wfn.org | Jimmy Creech Is Acquitted

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Contact: 	Linda Green
(10-21-28-71BP){150}
	    	Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470	 March 16, 1998

NOTE:  Photos are available for this story. This article is also
accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS #151.

Pastor who performed same-sex ceremony 
acquitted on charges of violating church law

by Linda Green*

	KEARNEY, Neb. (UMNS) -- The United Methodist clergyman who
performed a covenanting service uniting two women last fall has been
acquitted of the charge that he was disobedient to the order and
discipline of the denomination.
	After the verdict was announced at 6:41 p.m. Friday, March 13,
the Rev. Jimmy Creech, 53, was reinstated as pastor of First United
Methodist Church in Omaha, where he preached the following Sunday. He
had been suspended by Nebraska Bishop Joel Martinez in November after
presiding over the covenanting ceremony Sept. 14.
	After more than three hours of deliberation, eight of the 13
jurors -- all clergy peers from Nebraska -- voted that Creech had
violated the order and discipline of the church, but nine votes are
necessary in a church trial to convict.
	The trial began here in the large gymnasium of First United
Methodist Church with the selection of jurors early Wednesday afternoon,
March 11. Retired Bishop Leroy C. Hodapp of Evansville, Ind., presided
over the trial.
	Following the verdict, Martinez said the Creech case was closed.
"He is an elder in full connection in the Nebraska Conference and is
immediately reinstated," the bishop said.
	Asked by a reporter if this meant same-sex marriages will now be
permitted, Martinez said he would advise his clergy not to conduct the
ceremonies.
"This trial had to do with this case and this case only," he said.
	Martinez also announced that he planned to ask bishops of the
church's eight-state South Central Jurisdiction to formally request the
Judicial Council -- the church's "Supreme Court" -- to rule on the
status of the Social Principles, a key issue at this trial. The
principles have never been accorded the same legal weight as the rest of
the church's Book of Discipline -- the denomination's book of rules and
procedures.
	Standing on a chair after the verdict, Creech was jubilant.
"We have a victory to celebrate, a victory for the church tonight," he
said. 
	"The jury voted to affirm the grace of God to all people and the
integrity of the pastoral role to be in ministry to all people," he
continued.
	Once the verdict was read, shouts of joy and expressions of
dismay erupted within the courtroom. Roy Wright, a gay man, jumped about
shouting, "We won! We won!"
	He heralded the victory as a time of justice and freedom.
"The church is open to everyone, no matter what their abilities and
sexual orientation are," he said. "The civil rights of gays and lesbians
were established here. In the future, I hope the church can be even more
open, and hopefully something like this trial will never happen again."
Creech's return to the pulpit was not met with universal enthusiasm. 
	Mel Semrad, a member of the 1,900-member Omaha church, said it
was unfair for 13 Nebraska ministers to decide an issue that has impact
across the nation.
"The rest of the world needs to know how something like this can happen
locally to them," he said.
	Some members have already left and others are visiting other
churches, Semrad said. About 500 members have signed a letter opposing
Creech's actions, he said.
"I do believe it sends a message across all of United Methodism to
really dig down to see what are our foundations . . . and if the Book of
Discipline is of any worth at all. 
	"We do not worship or hate Jimmy Creech," Semrad said. "We hated
to see our church used as a pawn to advance his personal cause over the
care of the congregation."
Casey Biehl was another member expressing disapproval of the verdict.
"I feel betrayed," she said tearfully. "The bishop and cabinet were
betrayed because I don't think they were given all the information about
Creech."
Creech was once labeled "unappointable" as a pastor in North Carolina
because of his advocacy for homosexual rights. Creech himself is not
gay.
During his testimony, he told the court that he "was as open as
possible" about himself and his ministry with Nebraska Conference
leadership before being appointed to First Church two years ago. 
Biehl said, "Until we can start dealing honestly with each other, it
does not matter what we as lay people say     . . . when you shut the
billfold, the people whose salaries we are paying will listen to you."	
	The acquittal was an emotional time for Helen Howell, a member
of First Church for 54 years. She said a small percentage of the
congregation had agreed with Creech's actions.
"Regardless of what happened at the trial, we will lose members," she
said. ". . . I will probably leave the denomination."
	Her brother Robert Howell has been an outspoken critic of
Creech.
"I will have to go to another church," he said.  "Creech's agenda does
not follow what the United Methodist Church believes." 
	Peggy Sonnard, a member at First United Methodist Church in
Kearney, asked in dismay: "When the church cannot uphold rules, how can
parents?" She expressed concern that the denomination would be torn
apart and the target of ridicule.
	Before the verdict, Martinez announced plans for asking the
Judicial Council to speak on the issue of homosexuality and the Book of
Discipline. "I am hopeful that everyone in the church will have clearer
guidance on this matter," he said.
	The church charged Creech with violating the Social Principles
and creating unauthorized liturgy. However, Creech and his counsel
argued that the Social Principles are not binding law.
	When the 1996 General Conference added a sentence asking that
clergy not perform same-sex ceremonies and that United Methodist
churches not be used for such ceremonies, the placement in the Book of
Discipline was an issue.  Delegates referred the question to the
Judicial Council, which in turn said it was not responsible for
determining placement of legislation. Therefore, delegates left it in
the Social Principles as recommended in the original petition. 
	The General Conference, which meets every four years, is the top
legislative body of the church and is the only group that can speak
officially for the denomination.
	It is not known when the Judicial Council will take up the
matter, but its next regular meeting is set for April 22-25 in Seattle.
The council is chaired by attorney Tom Matheny of Hammond, La.
	In the testimony phase of the trial, witnesses for the defense
said that pastors often create rituals not found in the United Methodist
Book of Discipline. The Rev. Roy Reed, a lyricist and former professor
of worship and music at Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio,
testified that services of healing and ceremonies to celebrate the death
of an unborn child were performed by pastors long before being placed in
the denomination's Book of Worship.
	When asked if he would perform a covenanting service, Reed said,
"I would, but it may not have the same shape as the service officiated
by Jimmy Creech."
	Immediately before the verdict was announced, jury foreman Grant
Story, pastor of Rockbrook United Methodist Church in Omaha, issued a
collective statement from the jurors saying they had gathered in
"prayer, silence and respectful dialogue" to consider their decision.
	"Our vote reflects the difficulty the general church has
experienced with this issue," he said. "We have struggled - no, agonized
-- together in a spirit of love, and our hope is that United Methodists
everywhere will receive our verdict in the spirit of love and respect."
	The counsel for the church, the Rev. Lauren Ekdahl, expressed
his sadness at the verdict.
	"We tried to get the United Methodist Church to be the church in
the midst of conflicting circumstances," said Ekdahl, pastor of Trinity
United Methodist Church in Lincoln.
The trial process was not initiated by either the Rev. Glenn Loy, the
Ogallala, Neb., pastor who filed the complaint against Creech, or the
bishop, Ekdahl said. "The trial was initiated by Jimmy Creech when he
did something that he knew was disobedient to the order and discipline
of the United Methodist Church. 
	"I am not disappointed, and I am not despairing. The church went
through this trial with a sense of dignity, Christian love and respect
for people," Ekdahl said. "I tried to model for the church a behavior
that shows that we care. We don't cast people out of the church.
"I am thankful for a process of peer review, and I pray that the church
will find a way to receive this verdict and continue to work to resolve
this in a spirit of thoughtfulness for our future."
	Mark Bowman, executive director of the Reconciling Congregations
Program in Chicago, said the verdict was an affirmation for reconciling
congregations to continue being "on the cutting edge of the church and
ministry today."
"Our church is still divided about homosexuality, and we pray that God
will continue to lead toward reconciliation," he said. Reconciling
congregations are those that publicly invite the participation of all
individuals, regardless of sexual orientation.
	The Rev. Phil Wogaman, pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church
in Washington, D.C., described the decision as a "healing verdict" and
"a reflection of honesty in the face of some ambiguous questions." He
said the jury was not willing to convict Creech for violating church law
"because the state of the law is confused."	
In a related vote, but not the one that decided Creech's fate in the
church, the jury agreed 11-2 that Creech had performed a homosexual
union at First United Methodist Church Sept. 14.
	Creech said the jury's verdict tells homosexuals that they are
welcome in the United Methodist Church.
	"The church is willing to stand for the acceptance of gay men
and lesbians," he said. "I have to tell you that this is just one step.
There is still a part of our tradition that continues to express a real
prejudice and discrimination against gay men and lesbians."
	The verdict, Wogaman said, "sends a positive signal to people in
deeply committed and caring relationships to know that the church will
not turn its back on them. In the end, this was not about sex, but
love."
	The Rev. Mel Wright, who is spokesperson for about one-quarter
of a million gay and lesbian members in the Metropolitan Community
Churches across the nation, welcomed the decision.
"God's gay and lesbian children are welcome in the United Methodist
Church," Wright said. ". . . When the jury voted to keep Jimmy Creech,
they voted to keep us."
	Advocates and opponents of Creech all seemed to agree that the
verdict has national implications for the church and sets the stage for
what will likely be an emotional debate at the 2000 General Conference
in Cleveland, Ohio.
"Proclaiming the Vision," a group of Creech supporters represented by
about 70 people at the trial, announced that 92 United Methodist pastors
from across the country have declared their intent to perform union
ceremonies for couples, regardless of gender.
#  #  #
*Green is news director of United Methodist News Service's Nashville,
Tenn., office.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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