Paul Garrett’s biography of St. Innocent, Apostle to America, is an inspiring account of St. Innocent’s life, travels, and ministry. Garrett describes the life of St. Innocent to American readers who most likely are unfamiliar with the great saint but would be interested in Orthodoxy, missions, and the history of nineteenth century Russian Alaska.

The book chronologically focuses on each major part of St. Innocent’s life and ministry: his preparation for the ministry, his time as a missionary priest, his becoming a bishop, his return to Siberia and Alaska as a missionary bishop both in America and Siberia, and his surprising final years as Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia. This is not a formal academic biography; the author’s style is informal, though sometimes he uses liturgical and theological terminology and Latin phrases that he does not explain. This is unfortunate for the reader who might not know or understand these terms. At times, I thought there was too much detail in the travels of St. Innocent; on the other hand, it highlights the extent and difficulty of his travels and work. Unfortunately, the book provides no map of Russia or Alaska. This too would have been helpful to the reader to see the breadth of St. Innocent’s travels. Over all, however, the book does a fine job in introducing St. Innocent to the general reader.

This is the second time I have read this book, and both times St. Innocent has inspired me not only to take part in missions or at least support missions, but also to be a better Christian. I have been interested in missions long before I was Orthodox. His example of missionary work and strategy is very close to what I remember from the writings of Paul Hiebert and Roland Allen’s «Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours?» St. Innocent’s life and ministry highlight certain important missionary concepts. He respected the indigenous culture and people by translating the scriptures and liturgy into the people’s language, ordaining local priests as soon as possible, and loving all, no matter their acceptance or rejection of the Gospel. His continuous traveling, evangelizing, and teaching throughout his parish and later his diocese mirrored St. Paul’s unwillingness to remain in one place for a long period. Finally, his holy life and deep trust and faith in God’s providence gave him the strength and credibility to proclaim the Gospel throughout his life. This final characteristic I found personally important. The book begins with a quote from the Psalms, “The LORD guides a man safely in the way he should go,” and refers back to it throughout the story of his life showing how St. Innocent trusted in God’s wisdom and providence. This gave him the flexibility to change his plans when needed and the peace to allow for change, not insisting on his own way.

The book achieves its goal of introducing St. Innocent to an English speaking audience and inspires the reader to both support missionary work and deepen his or her spiritual life. I highly recommend this book, not only as an introduction to St. Innocent, but also as an introduction to Orthodox missionary methods, especially to those who are contemplating missionary work. Although the book is about a Nineteenth century Russian missionary and hierarch, it is relevant to missionaries today who want to follow Orthodox and biblical methods in their work. ( )