The Rev’d Dr. Maria Gwyn McDowell joined St. Philip the Deacon in March of 2018. She is a teacher, a scholar, and a bit of tech geek. She is originally from Portland, Oregon, but has lived in Los Angeles, Iowa and Boston. She and her wife Elizabeth met in the Orthodox Church and joined the Episcopal Church together. They live and garden and raise chickens in Portland, and are fervent fans of the Portland Thorns.
As a priest, Maria is committed to helping create compassionate and just communities of practice called to work with God in the world. She loves nothing more than standing with people at the crossroads of understanding and practice. She received her PhD in Theological Ethics from Boston College and writes on gender, sexuality, and women in the church.