wfn.org | Creech to perform another same-sex union ceremony

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

April 22, 1999  News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.   10-21-28-71BP{222}

NOTE: A file photo is available with this report. For related stories and
other information, go to www.umc.org/umns/98/mar/creech.htm on the Internet.

By United Methodist News Service

The Rev. Jimmy Creech, who made headlines by performing a covenanting
ceremony for two women in Omaha in 1997, has announced he will preside over
a service for two gay men in Chapel Hill, N.C., April 24.

Creech is a United Methodist clergy member of the Nebraska Annual Conference
but is now residing in North Carolina while on leave of absence.  

Nebraska Bishop Joel N. Martinez said he received a letter in which Creech
told of his intentions to officiate at the service.   

"I told him that officiating at the service will place him in conflict with
church law, according to The Book of Discipline,"  the bishop said,
referring to the denomination's book of policies. "I have asked Rev. Creech
to reconsider his decision and hope that he will refrain from placing
himself in this position."

The last time Creech performed such a ceremony, he ended up being charged
with disobeying the order and discipline of the church. He was suspended as
pastor of First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Neb., and taken to a
church trial  March 11-13, 1998. He was acquitted of disobedience by an 8-5
vote, one vote short of the nine needed to convict. 

Creech told United Methodist News Service that the upcoming ceremony for
Larry Ellis and Jim Raymer has been planned for several months. "This past
fall, I preached at the United Church of Christ in Chapel Hill where they
are members, and reconnected with one of the men whom I had known before.
They invited me to take part in the ceremony, and I was glad to do so. We
are continuing to make plans and are looking forward to it very much."

Asked about the implications for his career as a United Methodist clergyman,
Creech said: "I have been very candid and clear all along that I believe the
church is wrong in its prohibition of what it wants to call homosexual or
same-sex unions."

For Creech, to be constrained by what he considers an unjust law would be
the same as supporting it. "I do not support it, and I do not want to be
complicit in any injustice against gay and lesbian persons," he said.

Creech said he was candid with the trial court of his clergy peers in
Kearney, Neb., last year. "Asked if I would continue to perform such
celebrations in the future, I said, yes, I would.  I see that as an integral
part of my ministry."

At Creech's trial, his defense was aided by ambiguity surrounding the legal
status of the church's Social Principles. A statement in the principles
reads: "Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted
by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches."  However, the
Judicial Council, the church's equivalent to the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled
in August 1998 that the directive against homosexual unions had the effect
of church law and that "the prohibitive statement governs the function of
all clergy members of the United Methodist Church." 

The Rev. Gregory Dell, pastor of Broadway United Methodist church in
Chicago, was recently convicted by a trial court of disobeying the order and
discipline of the church by performing a ceremony for two men in his church.
He was suspended, effective July 5, or until he vows not to perform such
ceremonies in the future. Recently, it was announced that an interim pastor
will be appointed to succeed Dell and that he will direct In All Things
Charity, an unofficial movement to gain greater acceptance in the church of
gay and lesbian people. He will continue to work out of the Broadway church.

After Creech was acquitted, Martinez  returned him to First Church in Omaha
as pastor but did not reappoint him during the annual conference sessions
later in the year. Creech asked for a leave of absence, which he now wants
extended for another year. He is writing a book about "the homophobia in all
Christian churches and the resistance to accepting gay and lesbian persons,
with my particular story as a framework for that."

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