Freedom of religion, any advice?

It was inappropriate to suggest that a member of the congregation take over your duties for you. You are the one being PAID to care for and look after your client. If you are unwilling to take care of her during the church service then you need to step down or accept that you won’t be paid to work on Sunday anymore. The coordinator is in the right here.

This has nothing to do with freedom of religion. Why are you focusing on the pastor's sexual orientation? Unless you're expected to have sex with the pastor, what the pastor does in the privacy of his/her home is none of your business. Focus on caring for your client.

You are a caregiver and attend services to attend to your client; I'm not sure how ANYTHING that goes on at those services has any bearing on your ability to care for your client.

You have freedom of religion and protection from religious discrimination in the workplace - up until it interferes with your ability to do the job you agreed to do. Simply put, if your religious beliefs hinder you from completing your job requirement, i.e. caring for a client during a time period which included them attending church services, then your employer can remove you from that job, or that portion of the job. Your employee absolutely *cannot* relinquish responsibility for the client to "a designated member of (the) congregation" for liability reasons - that should be obvious. You knew your client attended a different denomination than yours when you took the job and obligated yourself to those parameters. I know this probably sounds blunt and I apologize for that, but you really don't have a legal leg to stand on in this situation.

It never ceases to bewilder and amaze me - the amount of hate, discrimination and violence that occurs all in the name of religion.

Anitakane, you feel uncomfortable with the new pastors sexual orientation? So what. The new pastors gay. What does that have to do with anything? I agree with worriedincali. This has nothing to do with anything!

FWIW, I know someone who is very agnostic who played in a church band for awhile. He said the band was good and it was an opportunity for him to hone his skills, so there he was on Sundays. They certainly never converted him to their religious beliefs.

Can you take ear phones and a phone or tablet and listen to a sermon of your own during the service? You can sort of detach yourself from your surroundings for a few minutes.

It is a j-o-b. You are helping her get to and from the church where she is comfortable and happy. That is all.

The discrimination would lie in the Church not hiring him because of him being gay. This is still very controversial. A number of denominations stick to scripture. Its black and white, no gray areas. Gays would not be allowed to be Ministers.

Anita is not discriminating. Her feelings are her Church's teachings. Whether we agree or not, we all are entitled to our feelings. She is entitled to feel this way. I think some of you are being unfair.

Anita, I have read your profile. This client has Dementia and should not be left alone for others in the Church to watch out for. There will come a time the client may get overwhelmed by the people and the sounds and you won't need to take them.

Look at it as what it is, a job. Maybe you should talk to your minister and run this by him. You have a right to your convictions but there are consequences to those convictions. This is not a "freedom of religion" thing. Your allowed to believe as you wish and the clients family has a right to make the rules. The aide must stay with the client during Church services. Please come back and tell us how you deside.

Please, no comments to my post. I am just saying we all have a right to what we think and feel. I just don't believe in hurting others because of that belief. Or forcing that belief on others. I belong to a denomination that has just OKd gays to be married in the Church. A gay minister is not far behind. I also have a Gay cousin I love. Alice has a right to feel as she does. This probably is a big decision for her. If the clients family sticks by their guns, and she needs to quit because of her beliefs, then her family may suffer.

Your job is to stay with, and care for, an individual on Sunday's from 8 am - 8 pm. Not to decide whether the pastor of her church has a right to be gay or not, or whether you agree with or disagree with her religion, or with the pastor, or his habits. You can either perform the job you were hired to do or you cannot. It's just that simple.

If you can't get past the sexual orientation of the pastor of your client's church, in spite of the fact that it has no bearing whatsoever on anything, then losing Sunday's with this client would be next in line, I suppose.

"Freedom of religion" applies to your client as well.

EVERYTHING is a hot button subject nowdays . the perpetually offended ya know ..