wfn.org | Judicial Council defers homosexuality question

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

April 13, 1998 Contact: Joretta Purdue (202)546-8722 Washington
(10-21-71B){219}

by United Methodist News Service
	
The United Methodist Church's supreme court will not consider a question
about the denomination's prohibition of homosexual unions at its April
22-25 session but will take up the issue later.

The South Central Jurisdiction's College of Bishops had requested the
Judicial Council deal with the issue. The church's stand on same-sex
unions has been a point of intense debate since a Nebraska pastor
performed such a service last fall. That pastor, the Rev. Jimmy Creech
of Omaha, was acquitted by a narrow margin in a March 11-13 church trial
of a charge that he violated denomination law by doing the service.

The bishops asked the Judicial Council to consider whether a statement
in the church's Social Principles prohibiting such ceremonies governs
the conduct of ministers, and whether a United Methodist minister's
performance of a same-sex union is a chargeable offense.

The council received the bishops' request on April 8, exactly two weeks
before its spring meeting begins in Seattle.

In an April 9 conference call, council members discussed whether to make
an exception to their rules and hear the bishops' item, even though the
request was late. The council is required to publish its docket at least
30 days before each session.

"We have determined that time is inadequate to place it on the docket
for our spring meeting on April 22-25, 1998," said council President Tom
Matheny in a statement after the conference call.

The council will decide at its spring meeting when and where it will
hear the matter, he said. "Adequate notice of the time and place will be
given in order for all interested parties to file briefs and be heard."

The council meets twice a year. Its next regularly scheduled meeting
will be in October.

Bishop Fritz Mutti, president of the South Central College of Bishops,
had submitted the request to the council. After learning of the
decision, Mutti said, "We were pleased that the Judicial Council has
received our petition. If it can't be dealt with at the spring meeting,
we hope it will be dealt with as expeditiously as possible."

In their request, the bishops specifically quoted a statement added to
the church's Social Principles by the 1996 General Conference -- the
denomination's policymaking body, which meets every four years. The
statement, which appears at the end of a paragraph on marriage, says:

"Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by
our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches."

Some people in the church have said the Social Principles are goals that
do not carry the weight of church law. Others disagree. The principles
are contained in the denomination's law book -- the Book of Discipline
-- but they are separate from the main text.

For decades, the United Methodist Church has struggled with issues
related to homosexuality. The denomination bars the ordination of
self-avowed practicing homosexuals.

At the Creech trial, a jury of 13 Nebraska clergy fell one vote short of
the nine required to convict the pastor. Creech had performed a
covenanting service for two women last September at First United
Methodist Church in Omaha.

The trial's outcome spurred strong reactions from people on both sides
of the issue. A number of church-related groups have asked the Council
of Bishops to request a special session of the General Conference to
deal with questions related to homosexuality and diversity.

However, the South Central College of Bishops' request is the first such
item received by the Judicial Council since the trial.

# # #

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

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