Church Organist Fired for Selling Sex Toys

Posted by Guest Blogger at 3:25 PM on June 8, 2007.

This post, written by Jessica Valenti, originally appeared on Feministing

An organist for a Catholic church was fired for selling sex toys, saying that her side job was not "consistent with Church teachings."

Linette Servais, 50, played the organ and sung with the choir for 35 years. Much of her work as choir director and organist was done without pay. When her parish priest asked to meet with her, she thought it was to say thank you. Instead, she was told to quit her sales job with company known as Pure Romance or she would lose her position in the church.

Pure Romance in Loveland, Ohio, is a $60 million per year business that sells spa products and sex toys at homes parties attended by women. It has 15,000 consultants like Servais.

She said her decision was not hard: She began working with Pure Romance after a brain tumor and treatment left her sexually dysfunctional. The job allows her to help other women who have similar problems.

Tagged as: sex, catholic church

Jessica Valenti is the Executive Editor of Feministing and the author of Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters.