wfn.org | Gay, lesbian caucus leader advises against 'rush to crisis

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

thinking' in wake of Creech trial

April 2, 1998	CONTACT: 	Thomas S. McAnally, (615) 742-5470,
Nashville, Tenn.	{203}
					 
by United Methodist News Service

The leader of a gay and lesbian caucus within the United Methodist
Church is advising church members to avoid a "rush to crisis thinking"
following a recent church trial in Nebraska.

Omaha pastor Jimmy Creech was acquitted May 13 of charges that he
violated the order and discipline of the church when he performed a
covenanting ceremony for two women.

Since then, some individuals and groups have called for several actions,
including a special session of the church's top legislative body, which
meets every four years.

Calls for a special session of the General Conference represent an
overreaction, said Morris Floyd, spokesman for CORNET, a group of Creech
supporters. Floyd is a longtime leader in Affirmation: United Methodists
for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns.

"Warnings of potential schism may become self-fulfilling prophecies if
we do not take a more realistic look at what has actually taken place,"
Floyd said in an April 1 statement.

He said the acquittal of Creech "simply means that the trial court -- by
a narrow margin -- has given the pastor. . . the benefit of the doubt on
the debatable issue of whether or not a prohibition in the Social
Principles can be the basis for a charge of disobedience."

The jury voted 8-5 to convict Creech, but nine votes were necessary, so
the pastor was acquitted. The decision was described by Floyd as being
"in the mainstream of accepted legal principle (under which) laws that
are too vague cannot be enforced."

Critics of the verdict should remember that the court did not have to
consider the question of whether the covenant service used by Creech --
or any covenant service -- should be approved by United Methodists,
Floyd said.

"I hope all will appreciate the irony involved in the spectacle of
United Methodist bishops, in the name of 
'the order and discipline of the church,' criticizing a jury of Nebraska
pastors for a judgment they did not in fact make," he said.

Floyd acknowledged that most United Methodists may not support
same-gender covenant services. "Nevertheless, I think it unlikely that
most United Methodists want those of us who support these services to
leave the denomination, as some are calling on us to do. Very few United
Methodists are as narrow-minded as that."

Furthermore, Floyd said, "the expression of the mind of the church at a
point in time has never meant that further debate is closed. Certainly
those on the right have never taken this approach on issues where they
differ from the positions adopted by the General Conference."

Floyd said John Wesley, Methodism's founder, advocated accepting
different opinions and condemned what he called "religious bigotry" --
individuals or groups trying to force everyone else to believe and
worship exactly the same way.  Opinions and interpretations about
homosexuality, Floyd said, are important but would not be considered
"core doctrine" from a Wesleyan viewpoint.

He expressed appreciation for church leaders who are calling for a
measured response to the issue.

"It is possible, particularly in United Methodist tradition, to have
reconciliation between persons and within a congregation without
resolving a disagreement," he said. "That is where our energies should
now be focused."

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/