Can the Alter be used outside of Mass for dance?

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CreatioNova

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I’d be interested in your thoughts on this.

My daughters catholic school has started using the Alter in the attached church for school assemblies.

It never bothered me too much - until last week. The final year put on a performance at involved all the children in and around the alter - and as part of the play they were putting on the kids were running riot all around the alter.

Seeing this I felt very very uncomfortable.

It just looked and felt so utterly disrespectful, bearing in mind the Tabernacle behind them.

I didnt say anything to anyone at the time - and the priest obviously totally supports the use of the church in this manner.

If it was you - would you be raising the matter with anyone, or is it just me, and I need to lighten up?
 
That would disturb me.
There are also bars that advertise that they used to be altars.

Do you mean the actual altar or the sanctuary?
 
SarahR said:
Do you mean the actual altar or the sanctuary?
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Actually on the steps of the alter and around the alter itself. The kids were handling the alter cloths, fidgiting, and then literally chasing each other around the alter as part of the play they were putting on 😦
 
I don’t think you need to lighten up 'Nova .Looks to me like your heart is perfectly positioned.

My thoughts: If they’re really determined to do it in that area, the first respectful thing to do would be to remove the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle…except He is meant to always be there in the tabernacle and not only when it is “convenient”, so removing the Blessed Sacrament doesn’t really solve the problem as much as it creates another.

There’s a lot of convoluted thinking going around today and some people think the nave of a Church is a great place for spectators and that the sactuary is a great place for performances…prayer takes second place…Jesus takes second place.

At St. Joseph’s Oratory here (around 7 years back) they rescheduled the 8:00 pm Mass to 7:00 pm for an extended period so that there could be a series of lectures in the Crypt Church. For each lecture a long table was set up in front of the altar.The tabernacle was maybe 15-20 feet away from the table on the side.

I don’t know why they were so hellbent on having the lectures in the Crypt Church because St. Joseph’s Oratory has at least 3-4 large meeting halls - any of which would have easily accomodated the lectors and their audiences without disrupting prayer at all. The altar is where Christ’s Sacrifice is made present again each time the Mass is celebrated…it’s sacred.

If it detracts attention away from Christ in the Blessed Sacrament it probably isn’t a good thing.

God Bless you.
 
CreatioNova said:
I’d be interested in your thoughts on this.

My daughters catholic school has started using the Alter in the attached church for school assemblies.

It never bothered me too much - until last week. The final year put on a performance at involved all the children in and around the alter - and as part of the play they were putting on the kids were running riot all around the alter.

Seeing this I felt very very uncomfortable.

It just looked and felt so utterly disrespectful, bearing in mind the Tabernacle behind them.

I didnt say anything to anyone at the time - and the priest obviously totally supports the use of the church in this manner.

If it was you - would you be raising the matter with anyone, or is it just me, and I need to lighten up?
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An altar is consecrated, and perhaps the most important sacramental in the Church. Would you drink a bud from the priest’s chalice and eat chips out of the ciborium on game-night? The same goes for what you described. Such things are insulting and degrading to their solemn and holy purpose.
 
in our diocese this would be forbidden. we cannot even use the church as a gathering area for an RE function such as a parent meeting. the local civic orchestra uses the Basilica for concerts but in those instances they are not around the altar and of course the Blessed Sacrament is in a separate chapel, which is locked at this time. at Christmas when children dressed for posada join the procession for Mass they sit or stand (reverently) on the steps in front of the altar or behind the altar.

I need permission even for a church tour for a first communion class and we use that time to explain the reverence due the Sacrament and the church itself.
 
CreatioNova said:
Actually on the steps of the alter and around the alter itself. The kids were handling the alter cloths, fidgiting, and then literally chasing each other around the alter as part of the play they were putting on 😦
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That’s the sanctuary, not the altar.
 
It certainly detracts from the notion of the worship space of the church being a sacred place. It seems that there is an attitude about that whether Our Lord is immediately present in the tabernacle or not that the worship space is somehow suitable for profane uses. All that space and seating otherwise serving no useful purpose during most of the day. I am far from being conservative or traditional about a lot of things, but it just seems to me that such profane use has a subtle impact on how we feel and think about the spiritual aspects of our lives; an impact that certainly is not positive.
 
rwoehmke said:
It certainly detracts from the notion of the worship space of the church being a sacred place. It seems that there is an attitude about that whether Our Lord is immediately present in the tabernacle or not that the worship space is somehow suitable for profane uses. All that space and seating otherwise serving no useful purpose during most of the day. I am far from being conservative or traditional about a lot of things, but it just seems to me that such profane use has a subtle impact on how we feel and think about the spiritual aspects of our lives; an impact that certainly is not positive.
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I hear you rwoehmke . It tends to promote an erosion of the sense of the sacred and in time that leads to an erosion of belief in the Real Presence…definitely not positive.
 
Let us not forget that some Altars contain the relics of a Saint. An Altar should be used only for Mass and I would be extremely troubled at the sight of an Altar being used in any other way. This is a sacred stone that should be treated with respect.

I would notify the school officials that this behaviour is both inappropriate and disrespectful.
 
redrosetea said:
I don’t think its right and I would say something about it
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Many thanks for all your thoughtful replies.

It’s help me resolve to contact the head teacher in the first oinstance and discuss my concerns with him - and depending on what comes from that - the priest.

Many thanks
 
It works for us too 'Nova - we got to read a wealth of replies.

Good Thread. 👍
 
Using the sanctuary for a play is unacceptable. When I was in elementary school (in my 20s now) we did a play of Noah`s ark and were up around the alter. I remember feeling uncomfortable being up there that it was someplace holy and we shouldnt be there. Now I am a revert but many of my classmates have abandoned their faith not because of that one school play but of years of similar irreverent mentality from our parents and teachers. I was just old enough to escape the clutches of Life Teen before it came to my parish but my brothers werent and guess what now they dont go to church either. What did they do at Life Teen but come up around the alter and join hands, and move the band up into the area of the sanctuary. Scandalous!

Basically I think treating the church, the sanctuary with a lack of reverence is a cause for scandal because children in particular are being robbed of proper instruction in their faith and we know what Jesus said about those who cause scandal.

To the OP good for you for speaking up let us know how it turns out.
 
Seems like those stupid altar rails they threw out might have ACTUALLY had a purpose!
 
CreatioNova said:
I’d be interested in your thoughts on this.

My daughters catholic school has started using the Alter in the attached church for school assemblies.

It never bothered me too much - until last week. The final year put on a performance at involved all the children in and around the alter - and as part of the play they were putting on the kids were running riot all around the alter.

Seeing this I felt very very uncomfortable.

It just looked and felt so utterly disrespectful, bearing in mind the Tabernacle behind them.

I didnt say anything to anyone at the time - and the priest obviously totally supports the use of the church in this manner.

If it was you - would you be raising the matter with anyone, or is it just me, and I need to lighten up?
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Definitely.
First, I’d bring it up to the priest. If I could not get any satisfaction, I would contact the bishop. "Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
 
CreatioNova said:
I’d be interested in your thoughts on this.

My daughters catholic school has started using the Alter in the attached church for school assemblies.

It never bothered me too much - until last week. The final year put on a performance at involved all the children in and around the alter - and as part of the play they were putting on the kids were running riot all around the alter.

Seeing this I felt very very uncomfortable.

It just looked and felt so utterly disrespectful, bearing in mind the Tabernacle behind them.

I didnt say anything to anyone at the time - and the priest obviously totally supports the use of the church in this manner.

If it was you - would you be raising the matter with anyone, or is it just me, and I need to lighten up?
Click to expand...
It sounds VERY disrespectful to me. And although I don’t know the term, I believe there must be a ceremony in a church that is no longer used as such, that will then “secularize”?? the building. The one I am thinking of, Loretto Chapel, in Sante Fe. NM where the miraculous staircase is, can now be used for tourists to visit as Mass is no longer said there. I would question as to whether this has been done in the unused church you are talking about.
 
Is there another large room where a stage can be set up for Children’s activities and plays. This is a real problem in my mind about my little mission church. The only place where activities, such a play children could put on, is in the sanctuary.

I am very uncomfortable about this but don’t have an answer.
 
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