Gay Music Director--Soulforce Volunteer Fired

[Steven E. Webster]

Friends,

These Soulforce volunteers were recently persecuted by the Catholic Church

https://www.soulforce.org/mulder-philyaw

The Sunday, September 14, 2008 Wisconsin State Journal carries a lengthy front page article telling about how Charles Philyaw, a Musical Director of St. Andrew Catholic Church of Verona (a Madison suburb) was fired from his job because the church deemed him to be "openly gay."

Charles and his husband, James Mulder-Philyaw are devout Roman Catholics. They are facing financial hardship because of the loss of this full-time job.

Most of the folks in the parish seem to have been supportive of Charles, but a few parishioners complained to the right-wing Catholic Bishop here and he stepped in, apparently. Mention was also made of the existence and sponsorship by the diocese of a Catholic ex-gay ministry called "Courage" and the priest sponsoring that group locally was named.

I just learned about this today in the paper. I don't know what to do about it, if anything. I don't quite know how to contact Charles, but I feel I should.

Steven Webster

[Steven E. Webster]

Friends,

Here's a link to the Wisconsin State Journal article:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/304781

Steven

[Steven E. Webster]

Friends,

The Wisconsin State Journal article on Charles Philyaw's firing makes reference to the Madison Catholic Diocese's "ex-gay ministry"--here's the link:

[per request from U-dog I've removed the link to the Madison Catholic Diocese's "ex-gay ministry"--see below]

Steven

[u-dog]

Friends,

The Wisconsin State Journal article on Charles Philyaw's firing makes reference to the Madison Catholic Diocese's "ex-gay ministry"--here's the link:

[url]http://www.]

Steven


Steven,

I think its against the rules to post a link to an ex-gay "ministry" site you might want to edit it.

[Steven E. Webster]

Steven,

I think its against the rules to post a link to an ex-gay "ministry" site you might want to edit it.

Sorry, I've removed the link. However, my intent was to be informative about the activities of our adversaries, not to promote their ministries.

I'm sorry that Soulforce has backed off, somewhat, from its activism against the homophobia of the Roman Catholic Church. I am a Protestant myself (although with a MA in Religious Studies from a Roman Catholic college), but I find that in my own area--Wisconsin--the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church is a much more influential teacher of anti-gay religion than is any of the Protestant or Evangelical denominations. The right-wing Bishop Morlino of Madison, in particular, has been an active political campaigner against LGBT equality.

The rank and file Roman Catholic in the pews in this part of the country is much more likely to be pro-LGBT equality. I wonder what a Protestant like myself can do in this situation?

Steven Webster

[Daniel]

But it bears repeating on this thread: my partner was fired from three Catholic churches when it became known he was gay. What is reprehensible about this current situation is that the priest knew Philyaw was gay. And it was only after 5 people made a fuss that he was fired. One wonders if the priest himself is gay. And why would that be an issue here? The priest no doubt could not defend Philyaw without bringing scrutiny to himself. It's a nasty business all around.

And after reading the article, I don't believe it for a second that children had questions about the sexuality of the two men who sang a song for them. The way it is stated comes off as false.

Kids don't make a fuss about such things: parents do. This only reveals the purient interest of parents who are homophobic. I can only hope the the 5 involved reconsider their actions. And if 116 parishioners are involved protesting the firing- so much the better. Will the leadership of the church listen to them? I rather doubt it. And that's the really sad thing here. Right now, the priest and Bishop have the final say, not the people.

Ah.....the Reformation! Remember that? The way a church is organized and run - from the top down in this case- has a great deal of importance.

My partner- the one who was fired- has often said to me that if one wanted to know how the Roman Empire was run, one had only to observe the inner workings of the Catholic Church. It is, after all, a direct extension.

[Steven E. Webster]

But it bears repeating on this thread: my partner was fired from three Catholic churches when it became known he was gay. What is reprehensible about this current situation is that the priest knew Philyaw was gay. And it was only after 5 people made a fuss that he was fired. One wonders if the priest himself is gay. And why would that be an issue here? The priest no doubt could not defend Philyaw without bringing scrutiny to himself. It's a nasty business all around.


Daniel,
My reading of the situation is that the Priest himself probably has no problem with LGBT folks, nor with having a gay Music Director. The problem arose when complaints were made by a small minority in the parish to the right-wing Bishop who is known far and wide to be an authoritarian anti-LGBT bigot who does not hesitate to push his Priests and other subordinates around. If this were a Congregational church with local-autonomy, I doubt this would have happened.

Steven Webster

[Daniel]

Daniel,
My reading of the situation is that the Priest himself probably has no problem with LGBT folks, nor with having a gay Music Director. The problem arose when complaints were made by a small minority in the parish to the right-wing Bishop who is known far and wide to be an authoritarian anti-LGBT bigot who does not hesitate to push his Priests and other subordinates around. If this were a Congregational church with local-autonomy, I doubt this would have happened.

Steven Webster

It's a interesting situation: the fact that the priest didn't stand up to the Bishop speaks for itself insofar as how the Church is organized. A Priest serves at the behest of the Bishop and is not chosen by the parish. That puts a priest in the hot seat. He's stuck between the mob and the Bishop. And if he is gay, that just adds another dimension to the story.

[scott snedeker]

A repeat of decisions based on fear. Fear blinds people to the fact that they acting very un-Christ like.

This whole Church system hierarchy seems motivated by fear.

Sounds like hell on earth to me!

[tymejumper]

Kids don't make a fuss about such things: parents do. This only reveals the purient interest of parents who are homophobic.



My teens drama/advanced english teacher is gay. I told her to not say a thing to ANYONE. I know that people suspect or know but there is a new principal at the school this year. I guess its just a gut reaction you know?

I think most of the kids know, but no one has said a thing to their parents about it. They really don't care.( I only know because of gaydar and he hangs where I do!)

One of the good things about the school system my kids attend is that they have an anti-bullying policy that covers sexual orientation, gender expression and gives you out of school suspension if you engage in it in ANY form. I am glad we are making some progress. When my oldest was in Jr High, they had no such policy, it only said that they would protect all families and respect all families. I feel alot better knowing that if my son is gay, he will be safe(well safer than at other places).