Member-only story
Quitting the Greek Orthodox Church
It was the right choice for me
I vividly recall sitting in the Greek church when I was six years old, looking towards the altar.
Why is the Priest always a man? Can’t ladies be priests?
When I was 23, I asked this same question to the Priest we had at the time, with whom I felt I had a good relationship.
“Well, women cannot be Priests, because in the Bible it says that Christ was married to the church, which is female, and the Priest represents Jesus, so the Priest must be a man who is married to the church.”
Huh?
Over the years, I asked other priests the same question, getting equally confusing answers, such as women being “unclean” because they give birth.
When my kids were young I attended the church on a regular basis. The idea of heaven made me feel better, since my greatest fear was (and still is) something terrible happening to my kids.
But one morning when I was 40, I was sitting in the church listening to the Priest’s sermon, which was one of the Greek church's favorite topics: how unnatural homosexuals are, and how they won't get into heaven unless they change their ways.
As a bi-sexual woman, I felt it as a personal attack. I’ve been attracted to both…