The Choir Strikes Over the Waltz
A Spokane church choir walks out after their pastor forbids the organist from dancing at balls.
The First Methodist Episcopal church choir of Spokane went on a strike last Sunday and refused to sing, not because the members were working hard, but for the reason that Pastor Dills had informed the married organist of his church that it was wrong to dance at parties and balls. The lady communicated the fact to the choir, with the grievous results mentioned. It happened that the organist was the wife of the secretary of one of the local dancing clubs. She would not hear to her husband going out and dancing with the other girls when she was not present, and when she went along with him, Pastor Dills' voice was raised strenuously in objection. On the other hand, the secretary said that he was obliged to attend the dances, for was he not officially responsible for the records?
“They are at the three points of a moral triangle and there seems to be no possibility for them to get smoothed out into a straight line.”
While church doctrine regarding secular entertainment has evolved, the conflict between individual moral autonomy and institutional authority remains a classic point of friction. This story captures a moment when social dancing was a high-stakes battleground for community morality.
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