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Musicians Dismissed from Minnesota Church for Gay Marriages
TAYLORS FALLS (AP) -- Members of a rural Catholic parish in eastern Minnesota are at odds over the dismissal of three choral musicians because they are gay.
Bob Bernard, Travis Loeffler and Dominic Mitchell were dismissed last month by the Church of St. Joseph in Taylors Falls and the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Shafer. The cluster parish's new pastor, the Rev. John Drees, dismissed the musicians after learning they were in same-sex marriages.
Some church members are concerned that the dismissals will lead to more people leaving the parish, which has about 400 members. Others are concerned about the decreasing inclusiveness of a community that has a history of being tight-knit.
Drees declined to comment about the dismissals.
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