I Left the Orthodox Church Involuntarily

by Maria Gwyn McDowell

I was maybe five, sitting with the older kids on the altar steps watching [a priest] describe his vestments. The cuff cords were so long! Each item meant something. I remember wanting to understand.

Maria Gwyn McDowell

Baptized and raised in the Eastern Orthodox Church until she met her wife, the Rev. Maria Gwyn McDowell is a priest in the Episcopal Church. She writes in the areas of liberation ethics, gender, sexuality, and the ordination of women to the priesthood in Eastern Orthodoxy. Her work is available at mariagwyn.com. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

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