wfn.org | Talbert criticizes church law as complaint moves forward

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

March 24, 1999 News media contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-28-71B{160}

NOTE: For the full text of Bishop Melvin G. Talbert's statement, see UMNS
story #157.

By Erica Jeffrey*

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (UMNS) --In a statement that drew parallels to the 1960s
civil rights movement, United Methodist Bishop Melvin G. Talbert of the San
Francisco Area announced that a complaint has been presented to him against
69 clergy members who co-officiated in the holy union of two women Jan. 16. 

The complaint states that the accused clergy failed to uphold the order and
discipline of the United Methodist Church. Those named include the Rev.
Donald Fado, pastor of St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Sacramento, of
which the two women are members. 

The complaint is being forwarded to church counsel, and from there it will
go to the Conference Investigations Committee, Talbert told reporters at a
March 23 press conference in the United Methodist Center. The committee will
decide whether the complaint should be changed into charges, which could
lead to a clergy trial.
 
During the press conference, Talbert voiced his continuing opposition to the
church's stand against holy union ceremonies. A copy of the denomination's
Book of Discipline, which contains the church's bylaws, was in view on a
nearby table. 

"I will uphold the law, but I will not be silenced," Talbert said, reading
from a prepared statement. "I will continue speaking out against the law and
will continue working to change the position of our church to be more in
keeping with the teachings and compassion of Jesus."
    
The complaint against the clergy members was signed by the Rev. Ardith
Allread, dean of the cabinet, and the Rev. David Bennett, superintendent for
the Delta District, in which the holy union was celebrated. 

The two district superintendents wrote that, "despite our theological and
pastoral disagreement with this area of Church law, a complaint of
disobedience to the order and discipline of the United Methodist Church
(Para. 2624.1[e] of the 1996 Book of Discipline) is filed against the
following clergy. . ." 
    
Reading further from the complaint itself, Talbert said the complaint was
brought after "possible ways to achieve resolution with the accused were
lifted up. None of the plans were acceptable to the persons listed in this
complaint." 

Co-officiants to the ceremony who participated in absentia were not named in
the complaint, nor was one clergy member who had reached resolution with the
bishop and cabinet through the supervisory process, according to Talbert. 
    
More than 150 clergy members from around the country participated in the
service. Many participated in absentia. The first formal complaint filed
after the holy union was against an Iowa pastor who participated in the
service.

The celebration of holy unions is not new within the United Methodist
denomination, Talbert noted. The practice has been taking place for decades,
he said. A 1997 ceremony performed at the First United Methodist Church in
Omaha, Neb., led to the church trial of the Rev. Jimmy Creech last year.

The recent California ceremony of holy union stands out, Talbert said,
because of an August ruling by the Judicial Council that the Book of
Discipline's statement prohibiting ceremonies of holy union from being
conducted by United Methodist ministers has the effect of church law.
Talbert contends that "The Social Principles," the section of Discipline in
which the prohibition statement was placed, are not law and have not been
held as such throughout the history of the denomination. 
    
Talbert characterized the church's prohibition of holy unions for
homosexuals as "infringing on the sacred pastoral role of one as priest and
servant." His stand echoes that of Fado, the accused minister who first
agreed to perform the January ceremony. 

The bishop mentioned some of the responsibilities clergy are called on to
perform, including blessing homes, animals, cars and events. He noted that
on all such occasions, clergy are free to choose whether or not to perform
those services. 

"Yet, when it comes to this one event of a holy union, it is prohibited," he
said. "This is unconscionable! I contend that all clergy must be free to
choose the appropriate pastoral responses they should make in the priestly
roles." 

He said this issue must not become a "political action" and reaffirmed the
individual clergy member's right to act according to conscience, recalling a
time when the issue of conscience was race, not homosexuality. 
    
No opposition was voiced to Talbert's statement during the press conference,
and there were several murmured expressions of support. When the bishop
repeated his opposition to the church rule against holy union ceremonies,
one person quietly said, "Amen." 
    
Questioned about a possible division of the denomination over the issue, the
bishop replied: "This is not the first controversial issue facing our
church." However, he said a split is possible, and he called ceremonies of
holy union for homosexuals "an excuse" for some people within the
denomination looking for a way to force a division.
    
The pastors of four churches in the conference have left the denomination in
protest over the holy union. They previously had disagreements with other
stands taken by the church, but Talbert characterized the ceremony as "the
straw that broke the camel's back." Those churches were Kingsburg United
Methodist Church, Community United Methodist Church in Oakdale, St. Luke's
United Methodist Church in Richmond and Mission City Church in Santa Clara.
The Kingsburg congregation became a community church after nearly all the
members decided to leave the denomination.

The United Methodist congregation in Orangevale, Calif., has filed a
complaint and dropped "United Methodist" from its name. Talbert said that
complaint will be used as supporting data in the investigation of the
Sacramento case. 

Another church, St. Francis United Methodist in San Francisco, is reported
to be in conflict at this time, but Talbert emphasized that its difficulties
are not linked to the holy union issue.
    
The California-Nevada Conference consists of about 400 congregations,
totaling 94,000 members. It encompasses Northern California and most of
Nevada. 
    
Talbert said he understood the wishes of the clergy named in the complaint
"to challenge this unjust law," and he recalled the civil rights protests in
America of the 1950s and '60s. 

"I am a disciple of the civil rights protests," he said. "From my own
experiences, I can appreciate acts of conscience and acts of civil
disobedience. Therefore, my referring this complaint is without prejudice to
enable these colleagues to have their day in a court of peers."
   
Talbert has named the Rev. Paul Wiberg of Orinda, Calif., church counsel.
Wiberg has the responsibility of signing the complaint and sending it to the
Conference Committee on Investigation. That panel will decide whether to
turn the complaint into charges, which could result in a church trial. In a
church trial, a pastor is tried before a jury of 13 fellow clergy members
from the annual conference. Nine votes are needed to convict.

If the committee decides a church trial is necessary, Talbert would be
responsible for convening a pool of potential jurors appointed by district
superintendents. Talbert said he could not give a timeline for the complaint
process, saying there is no time constraint on the committee investigating
the complaint. However, there would be time limits should the complaint move
to trial. He said the process could possibly be completed this year. 

A guilty verdict in a church trial can carry a range of penalties. When
asked what the worst-case scenario would be for the church if the 69 accused
clergy members were convicted, Talbert answered: "There are several options
available for the jury. There's nothing dictated. They could take the orders
from these people. I hope that's not it, but that very well could be the
case." 

Bennett, the district superintendent who co-signed the complaint, voiced
hope after the press conference that the worst-case scenario would be
avoided. "Assuming there's a trial -- that it's forwarded through the
process to a trial -- that jury has the final say, and there are no
guidelines as to what the penalty would be. The worst-case scenario would be
that they could lose their orders. I would pray that that wouldn't happen,"
he said.
       
In response to a question about possible "jury stacking" by district
superintendents who oppose the current church law, Talbert said jurors will
be picked in accordance with the Book of Discipline, which calls for a
balanced group representing theological, ethnic and gender differences
within the conference. 
    
After Talbert's statement, the Rev. Betsy Schwarzentraub, minister of St.
Paul's United Methodist Church in Vacaville, Calif., read a response to the
complaint. The response was prepared by some of the co-officiants in the
January ceremony who are on the steering committee for the "65.C" group, an
unofficial organization pushing for changes in Paragraph 65.C of the Book of
Discipline barring holy unions. The statement affirmed that the
participating clergy acted "in fulfillment of what we hold as pastoral
ministry." 

The response reflected the principle of "unity within diversity" and urged
the church to focus its energies on acts of "Christ's healing and
reconciliation" for the whole world. The response defined the accused
clergy's participation in the holy union ceremony as "an act within the
church, an act of conscientious obedience to Christ, an act of pastoral
obedience and an act in the Wesleyan spirit."
 
Another response, signed by 400 people, expressed support for full inclusion
of homosexuals in the church and called on Talbert to act with "love,
charity and understanding" in dealing with the 69 accused clergy members.
That response was issued by an unofficial organization called the California
Nevada Lay Strategy Group.
 
Bennett said that with the widespread participation in last January's holy
union, the California-Nevada Annual Conference "is making a very strong
statement to the church, to the larger church," that such services for
homosexuals is an issue that must be dealt with. "For many of us, we feel
like it ought to be dealt with in this way," he said.
# # # 
*Jeffrey is a free-lance writer based in Marysville, Calif.

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