial, administrative, and spiritual bankruptcy." Holy Eparchial Synod The Holy Eparchial Synod of the archdiocese is composed of: Archbishop Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis) of America, President Metropolitan Methodios (Tournas) of Boston Metropolitan Isaiah (Chronopoulos) of Denver Metropolitan Alexios (Panagiotopoulos) of Atlanta Metropolitan Nicholas (Pissaris) of Detroit Metropolitan Savas (Zembillas) of Pittsburgh Metropolitan Gerasimos (Michaleas) of San Francisco Metropolitan Nathanael (Symeonides) of Chicago Organization The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is composed of an archdiocesan district (New York City) and eight metropolises (formerly dioceses): New Jersey, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston and Denver. It is governed by the archbishop and the Eparchial Synod of Metropolitans. The synod is headed by the archbishop (as the first among equals) and comprises the metropolitans who oversee the ministry and operations of their respective metropolises. It has all the authority and responsibility which the Church canons provide for a provincial synod. There are more than 500 parishes, 800 priests and approximately 440,000 to 2 million faithful in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, depending on the source of reports and the counting method being used. The number of parishes in the Greek Archdiocese rose by about 9% in the decade from 1990 to 2000, and membership growth has largely been in terms of existing members having children. Membership is concentrated in the Northeastern United States. The states with the highest rates of adherence are Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New York. The archdiocese receives within its ranks and under its spiritual aegis and pastoral care Orthodox Christians, who either as individuals or as organized groups in the Metropolises and Parishes have voluntarily come