Saint Emmelia Ministries is blessed to have a board of wise, loving Spiritual Advisors who help run our regional conferences and online events, provide guidance to local homeschoolers, and guide the vision & work of the ministry. Alongside them are their wives, who work tirelessly to support their husbands’ work, on top of educating their children. In this series, we are honored to introduce you to these exceptional women.
by Pres. Christine Slaughter Doty
1. Please introduce yourself briefly.
I’m Presbytera Christine Slaughter Doty, and I’ve been married to Fr. Justin Slaughter Doty for nearly nine years. We currently live in the Midcoast town of Rockland, Maine, where we’ve been for almost four years now. Before coming to Maine, we served the Church in Washington State, Connecticut, and Lincolnshire, England.
Fr. Justin and I met before either of us was Orthodox, while working in EMS. I had been an EMT for a few years when a new paramedic joined our company—and he happened to be wearing a very lovely British cap, which I made sure to let him know! At the time, I was working about 90 hours a week, so the only way he could take me on a date was to sign up for the same shift and ambulance as myself. Not long after that, we became paramedic partners… and three months later, we were engaged.
When we became engaged, he was preparing to study at an Anglican seminary in New York City. My husband has always been very academically inclined, whereas I came from a non-traditional upbringing that lacked many educational opportunities. Still, I had a strong interest in linguistics, ancient studies, and Egyptology. At the time, I was just having a blast with my own independent research, which involved the conception of the soul in ancient Egyptian thought and some translation work in Middle Egyptian. He found it very amusing that I was doing “thesis style work” as he said, without being enrolled in any program whatsoever. So he spent the next few months encouraging me to apply to college and helping me through that whole process. I was eventually accepted into the very same college that he had just graduated from, and together we designed an independent major that involved studies between my home college and Brown University, along with summer coursework in linguistics at Harvard and Yale. My professors were incredibly supportive of my rather unique pursuits and ambitions. My husband and I are extremely self-aware that we tend to be very ambitious people, but that ambition has seen us through many, many necessary steps in life to bring us to where we are now.
About four months after our engagement, we were married—and five days later, I left for college in Massachusetts while he went to seminary in New York City. The original plan was for him to take the train up on the weekends, but that quickly changed. Within two weeks, he found us an apartment in my town and got permission to transfer his studies to the Greek seminary, Holy Cross, in MA. An Anglican… at an Orthodox seminary. His former professors warned him, “Be careful—don’t convert!” …well.
Today, we have three children: Heloise Thekla (almost six), Alphage (Alfie) Æthelwine (almost four), and Odilia Leofgyth (almost three). We’ve been lightly homeschooling for about two years. Right now, our focus is on the basics—reading, writing, math, and languages (Greek and French)—along with starting music, sewing, and painting. The last three are not only hobbies for us; they’re connected to the life of the Church: music in preparation for Byzantine chant, sewing for vestments, and painting as a foundation for iconography. We’ve also been very blessed with a very kind, retired schoolteacher in our parish, who has been such an incredible resource and help to my children and I.
2. What did the discernment process for the priesthood look like for your family?
Our path was probably a bit different than most. When we met, my husband was already on track for the Anglican priesthood, and I was, what I say, too scared of God to call myself an “atheist,” so I shamefully claimed to be “Agnostic.” I had grown up in quite a unique Catholic household, and by the time I left home at seventeen, I had stepped away from the church and was no longer interested in Christianity.
He encouraged me to return to the Faith, and later, when I was in college and he had transferred to the Greek seminary, we both began searching more deeply for the truth—but in different ways. My academic work began to shift. What started as a study of the soul in ancient Egyptian religion gradually transformed into a comparison between ancient Egyptian beliefs and early Christian thought. Through that, I encountered the Church Fathers—and I found myself drawn to Orthodoxy. At the same time, I felt a real tension. My husband was still pursuing the Anglican priesthood, so I wanted to be supportive of him, but I wasn’t sure how to reconcile that with what I was discovering. So I waited.
His time at Holy Cross, surrounded by Orthodox seminarians, professors, and clergy, was great for him—my husband has never been one to shy away from debates. He has always been a truth-seeker, and it didn’t take him much longer than myself to accept Orthodoxy. When he finally came to me to share his thoughts, he discovered that I had already arrived at the same place!
We were received into the Orthodox Church later that year, and from there he began meeting with His Grace, Bishop John, to discuss his presence at the seminary and the Orthodox priesthood. In many ways, the discernment unfolded over a few years of shared searching and gradual clarity—but I had always known that his life was oriented toward the priesthood.
3. How did you decide to homeschool? How did you decide what methods/curriculum/ pedagogical approaches to use?
We chose homeschooling largely because it aligns best with how we want to raise our children. We’re not particularly drawn to public schools for a number of reasons, and while some private schools can be good, it would always be on a case-by-case basis. Right now, there are no private school systems near us that are of any interest.
For us, keeping the children close to home—and close to us—is important. Homeschooling allows for that, while also giving us the flexibility to shape their education around the life of the Church.
We try to incorporate elements that will serve them later within the Church: music, sewing, art, and a general familiarity with the rhythm of liturgical life. At the same time, we also have a long-standing interest in classical education. We once began developing an Orthodox classical school system in England before returning to the United States, and that vision has never entirely left us. It’s something that we think of from time to time, and God-willing, we still hope to revisit it one day.
4. What are some practical ways that you balance ministry, homeschooling, homemaking, etc.?
This is probably the hardest question to answer, because it’s always in flux.
One of the most important things we’ve done is to intentionally keep two days off each week—usually Mondays and Tuesdays. We treat them as our “weekend,” and our parishioners understand that we’re only available during that time for emergencies. I think this is essential for clergy families; otherwise, the boundaries between parish life and home life quickly disappear.
For homeschooling, I try to set aside consistent time blocks—usually one to three hours every other day. Without that structure, it’s very easy for the weeks to slip by.
When we first arrived in Maine, our mission was very small—only about seven people. Over the last three years, it has grown into a parish of over 100, and last July we purchased our own building! Over the course of six weeks, we managed to convert an old medical office into a fully functioning, beautiful church. All of the work was done by my husband, myself, and our very dedicated and skilled parishioners. We all worked about 16-hours a day for the entirety of that six weeks. The grandmas had to come in to assist my husband and I with the children… Despite the very frantic process of it all, the church was completed the day before our patronal feast, decorated and all! His Grace, Bishop John arrived to open the doors, and the first liturgy in the new building was celebrated.
Experiences like that make it very clear: if we don’t intentionally structure our time, everything can easily be consumed by the work of the Church. So we try to be deliberate about protecting time for family life. I was warned once a long time ago by my spiritual father: Do not let the parish be built upon the backs my children. There is a longer tale that goes with that phrase, and I've never forgotten it. The parish, God-willing, will always remain once my husband and I are long gone, but the time of childhood is short in comparison, fragile, and cannot be regained once it passes.
5. How do you recharge yourself to be a better person for those around you? How much time do you spend?
We tend to be early risers—everyone is up around 6:00am—and that rhythm works well for us. By the evening, the children are usually in bed by 6:45 or 7:00pm.
From about 7:00 to 11:00pm, my husband and I share a mix of work and personal time. I’ll use that time for writing, homeschooling preparation, or administrative work for the parish, while he may focus on counseling calls, sermon preparation, or research. We also make sure to set aside time for hobbies and movies. It’s a balance of productivity and rest, which helps us both recharge.
We also try to take one or two short family trips each year—usually Monday through Friday so we’re still home for weekend services. And living on the coast of Maine has its own blessing: we’re only about eight minutes from the beach, which becomes a regular part of our summer life. Winters are quieter—there’s not quite as much to do outdoors for us...not exactly the outdoorsy type — but as a house full of bookworms, it has its own charm.
6. Not counting the Bible, what book has impacted you the most as a mother/teacher?
This is a difficult question, because there isn’t just one.
Over the years, I’ve been especially drawn to the writings of spiritual mothers—nuns, abbesses, and priest-wives. While, of course, I deeply value the writings of the Church Fathers and elders, there is something uniquely accessible about the voices of women in the Church. Their words often speak more directly to the lived experience of women, wives, and mothers.
A few of my particular favorites include the biography of Abbess Thaisia of Leushino, as well as the works of Mother Siluana—particularly God, Where is the Wound? and Theology of the Ordinary. I really could list many others.
Much of my own work now is devoted to building resources for Orthodox women—especially those who are just beginning to explore the Faith. Over the years, I’ve seen a common pattern in many inquirers: It’s usually a husband that first attends the services by himself for a long time, completely committed to Orthodoxy, however, his wife remains hesitant—not out of resistance per say, but mostly it’s because she doesn’t yet understand what the life of the Church really looks like.
Men and women are very different. Often, and I don’t say completely because it’s never 100% the same, but often men are brought in by the academics, the theology, the patristics, all of the historical background to Christ and Orthodoxy. Women, especially mothers, often connect to the Faith through the life of the home: the rhythms of fasting and feasting, the liturgical calendar, the traditions that shape daily life, theology and catechetical books that she can easily devour and then utilize in the educational curriculum of the children, even the music that we often play in the background of the home has an impact.
I am the co-head of a bookstore and library attached to our parish, and I keep a dedicated section for women for this very reason—a section filled with the very books that have helped so many wives take their first steps into Orthodoxy: Marriage as a Path to Holiness, A Sacred Beginning (any pregnancy and post-partum resources), Close to Home, Blueprints for the Little Church, and many others. In a way, it’s a holistic approach to the Faith for women—one that begins not only in study, but in the lived reality of the Christian home.
Make sure to check out Pres. Christine’s wonderful website: https://www.orthomotherhood.com/