Posted on 01/07/2018 7:21:43 PM PST by marshmallow
For weeks now, a Catholic parish in the rural St. Croix River Valley north of the Twin Cities has been praying through turmoil, brought by a trio of startling dismissals.
On one hand, even many of the most distressed don’t want any of the 400 or so parishioners to leave the Church of St. Joseph in Taylors Falls and the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Shafer. On the other, some see a wounded spirit — a weakening of the backbone of inclusiveness that has kept the parish tight-knit for decades.
Last month, the congregations’ three choral musicians were dismissed by a new priest. They now sing from the pews.
Carol Schwinghammer is one of several trustees torn about the reasons. During the week, she sits on the diversity and inclusion committee of a major Twin Cities corporation, which she asked not be named. But on the weekends, she’s the secretary of a small country church that just fired three musicians — one of whom has been with the church for 16 years — for being in same-sex marriages.
“I feel like a bit of a fraud, because I work with a lot of people who are gay, and are married,” she says. “I really struggle with it. It’s daily I wonder why I remain as a trustee.”
Still, she hesitates to tell people about the situation at the parish she’s grown to love. She hadn’t told her book club – or anyone in the larger secular world.
And at least one of the musicians at the heart of the debate feels the same way.
While Bob Bernard was dismissed from his position as the parish’s only on-staff musician, he says, “We didn’t want this to turn out to be another ‘bash the Catholic Church’ story, and we’re emphatic about.....
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
On the other hand, he really killed on the zither.
When did that become a problem?
When we began to hire professionals rather then drawing from the congregation?
Is having someone with a masters of music on the organ so important?
Practicing faggots are not living the Catholic faith.
Nope, not going there.
Why does Carol the trustee feel like a fraud?
In her role in the corporate secular job, she is expected to support homosexual marriage. In her role as a church trustee, she is expected to support the teachings and doctrines of her church.
If she can’t support the church because she is so big on homosexual marriage and wants to bend over backwards to prove that she is liberal, then she should leave the church, and resolve her moral dilemma.
The Church has been hiring professional musicians for at least the last thousand years.
For lots of famous composers this was their day-job.
“Is having someone with a masters of music on the organ so important?”
With a mastery of the instrument and the canon? Yes.
As the decades roll by, true musicianship is in decline. Especially in rural areas, especially in view of the scores that are part of the heritage of the church which are extremely difficult to master.
But... I do not see a problem with the great traditions in church music being played on media resources.
**diversity and inclusion committee **
Glad this is from a corporation and not the church rules.
J. S. Bach, Frederich Handel and Mozart being but three of a very long line. It paid the bills and put the children through school. Sometimes they were given a home on parish grounds.
I am becoming more understanding of the problem.
The priorities are out of order. If it came to a choice between someone who played with only average proficiency and was a member in good standing and a professional who is a total heathen some churches seem to think that the heathen is the logical choice.
Church as entertainment rather then a place of worship.
What are the facts here?
The musical people are in “gay marriages” and the new priest fired them?
No.
Better to sing acapella then to have someone who makes a mockery of your teachings playing the most beautiful music imaginable.
Better that the music be out of tune then the heart.
| 2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved. |
Not with a six-inch pole.
Playing Michael Jackson?
It is laid out clearly so why is it so hard for people to follow?
Very good question. I think that there are even many Catholics who do not know the truth about homosexuality.
C.S. Lewis posited that we love our sins.
BTW, do we have to accept their euphemisms? How about something like “sodomite play-pretend marriage?”
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