Dr. Ryan McDermott – Former Episcopalian

Dr. Ryan McDermott spent his earliest days in a Christian commune that was inspired by the “Jesus Movement” of the 60’s and 70’s. As he grew up, he experienced some other forms of Evangelical Christianity, but his family eventually settled on the Episcopal Church. Always interested in theology and literature, when Dr. McDermott began to think more seriously about his career options, he gravitated toward medieval studies, which meant exploring classic texts like Chaucer and Piers Plowman. The Christian imagination he saw in those works led him to greater curiosity about the Mass, and he eventually became convicted of the need to enter the Catholic Church.

Find out more about Dr. McDermott’s studies in the Christian intellectual tradition at beatriceinstitute.org.