Churches raise a stink about too-fragrant worshipers

c. 1996 Religion News Service SAN FRANCISCO (RNS)-On bended knee and with folded hands, Christians traditionally worship their God. Many also come to church bearing unwelcome gifts of overpowering personal fragrance-Chanel No.5, Obsession, White Shoulders or Brut. Now, in the dawning age of”multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS),”a Sunday-morning ablution in after-shave or cologne could become a […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

SAN FRANCISCO (RNS)-On bended knee and with folded hands, Christians traditionally worship their God. Many also come to church bearing unwelcome gifts of overpowering personal fragrance-Chanel No.5, Obsession, White Shoulders or Brut.

Now, in the dawning age of”multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS),”a Sunday-morning ablution in after-shave or cologne could become a thing of the past.


MCS is not an affliction recognized by medical authorities, but growing numbers of Americans claim exposure to pungent perfumes, cosmetics or cleaning products can make them them sneeze, wheeze, sniffle, faint or suffer seizures.

Responding to their complaints, some San Francisco-area churches have curtailed the use of odoriferous cleaning agents in church buildings-and invited congregants to leave their scents at home.”Most people haven’t a clue that something like this can make you ill,”says Nancy Hill, a member of the Danville Congregational Church in Danville, Calif.

Hill fell ill for five days last August after a powerful encounter with Pine Sol, which had been used to clean the church’s floors.”I walked into the sanctuary and felt my throat going into spasm and felt the headache. I had to get out of there,”says Hill, 57, who has fought off her sensitivities for 10 years.

The church immediately sought scent-free alternatives to Pine Sol and began studying whether other substances might be having an effect on the health of churchgoers.

The Rev. Elizabeth Felts, the Danville church’s senior minister, wrote an article in the church’s Sunday newsletter inviting members to abstain from wearing fragrances.”The offenders were both women and men, actually. A handful of people wore quite a lot,”says Felts.”But for people who are chemically sensitive, any is too much.”It’s generated a lot of interest,”she says, noting that the local press sent camera crews to the church after her invitation was reported.”In the last two or three weeks there’s been a noticeable lack of unnecessary fragrance.” Nationally it is not clear how many churches are taking similar measures. But at least two other California churches have similar policies.

The First Unitarian Church of Berkeley and the First Unitarian Church of Oakland independently adopted policies three years ago setting aside sections of the churches for non-scented congregants.”If it bothers only a couple of people, that’s enough to make the move,”says the Rev. Dr. Bob Kaufmann, interim pastor of First Unitarian Church of Berkeley, where pews on the eastern half of the church are fragrance-free zones.”It doesn’t affect the people who wear perfume. They can see just as well from either side of the sanctuary.” Carol Byrne says her church, First Unitarian Church of Oakland, set aside three scent-free pews to accommodate a member who became so sick with multiple chemical sensitivities that she could barely leave her home.”She suffered a great deal when she came to church,”Byrne says.”So we tried to make it as comfortable for her as possible.” Cathy Cade, another member of First Unitarian Church of Oakland, says the policy has drawn few negative comments.”It gets to be problematic around people who have strong cultural teachings to wear scents,”Cade says.”But perfumes are hard on everybody’s immune system. Since (MCS) is cumulative, we have to be aware that over time we may develop a sensitivity.” In Danville, Hill says one perfume wearer became annoyed after Hill had to break off a social-hour conversation because of difficulty breathing.”We’ll have to communicate by notes,”sniffed Hill’s interlocutor. And after minister Felts invited members to cease their perfume use, Hill says another woman boasted to a friend of Hill’s that”I’m wearing perfume and I’m proud of it.””It’s not 100 percent supported,”says Hill. Sometimes”I feel like a pariah in the church. … This is a very isolating experience.” On the other hand, Felts says she has received calls of support from people throughout the state.”There are a lot of people out there who don’t realize how this can make some people suffer,”says Felts.”And there are a lot of people out there who are suffering who didn’t realize anyone else had the same illness they had.”So we’re just trying to raise people’s consciousness.”

JC END AQUINO

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