wfn.org | Complaints filed against Creech over same-sex union ceremony

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

May 25, 1999    News media contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.  10-21-28-71BP{291}

NOTE:  A file photograph of the Rev. Jimmy Creech is available with this
story.

By United Methodist News Service

History is repeating itself, as the Rev. Jimmy Creech once again faces
complaints for his role in a same-sex union ceremony.

The complaints were filed with the Bishop Joel Martinez, head of the United
Methodist Church's Nebraska Annual (regional) Conference. They are being
treated with the confidentiality typically given to personnel matters, so
the number of complaints and the names of the complainants are not being
disclosed.

The complaints probably were filed within the last two weeks, said Mel
Luetchens, assistant to the bishop and executive director of ministries for
the conference.

Creech, on leave of absence from active ministry in the Nebraska Conference,
performed the ceremony for two men at a church in Chapel Hill, N.C., on
April 24. Martinez had advised him against participating in the service.

Creech's performance of a similar ceremony for two women in September 1997
led to a complaint and church trial last year. He was acquitted on March 13,
1998, and reinstated as pastor of First United Methodist Church of Omaha.
However, he was not reappointed to the congregation for the following year,
and went on leave of absence in July.

Reached by phone at his home in North Carolina, Creech said he couldn't
comment on the most recent complaints.

"I have not heard officially from the bishop," Creech told United Methodist
News Service. "All I have heard is secondhand information, so I really feel
that I need to hear from the bishop before I make any comment." 

He said he is planning on attending the Nebraska Conference's annual
gathering, June 3-6.

Meanwhile, Martinez is working on the "supervisory response" part of the
complaint process. 

"We're just starting into the process," Luetchens said. "The first response
is the bishop will make contact with Jimmy and see if it can be resolved."

If the matter cannot be resolved through dialogue, the process moves to an
administrative approach, he said. The bishop will name a conference clergy
member as church counsel and more dialogue will occur. If the case still
isn't resolved, the complaint would be forwarded to the conference committee
on investigation, which would hold a hearing and determine whether the
complaints should be converted into charges. If so, a church trial would be
held, in which Creech would be judged by a panel of 13 clergy peers from the
Nebraska Conference.

The bishop hasn't given a timetable yet for completing the supervisory
process, Luetchens said. "I know that he wants to deal with it as soon as
possible."

During last year's trial, Creech argued that he didn't break church law
because the stricture against performing such ceremonies was advisory and
not binding. The statement is contained in the Social Principles section of
the Book of Discipline, whereas the rest of the denomination's binding rules
are contained in the main section of the book.

However, the United Methodist Judicial Council, the denomination's supreme
court, ruled last August that the statement is enforceable. Following that
ruling, the Rev. Greg Dell of Chicago performed a similar ceremony and was
found guilty in a church trial held last March. He is appealing that verdict
and the penalty - a suspension that goes into effect July 5.

"The law of the church is more clearly defined after the Judicial Council's
ruling," Luetchens said, "so I think that certainly makes a difference on
the point, which was so important to the last trial (of Creech), as to
whether that part of the Discipline would be interpreted as a law or as a
guideline. We know now how it is to be interpreted."

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