Gay Men's Chorus to perform in Catholic parish in San Francisco

[QwertyGirl]

What is truth, what the Church stands for, may not be always nice or appealing

I highly doubt God has any problem with a group of gay men singing religious songs in a Catholic Church. And that, in my opinion, is very nice indeed.

 

[Asonglaw]

Or perhaps, there is a misunderstanding on appeal/evangelizing or truth/nice.
or Again, maybe its a question every Christian must answer individually, i.e is the Church worth obeying even when her stand fails to “appeal enough”

 

[QwertyGirl]

No misunderstanding on my part. I enjoy people. And I try to love my neighbor. And I don’t remember anything in Church tradition, doctrine, dogma or even the bible that says gay men aren’t allowed to sing in a Catholic Church. Imagine that! And yes, I think it is nice. Nice that they are willing to come and share. Nice that the pastor of the church welcomes them. Nice, nice, nice.

 

[ZMystiCat]

Or perhaps, there is a misunderstanding on appeal/evangelizing or truth/nice.
or Again, maybe its a question every Christian must answer individually, i.e is the Church worth obeying even when her stand fails to “appeal enough”

Sorry, but I’m not sure what you’re getting at here. The very nature of evangelization sometimes requires reaching out to those who may not, at the moment, be considering a conversion.

 

[Asonglaw]

Shouldn’t there be, more certainty and conviction than highly? I mean, for instance, the feast of the Divine Mercy is what it is today because of revelations from saints like Faustina. Should there not be also saints with deep confirmatory revelations on homosexuality?. Maybe those who advocate for this ought to pray and ask God to speak and reveal more on this, it ill be better to hear someone say, " the
Lord revealed to me that He ordained and blessed this practice himself"

 

[Zach]

So why call it a gay men’s choir? Why not just men’s choir. It’s as useless and divisive as saying straight men’s choir or white men’s choir. If this choir only allows gays and not straight men it’s as discriminatory as a choir only allowing straight men or white men. It has no business performing under a gays men’s label in a church or anywhere else.

 

[JimG]

In my pre-Vatican II parish there was a men’s choir. It was just a men’s choir. No mention of anyone’s sexual preference, occupation or other hobbies.

 

[Asonglaw]

i may think too that its nice or say even nicer than any other, but what is my opinion in comparison to the Holy Spirit’s revelations to the church?. Is “obedience not better than sacrifice?”

 

[Asonglaw]

Unfortunately, it is likely that many of them have lived portions of their life in a living hell for no reason other than the mean-spiritedness dished out by others to them. So in answer to your question, it has a lot to do with how they define themselves.

Since no one else but Jesus, died on the cross for us all, anyone who is mean to another will have the same Christ to answer to. No man, gay or not should be treated less than humanly (The Church has always been clear on this).

I highly doubt

Apart from what you highly doubt, how about what you really believe the Lord revealed to you on this.

 

[theCardinalbird]

Sorry, but I’m not sure what you’re getting at here. The very nature of evangelization sometimes requires reaching out to those who may not, at the moment, be considering a conversion.

That is true

 

[Start]

Looks like it happened

 

[halogirl]

You have to attempt to get people ‘over the threshold’ somehow whether that’s an invite to Church like this, or by going out to them. I hope all those who wouldn’t welcome them singing on the church will instead be going out to HIV clinics, gay bars and evangelising there

 

[Gertabelle]

No misunderstanding on my part. I enjoy people. And I try to love my neighbor. And I don’t remember anything in Church tradition, doctrine, dogma or even the bible that says gay men aren’t allowed to sing in a Catholic Church. Imagine that! And yes, I think it is nice. Nice that they are willing to come and share. Nice that the pastor of the church welcomes them. Nice, nice, nice.

They’re not sharing their performance with anyone, least of all the parishioners there. They sold tickets to their 40th anniversary concert, which was held in a Catholic church that has nice architecture and nice acoustics… and daily masses in which those present are also truly present at the holy sacrifice of Christ on Calvary.

It’s juxtaposition that is just wrong.

But I’ve already stated my opinion that Catholic churches should not be used for any secular concert.

 

[Gertabelle]

You have to attempt to get people ‘over the threshold’ somehow whether that’s an invite to Church like this, or by going out to them. I hope all those who wouldn’t welcome them singing on the church will instead be going out to HIV clinics, gay bars and evangelising there

I “evangelize” to my gay and lesbian colleagues and friends through my love, through my life, through my choices. And let’s be clear that these men standing at the front of this Catholic church and singing are not being evangelized. If anything, they are doing the evangelizing by presenting their messages in music.

 

[halogirl]

That’s great! But it they’re in church surely they are going to stay for at least some of the service? You never know what part of the message will touch them even in a small way, I say let them in. It’s a moot point now anyway as I believe it has already taken place

 

[Gertabelle]

That’s great! But it they’re in church surely they are going to stay for at least some of the service? You never know what part of the message will touch them even in a small way, I say let them in. It’s a moot point now anyway as I believe it has already taken place

They were not singing at a church service. They were singing their own concert, using the church building as the “theater” for their performance. There was no church service to attend, and no message from the Church for them to hear.

 

[halogirl]

Ok my bad for not reading that thoroughly. Still feel that they will now have a more positive experience of the Church than they did and hopefully will come back to a service. Let’s pray that The Lord is even now working powerfully through this event to reach them

 

[PennyinCanada]

I hope all those who wouldn’t welcome them singing on the church will instead be going out to HIV clinics, gay bars and evangelising there

I think that if someone started evangelizing in these locations they would be escorted out by security in no time at all! Although, if someone would like to try I would not stop them. May their angels protect them.

I find a better strategy for evangelization is being a good neighbor, a good co-worker, a good friend.

Maybe one of the singers might feel like coming back, to find some peace when they are experiencing a dark stretch in life. Who knows. Realize though, that the Catholic church does not support the gay lifestyle and they (the gay men’s group) may indeed see it as gaining ground in a battle against homophobia, the church being the main battleship of homophobia in the culture. (I am using their language, not the church’s language) God’s plan for human sexuality is in a battle with the world. This event is not neutral.
God bless you and strengthen you.

 

[Thorolfr]

So why call it a gay men’s choir? Why not just men’s choir. It’s as useless and divisive as saying straight men’s choir or white men’s choir. If this choir only allows gays and not straight men it’s as discriminatory as a choir only allowing straight men or white men. It has no business performing under a gays men’s label in a church or anywhere else.

My partner sings in a gay men’s chorus and straight men are welcome to join if they want to sing and don’t mind being around a bunch of gay men. I just looked online and found something called the Catholic Community Choir. Following your logic, they should just be called The Community Choir because otherwise they’ll be discriminating against Lutherans and Baptists and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

 

[Gertabelle]

Zach:

So why call it a gay men’s choir? Why not just men’s choir. It’s as useless and divisive as saying straight men’s choir or white men’s choir. If this choir only allows gays and not straight men it’s as discriminatory as a choir only allowing straight men or white men. It has no business performing under a gays men’s label in a church or anywhere else.

My partner sings in a gay men’s chorus and straight men are welcome to join if they want to sing and don’t mind being around a bunch of gay men. I just looked online and found something called the Catholic Community Choir. Following your logic, they should just be called The Community Choir because otherwise they’ll be discriminating against Lutherans and Baptists and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Yeah, the gay and lesbian choruses I’ve known of over the years welcome anyone who is a supporter of their lifestyle.