[orthodoc]

I found a few references from the Church Fathers in my home library that mention the concept of the Church as feminine. Here goes ...

''For the Scriptures say, 'God made man, male and female' (Gen. 1:27). The male is Christ, and the female is the church. And the books and the apostles declare that the church is not of the present, but is from the beginning. For she was spiritual." Second Clement (c. 150), 7.521.

"He said, 'It is the church'. And I said to him, 'Why, then, is she an old woman?' He replied, 'Because she was created first of all. On this account she is old. And the world was made for her sake.' " Hermas (c.150), 1.12.

"The mother draws the children to herself; and we seek our mother, the church." Clement of Alexandria (c. 195), 2.214.

"The Holy Spirit is one and the same everywhere, and one is the only virgin mother. I love to call her the church." Clement of Alexandria (c. 195), 2.220

"Can he have God as his father, before he has had the church for his mother?" Cyprian (c. 250), 5.388.

"The church is formed out of His bones and flesh. And it was for this cause that the Word, leaving His Father in heaven, came down to be 'joined to His wife.' ... And He willingly suffered death for her, that He might present the church to Himself glorious and blameless - having cleansed her by the bath." Methodius (c. 290), 6.319.

The above quotes aren't exhaustive, and there are many writings that refer to the Church as female. The Church is also given other names, such as ark, garden, Paradise, fountain, pillar and ground of the truth. The feminine aspect is only part of the imagery . However, this aspect is important in the imagery of a marriage covenant, and of how Christ loved and gave Himself up for her, as a husband. (The RC doctrine of the Atonement, of a death being needed to satisfy the stern justice of a vengeful God, etc., is not Orthodox, by the way. The RC ideas sprang from the writings of Augustine, and were developed by Anselm of Canterbury more than a thousand years after Christ.)