St. Dunstan's had been moved to Woodstock, New York, in 1940 by Metropolitan William when he transferred the priory and his see from Waukegan, Illinois. In 1973, Schema-Abbot John (LoBue) was elected by the St. Dunstan community to replace Abbot Augustine Whitfield when the latter established the Monastery of Mount Royal in Jacksonville, Florida in that same year. Schema-Abbot John was assigned to find a new location for the abbey, which was moved, later that year, to West Milford, New Jersey. In 1978, the name of the abbey was changed to Abbey of the Holy Name and, on September 21, 1980, Schema-Abbot John was consecrated Bishop of the Northeast (USA) by First Hierarch Metropolitan Joseph and Archbishop Hilarion of Texas. Since then the abbey has housed the diocesan offices and the St. Gregory Orthodox Liturgical Press. Many ecclesiastical dignitaries have visited the abbey during its existence, including Archbishop Hilarion of Australia (ROCOR) and Bishop Germaine of Paris (ECOF). The Blessed Elder (Schema-Bishop) Theodore (Irtel) of Old Valaam lived the last 7 years of his life at the abbey and reposed there on November 21, 1997.

Prior to its entering into the Holy Synod of Milan, in 1997, the churches connected with the abbey constituted the Western Rite Exarchate of the Russian Patriarchal Church under Exarch William. Due to alleged manipulations of KGB interference they left the Moscow Patriarchate and came into communion with the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church in Exile under Archbishop Palladios, one of the founders of SCOBA. Under Palladios' leadership permission was granted to establish this Western Rite church on its own as the Synod of Orthodox Bishops of the Western Rite with parishes and monasteries in America, Great Britain and (then) Yugoslavia. In 1972, after the repose of Abp. Palladios, these churches severed all relationship with the Ecumenical Patriarchate due to the latter's extensive involvement in Ecumenism. In 1997, the bishops of the Milan Synod, which had by then received a second Tomos of Autonomy in connection with the Ukrainian Patriarchate by Patriarch Volodymir of Kiev, received the bishops of the Western Rite Synod into the Milan Synod by a new granting of cheirothesia. At the same time Bishop John, who had served as locum tenens for First Hierarch after the repose of Metropolitan Joseph in 1990, was given the position of Archbishop of New York and New Jersey.  On February 14/27, 2011 the majority of hierarchs of the Milan Synod issued a decree of autonomy to their American and British interests and elevated Archbishop John of New York as Metropolitan of North and South America and the British Isles.