A parish in Wisconsin has fired an organist for selling sex toys as her side business.The Washington Post reports that Father Dean Dombroski called her into his office, and gave her the ultimatum. The 50-year-old organist was told to either quit working for Pure Romance (an Ohio-based "romance-enhancer" business) or quit volunteering at St. Joseph's.
Servais was able to reconcile her double duty shifts, as a service to all Christian women in need of some special assistance.
The Post quotes her as defending her sideline job as "empowering women and helping them strengthen their relationships."
She is a cancer survivor whose treatment left her "sexually dysfunctional," and she found solace in a friend and fellow cancer patient who confided that she was similarly "broken." As a result, Servais felt "called as a Christian to help women, especially those who have sexual problems resulting from cancer."
Father Dean laid down the law and decreed that "sex gratification toys and organ music did not mix," and issued a letter to the parish which stated the following:
"Linette is a consultant for a firm which sells products of a sexual nature that are not consistent with Church teachings." Because in his opinion she no longer "model[ed] the teaching of [their] faith," she was let go late last year. Since that time however, most of the choir has quit in protest and begun meeting at Servais' house.
The sex toy scandal and Linette's dismissal now appears, according to the Post, to be "tearing apart the parish community."