A longtime and beloved music director at St. Francis Church is out of the job because he married another man, his friends and family say, and they believe it was a local decision made without interference from the diocese that oversees the parish.

Friends and fellow parishioners say Fred “Mr. Fred” Szczepanski, who had been with Traverse City’s largest Catholic parish for 35 years, was fired this month by parish administrator (pastor) Rev. Michael Lingaur. The move led to uproar on social media along with a protest in front of the Union Street church on Sunday morning.

Szczepanski directed The Ticker’s inquiries to his friend and fellow parishioner Liz Yarch. Yarch and other close friends of Szczepanski tell The Ticker that Lingaur fired Szczepanski Oct. 18 after finding out that he married his longtime partner in 2020.

“I was not in the room, but I’ll never forget what Fred told me: He said somebody sent a letter to the pastor telling him to (look into things), and he found out that Bill and Fred had a civil marriage in Las Vegas four years ago,” says Bob Holden, who sang in the choir with Szczepanski for decades. “And he told Fred he’s no longer welcome here – he was not even allowed to clean out his desk.”

Szczepanski’s husband Bill Thompson also addressed the matter on his Facebook page.

“Those who know Fred Szczepanski and I know that we have been together for 32 years. This last week after 35 years service to the church, he was terminated with no severance,” Thompson wrote. “This is because we legally married 4 years ago. We did this as it was covid and we wanted to protect our rights legally. Never flaunted it. Never had a celebration.”

Yarch and Holden say Szczepanski planned to retire in January, making the move to fire him now even more "disgusting."

Lingaur, who has been an ordained priest for about three years and started at the church only a few months ago, did not respond to a message left for him in person at the church. A woman there directed questions to the Diocese of Gaylord, which oversees St. Francis and more than 70 other parishes across 21 counties in northern lower Michigan. The diocese is run by Bishop Jeffrey Walsh.

Diocese spokeswoman Renee Shimmel tells The Ticker that while individual parishes and schools are responsible for personnel matters, “the bishop and diocesan HR director provide guidance and assistance when needed.” Shimmel said the diocese could not comment specifically on the Szczepanski situation.

"We take employee privacy very seriously and are not able to disclose details about individual employee personnel matters,” she says.

Szczepanski told both Yarch and Holden that Walsh was not interested in getting involved in the matter, leaving it to Lingaur.

“Fred told me that one of our deacons went to the bishop to say this isn’t right, and that the bishop said that…whatever the pastor decides is the way it’s going to be,” Holden said.

Yarch, who described the bishop “washing his hands” of the situation, believes Lingaur is near solely responsible for Szczepanski’s termination, something that’s surprising considering Lingaur’s brief tenure at the church and short time as a priest. It was also not a secret that Szczepanski was gay, she says, though he never discussed it.

“I absolutely believe it was a local decision. If it was a diocese decision, I think that it would have been made a very long time ago,” she says. “Why on earth would you give somebody that kind of power and authority when they’ve only been a priest for three years?”

Holden agrees.

“This is a new pastor. That’s significant,” he says. “And this pastor was three years old when Fred started playing the piano at St. Francis. That’s also significant.”

Thompson started a GoFundMe to “support (Szczepanski’s) cost of insurance, legal fees and bills." It had about $22,000 in donations (the goal was $7,500) from more than 250 donors as of Monday afternoon.

Lauren Trible-Laucht, Traverse City’s city attorney, said the move likely won’t put St. Francis afoul of any applicable laws related to discrimination.

“Under the law, churches are exempt, and religious institutions…can make those decisions based on their individual beliefs,” she tells The Ticker. “That’s First Amendment protected activity.”

‘Pulse on the congregation’

Szczepanski has struggled mightily in the days since his firing, Yarch says.

“Fred's on a roller coaster right now. Some days he's okay and some days he's not okay,” she says. “I mean, he just lost his life's work and he didn't get to say goodbye.”

Both Yarch and her son sang with Szczepanski in the church choir and became close with him. But losing him is about much more than music, she says. It’s the loss of a true church leader who was deeply and profoundly connected to his fellow parishioners.

“It was gut-wrenching because Fred does more than just play the piano at mass. He organizes what's going to happen at Christmas and Easter. He reaches out to the widows and the widowers and make sure that they have what they need,” she says. “He steps in with people that don't have family and make sure that there's a support network and that somebody is going to be there to help them. He has a pulse on the congregation.”

Sherry Koenig, who has sung with Szczepanski over the past few years, described him as a “kind, sweet, generous, lovable man,” who would call to check on her if he hadn’t heard from her in a while.

“Fred has become such a marvelous person my life, and this whole ordeal has left such a terrible hole in my heart,” she says. “The way he was treated was just unconscionable.”

Holden, who credits Szczepanski with his continued participation in the faith, says the move has sent shock waves through the parish. 

“I think the whole choir quit,” he says. “That’s 35 or 40 people who, like me, have been singing there because we we love singing with Fred.”

Yarch is deeply bothered by the entire situation, which is causing her to question the church.

“I'm not allowed to judge. That's what they teach me. I'm supposed to be open-minded. I'm supposed to love my neighbor as myself,” she says. “It doesn't say, ‘except when.’ There's no ‘but.’ I'm supposed to love everybody, as Jesus did.”