wfn.org | Creech to stand trial again

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

Sept. 24, 1999 Contact: Linda Green**(615)742-5470**Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-28-71B{490}

NOTE:  A head and shoulders photograph of Jimmy Creech is available.

By United Methodist News Service

The Rev. Jimmy Creech, a United Methodist clergy member of the Nebraska
Conference who has been residing in North Carolina, is facing a second
church trial for conducting a same-sex union ceremony. 

The Committee on Investigation of the Nebraska United Methodist Annual
(regional) Conference made that decision during a Sept. 16 meeting in
Lincoln.  The committee found that "there are reasonable grounds for the
charge and specifications against Jimmy Creech" and referred its
recommendation for a trial to Bishop Joel Martinez.

The Rev. Mel Leutchens, assistant to Martinez, said "Creech was found to be
in violation of the order and discipline of the United Methodist Church."
Nebraska officials have not announced a date or location for the trial or
who will be the presiding officer at the event. 

Creech performed a service of holy union for two men, Larry Ellis and Jim
Raymer, in Chapel Hill, N.C., April 24, 1999. 

Paragraph 65C of the United Methodist Book of Discipline states that
"Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our
ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches." In August 1998, the
denomination's Judicial Council ruled that the paragraph has the effect of
church law and "governs the conduct of the ministerial office."  Violation
of the prohibition, the council said, "renders a pastor liable to a charge
of disobedience to the order and discipline of the United Methodist Church
under Paragraph 2624 of the Discipline."

In a statement to the media, Creech said the investigative committee's
recommendation for a trail is unfortunate.  "It is not in the best interest
of the United Methodist Church for this trial to take place," he said.  The
trial, he added, will be "an act of violence against lesbians, bisexual and
gay persons and a betrayal of the gospel of Jesus Christ and all who
participate in it will be complicit."

In March 1998, a Nebraska church jury narrowly acquitted Creech of charges
that he broke church rules when he performed a ceremony for two women while
pastor at First United Methodist Church in Omaha. Subsequently he was not
reappointed to First Church and has since been on leave of absence in North
Carolina.

"We are not necessarily glad we have to go through another trial," Leutchens
said, "but having a trial emphasizes the fact that we have in the United
Methodist system a good process, a clear process, an open process for
dealing with controversial issues."

Leutchens said although he does not know how long the preparation for this
trial will take, he said that previous trial occurred seven to eight weeks
after the investigative committee made its recommendation.

"I regret the Nebraska Annual Conference has chosen to take this action
against me," Creech said. "The trial will more deeply mire the United
Methodist Church into the sludge of bigotry and legalism. How can such an
encumbered church witness to the grace of God."

Creech said the impending trial "will be a waste of resources--money, time
energy and personnel--that should be used otherwise in positive, helpful
ministries to people in need in the world."

He said that the celebration of love and commitment between two people is an
embodiment of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "If I am found guilty by a trial
court, then the order and discipline of the United Methodist Church is in
conflict with this gospel. It is arrogance on the part of the church to
elevate some people's relationships with God, while denigrating that of
others, on the basis of innate sexuality," Creech said. "This arrogance is
evil, comparable to racism."

"We will continue to be in prayer and hold all people in our church and
conference in our prayers," Leutchens said  "As a part of the connectional
system, we hope people around the church will hold us in their thoughts and
prayers as well."

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