Welcome to Breaking Down Patriarchy. I'm Amy McPhee Allabest. A church, which is just a building used for Christian worship, can look like all sorts of things. Some churches boast stunning stonework and intricate stained glass windows, while others are only modest wooden structures.

You can find churches built up in trees, in caves, or on top of volcanoes.

Some swell with the sounds of solemn hymns, while others are radiant with music and praise.

What these churches all have in common, however, is that they're centers of

faith, of doctrine, and of community engagement, and they often hold power in the communities

that they serve. Can that power be wielded responsibly? Of course they can. However, far too often we find troubling stories of toxic patriarchy

and abusive behaviors surfacing within our church communities. On today's episode, we'll be

joined by two guests who share their stories and help us explore the roles of patriarchy in our

churches and beyond. Later in the show,

we'll be hearing from filmmaker Kathy Barbini, who discusses her own history with Christianity,

how she views church communities, particularly evangelical communities, as well as sharing an

examination of feminism and childhood memories and much, much more.

But first, we're going to hear a story from a contributor who prefers to remain anonymous.

Although we can't share this contributor's identity, we are honored to share their story, as they

tell us about accountability, about exploitations of power and faith, about the work of protecting women, and about the

sometimes righteous power of rum.

And as a note, the voice that you hear isn't that of this anonymous contributor, but that of our

performer, Julia Allora.

So we're grateful to Julia for bringing this story to life for us today.

Thank you. to Julia for bringing this story to life for us today. Hello, my name is Julia Allora, pronouns she, they.

I will be reading an anonymous essay titled Accountability.

Did your youth group have accountability partners?

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