wfn.org | United Methodist pastor faces disobedience trial

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

Feb. 24, 1999	Contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-28-71BP{102}

NOTE:  A photograph of the Rev. Gregory Dell will be available soon to
accompany this story.

By United Methodist News Service

The Chicago pastor who performed a same-sex union ceremony last September
has been formally charged with disobedience to the United Methodist Church.

A church trial will begin March 25 at First United Methodist Church in
Downers Grove, Ill. Retired United Methodist Bishop Jack Tuell of Greenbank,
Wash., will preside. Thirteen clergy will be selected to serve on the jury.

The charge against the Rev. Gregory Dell, 53, pastor of Broadway United
Methodist Church, resulted from a complaint filed by Chicago Bishop Joseph
Sprague in October. A committee on investigation for the Northern Illinois
Annual (regional) Conference -- of which Dell has been a member in good
standing since his ordination in 1970 - made the charge official after a
Feb. 23 meeting.

The Rev. Stephen C. Williams, who is serving as church counsel on the case,
said he was "saddened but not surprised" by the committee's actions. "It is
tragic when a member of the clergy is charged with publicly and willfully
violating the covenant he has vowed to uphold," he added in a prepared
statement.

The Rev. Larry Pickens, who is counsel for Dell and pastor of Maple Park
United Methodist Church in Chicago, also was not surprised by the
committee's action. "It was the only decision they could make," he said,
noting church's current legal prohibition against same-sex unions.

According to the committee, the charge of  "disobedience to the order and
discipline of the United Methodist Church" is supported by:

*	A statement in Paragraph 65c of the denomination's Book of
Discipline that prohibits homosexual unions from being conducted by United
Methodist ministers or in United Methodist churches.
*	An Aug. 8, 1998, ruling by the Judicial Council, the denomination's
highest court, upholding that statement as church law.
*	The fact that Dell was asked by two male members of his church to
perform a holy union service in late summer of 1997 and agreed to do so.
*	The holding of the service at the Broadway church on Sept. 19, 1998.
*	Dell's awareness at the time that the Judicial Council had ruled the
prohibition of such services "was binding church law."

"We are now required to act with integrity on behalf of the church," said
Williams, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Franklin Park, Ill.
"Our judicial process will ask a jury of Rev. Dell's peers to determine if
he broke the church law which prohibits celebrating homosexual union
ceremonies and, if so, what penalty might be imposed for deliberately
breaking that law and disobeying the order and discipline of the church."

A Nebraska pastor, the Rev. Jimmy Creech, was tried and acquitted on the
same charge of disobedience in March 1998. However, this will be the first
trial regarding the conducting of same-sex unions to occur after the
Judicial Council ruling.

Pickens considers Dell's case to be a beginning point to help the United
Methodist Church define the "legal parameters" of the issue. "Essentially,
we see this as being a clarifying opportunity," he explained. 

Williams disputes that notion, saying Dell and Pickens are making "an end
run" around church law.

In his statement, Williams noted that the church "is a guardian of moral and
ethical teaching. Fundamental to all people of faith is the idea that
choices have consequences."

But fundamental to Dell and Pickens, beyond the legal issue, is the
obligation of a pastor to minister to all of his community. In Dell's
opinion, that includes refusing to distinguish between people - or couples -
"based on their identity."

Pickens pointed to Paragraph 204 of the Book of Discipline, which states:
"Each local church shall have a definite evangelistic, nurture and witness
responsibility for its members and the surrounding area and a missional
outreach responsibility to the local and global community. It shall be
responsible for ministering to all its members, wherever they live, and for
persons who choose it as their church."

For Dell, the local community is a mostly young, diverse mixture that
includes a substantial gay population. Broadway's current membership of 169
is about one-third gays and lesbians. "It's a vital community and
neighborhood," he said. "The church is a place that's full of life."

Refusing to discriminate against couples willing to adhere to his standards
for pre-ceremony counseling and commitment, Dell confirmed he has conducted
33 same-sex unions over an 18-year period. Before the September ceremony,
there had never been a complaint or response. 

"Those were congregations that really saw it as part of their ministry," he
said.

Dell believes that as more gays and lesbians became vocal about their
acceptance in the church, others who would like to exclude them "have upped
the ante by passing more and more restrictive legislation."

"I haven't changed my ministry," he said. "It's clear the legislation has
changed. I don't know if the heart of the United Methodist Church has
changed."

Dell added that he does not expect everyone to support same-sex unions. 

"I can live in a denomination where there's a diversity of opinion. We've
done that for years on other issues," he pointed out. "We're saying give us
room to minister and give us room to stay in the dialogue."

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