In 1798, Archimandrite Joasaph returned to Irkutsk in Siberia and was consecrated on April 10, 1799, Bishop of Kodiak, the first Bishop for America, but he and all his staff, including Hieromonk Makary and Hierodeacon Stephen of the original Mission, perished in the sea May 21, 1799 when the ship on which he was sailing, "Phoenix," was wrecked near Kodiak Island.  Father Herman, who from the beginning, had distinguished himself with his humility, compassion for the natives and his administrative skills, became the acting head and eventually, only he remained from the original Mission.

Though the American Mission was now reduced to half of its original number, it continued its work. Notable was the great spiritual and missionary work of the Monks Herman and Joasaph. Not only did they instruct the natives in spiritual and religious matters, but they also taught them practical, secular subjects, such as mathematics, carpentry, agriculture, as well as animal husbandry.

In 1799, Tsar Paul I (1754-1801) awarded Shelekhov's Russian American Company monopolistic control over trade and government, thus inextricably entwining the Company and the Church. The Company financed the Church in its missionary and educational work, while the Church became the custodian not only of the colony's morals -- often in opposition to Company practices -- but also of the spiritual and intellectual nurturing of the Native Alaskans.

Although the initial confrontation of Russians and Alaskans was sometimes bloody, with the coming of the Orthodox priests relations generally became more harmonious and mutually beneficial.

The primary goal of the Alaska mission was to convert the Native population to Orthodox Christianity. Education and "pacification" of the Natives, despite their importance to the Russian American Company, were adjuncts to this goal. Conversion was encouraged by the Tsar, as head of the Church, and by the hierarchy. The Church Archives contain numerous statistical records of conversions and descriptions of exceptional instances, as in the case of one Stefan. The annual reports contain invaluable genealogical information: dates of births, deaths, and marriages; Native and Christian names; places of origin, and the like.

After difficult relations with and persecution by the Russian-American Trading Company, which controlled the Alaska Colony, between 1808 and 1818 Fr. Herman left Kodiak and went to Spruce Island, which he called New Valaam. He spent the rest of his life on this island, where he cared for orphans, ran a school and continued his missionary work. He built a small chapel, school and guest house, while food for himself and the orphans was produced from his own experimental garden. His grave there now is a shrine for Alaska and his name is pronounced with a reverence as that of a saint by the Aleuts.

In 1824, with the arrival of the Missionary Priest John Veniaminov in Unalaska, a new impetus was added to the missionary work already done. The original missionaries had been replaced by others, so that by the time of the arrival of Father John, only the Monk Herman, now retired to Spruce Island, was left of the original American Mission. He died on December 13, 1837, and on August 9, 1970, he was canonized as the first Saint of the Orthodox Church in America.

Father Veniaminoff stayed in Unalaska for ten years and loved his new flock, the Aleuts. He was to them a priest, teacher, doctor, nurse and mechanic. He taught them not only how to believe right, but also how to live right. This good priest was so interested in the welfare of his Aleuts that he instructed them how to wash themselves with soap, how to nurse the children and how to use the food. He acquainted the savages with the rules of hygiene and introduced some industry among them, such as even making watches and clocks, etc. He made all Aleuts of the Islands and nearby places Christians and educated them. He invented the Aleutian alphabet and composed the grammar. He translated the Holy Scripture and other books into Aleutian. Father Veniaminoff was a genius and a great missionary.

In 1834 Father Veniaminoff was transferred to Sitka and labored among Kaloshs with the same zeal and success. Here stands St. Michael's Cathedral which is even now an ornament for Alaska and which was built by him, and the clock on the belfry that shows time even now was made by his hands. In 1840 Father Veniaminoff was consecrated Bishop to Alaska and was administering the Mis­sion for 15 years more. He opened a Seminary here, organized Ecclesiastical Consistory, and wrote very valuable rules and books that have not lost their value up to these days, and especially the one entitled "The Way to the Kingdom of Heaven." In 1855 Bishop Innokenty (this was Father Veniaminoff's name since he became a monk) was transferred to Blagovieschensk, Siberia, and from there to Moscow where he served as a Metropolitan of that great city till his death in 1879.

Around 1840 Father John was elected to the episcopacy, taking the name Innocent. The Church continued to grow among the native Alaskans, but Bishop Innocent also visited California and the Orthodox community at Fort Ross, north of San Francisco. He eventually returned to Russia, where he was named Metropolitan of Moscow. Among his many accomplishments was the translation of Scripture and the liturgical services into the native dialects, for which he also devised a grammar and alphabet.