wfn.org | Creech Opponents Gather for Rally

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

CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally			 (10-21-28-71B){177}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470      March 25, 1998

Opponents of Creech
gather for Sunday rally

by United Methodist News Service

	Some members of First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Neb.,
and others who oppose the pastor's decision to unite two women in a
covenant ceremony gathered for a Sunday service at a nearby school March
22.
	An estimated 300 people attended the "laity rally" at the school
Sunday morning, and about 250 attended a question-and-answer session at
a community center in the evening.
	By the end of the day, more than 300 signatures were secured on
a petition calling for the removal of the Rev. Jimmy Creech and two
associate pastors.
	Creech returned to his pulpit March 15 after being acquitted in
a clergy trial for presiding over the service for the two women. Eight
of 13 jurors found him guilty of violating the order and discipline of
the church, but nine votes area necessary for conviction.
Creech performed the ceremony in September. He was suspended by Nebraska
Bishop Joel Martinez in November and reinstated as pastor immediately
after the trial March 13.
	Speaking at the Sunday morning rally was the Rev. Ira Gallaway,
a retired United Methodist pastor from Albuquerque, N.M. Gallaway is a
board member of the Confessing Movement, an unofficial conservative
group that has criticized Creech's acquittal. Gallaway also has served
on the steering committee of UMAction, a United Methodist offshoot of
the conservative Institute for Religion and Democracy.
	Gallaway's presence in Omaha incensed some Creech supporters,
who charged he is undermining the ministry of another clergyperson.
Patricia Miller of Indianapolis, the executive director of the
Confessing Movement, told United Methodist News Service that her
organization did not sponsor the Omaha event and that Gallaway went as
an individual.
	Morris Floyd of Minneapolis, a spokesman for a coalition of
groups supporting Creech, criticized the event and the Nebraska
Conference leadership.
 	Floyd, who represents the CORNET coalition, said he was
"appalled that the cabinet of the Nebraska Annual Conference is
implicated in what can only be regarded as a direct attack on the Rev.
Jimmy Creech and the large majority of First United Methodist Church
members who support his pastorate there."
Floyd was particularly incensed that a district superintendent, the Rev.
Marvin Koelling, was at the rally. Koelling, superintendent of the
Northeast District with offices in Norfolk, oversaw the First Church
congregation during the time that Creech was suspended.  
	"If the bishop and cabinet, in effect, ignore the verdict of the
trial court that acquitted Creech of the charges against him and to
permit efforts to undermine his role in the local church to which he has
been appointed, they themselves are destroying the very order and
discipline which they so recently sought to enforce," Floyd said.
	Gallaway told United Methodist News Service he contacted the
district superintendent before accepting the invitation to speak and was
encouraged to participate.
He said he assured individuals who issued the invitation that "I won't
come and bash Jimmy Creech. My purpose will be to call you to be the
best of the faith that is within you." The title of his Sunday sermon
was "Turn to God."
	In an Associated Press story, Koelling said he was there to let
members know the church cared about them.
"I think these people needed a time together, and the message wasn't
divisive," he said.
	Gallaway told his Sunday morning audience that God had not
forsaken them. "He will renew this church," he said.
He pointed to Matthew 19:4-6 as evidence that God meant for only people
of the opposite sex to marry one another.  But he also warned the group
to resist the temptation to be mean-spirited over the issue.
	"There is no place for bitterness here," Gallaway said.  "This
is a place to turn to Jesus Christ and ask Christ to live in your
heart." 
	According to an article in the Omaha World-Herald, "almost all"
of those attending the evening responded affirmatively when asked by
First Church layman Mel Samrad if they would like to continue
worshipping together.

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