wfn.org | Creech found guilty; loses ministerial credentials

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Nov. 18, 1999 News media contact: Thomas S. McAnally·(615)
742-5470·Nashville, Tenn. 10-21-28-71 {616}

NOTE: Photographs are available for use with this story.

By Daniel R. Gangler*

GRAND ISLAND, Neb -- A Nebraska church court unanimously convicted the Rev.
Jimmy Creech on Nov. 17 for blatantly disobeying the Order and Discipline of
the United Methodist Church and defrocked him of his ordination. 

During the dawn to dusk trial at Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand
Island, a jury of 13 Nebraska clergy unanimously agreed with the church's
prosecution that Creech had disobeyed Bishop Joel N. Martinez (Nebraska
Area) by performing on April 24 a same-sex union ceremony in Chapel Hill,
N.C. for Larry Ellis and Jim Raymer against the bishop's written
prohibition. Such an  action by a United Methodist minister is forbidden by
the Book of Discipline, 
the church's book of laws.

Following his early afternoon conviction, the trial's judge, Bishop William
Boyd Grove of Charleston, W. Va., sent the jury back to determine a
punishment. According to church law, they could expel Creech from the
church, withdraw his ordination credentials, suspend him or give him a
lesser sentence. The jury of 11 men and 2 women deliberated for two hours
before determining that Creech's ordination should be withdrawn, both elder
and deacon orders.  This sentence means that he is no longer an ordained
minister of the United Methodist Church. 

Creech's loss of credentials is immediate, Grove said after the sentencing.
Creech must submit his credentials to Martinez.

When the jurors entered the sanctuary to announce the penalty, Grove invited
Creech to stand, along with anyone else who wanted to stand with him. A
number of Creech's supporters and others stood. 

Visibly moved by the jury's sentence,  Grove said to the 300 people
attending  the proceedings: "This is a sad day for all of us and for our
church." He then ended the trial by praying for Creech and his family,
offering thanks for the jury, praying "for all who are affected by the
verdict," and "for all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people wounded
by the verdict. We know they abide in Your care." 

The large sanctuary remained hushed as Creech's supporters continued to
stand  in stunned silence. Without words, Creech and his wife, Chris Weedy,
slowly  turned and walked down the center aisle of the sanctuary. They
proceeded  outside and were greeted by 125 of his supporters and a bank of
TV cameras  and reporters.

Throughout the fast-paced trial, Creech received the support of Soulforce, a
national interfaith group of gay-rights activists led by the Rev. Mel White
of  Laguna Beach, Calif., and  members of five unofficial United Methodist
caucus groups who disagree with their church and its prohibition of same-sex
union ceremonies. The United Methodist coalition quickly issued a statement
after the trial. 

"We grieve for the church we love," the coalition stated. "The action of
removing the ministerial orders of the Rev. Jimmy Creech is a travesty of
justice and a violation of the integrity of the ministry of the church, to
change the discriminatory policies of the United Methodist Church toward
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons." The coalition consists of
Affirmation- United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns;
CORNET (Covenant Relationship Network); In All Things Charity; the Methodist
Federation for Social Action; and the Reconciling Congregations Program.

Creech was tried and acquitted by a Nebraska jury in March 1998 for
performing the same-sex union of two lesbians in Omaha at First United
Methodist Church, where he was pastor until June of last year. When
Martinez chose to appoint him elsewhere, he took a leave of absence and
returned to North Carolina.

Differing in his response from Creech supporters, the Rev. John Grenfell of
Port Huron, Mich., a board member of Good News (unofficial evangelical
renewal movement within the United Methodist Church) said, "I am grateful
that the jury has given status to the authority of the church and was not
intimidated by Jimmy's accusations of bigotry, spiritual violence and hatred

if they stood with the law of the Discipline. I admire Jimmy's courage of
conviction, but I am distressed by his lack of respect for the authority of
the church and the covenant relationship of his ordination vows."

Soulforce members, who supported Creech with an around-the-clock vigil on
the steps of the church,  brought national media attention to the trial.
They began their day at dawn by blocking the back entrance to Trinity Church
with 74 volunteers decked in white sweatshirts which read: "STOP the
spiritual violence."

At 8 a.m. Martinez led Grove, the Rev. Steve Flader of Blair who prosecuted
Creech and the 23-member Nebraska clergy jury pool up to the back door of
the church. Three tiers of Soulforce activists with arms locked blocked
their entry.  Martinez asked that they be allowed to pass, but the group
refused.  Within a few minutes, Grand Island police arrested and led away 74
activists, who had blocked the entry.  They were charged with trespassing,
paid their $48 fine and returned to continue their protest of the trial,
which they called the "church's violence against gays and lesbians."

While Soulforce supporters were being processed, the jury selection went on
behind closed doors. Within the hour, Creech came out of the jury room at
Trinity United Methodist Church and told reporters he would not participate
in the jury selection process and would not offer a defense. 

He would not participate in the jury selection because, he said, because
"the law was unjust and the whole trial is corrupted.  "I will not make a
plea, guilty or not guilty. I will not put on a defense," he said. "I will
testify and answer questions. I will make a closing  statement. To put on a
defense will give credibility to the law and will say  the law is valid and
just. I will not give any credibility to the law." 

If convicted, Creech said he would make a witness by challenging the
verdict.   He said that he planned to ask the jury not to participate in the
process or render a verdict. "This will make an opportunity for the jury to
make a witness not to go along with the law, to prosecute pastors for
carrying out their ministerial duties."

Those ministerial duties, he said, include participating and  officiating at
same-sex unions. 

The Rev. Greg Dell, who was convicted in a similar church trial last March,
attended the proceedings as a representative of In All Things Charity. The
organization is a network of clergy and laity who support full inclusion of
homosexuals in the life of the church. So far, 1,400 pastors have signed the
organization's statement, indicating that they would perform or 
participate in same-sex unions, Dell said.

Creech's position provides an opportunity for others in the denomination to
protest an untenable system, Dell said.  "I  believe when we get to General
Conference, delegates will say that they will  reclaim our heritage of grace
in the midst of differences." The church's top legislative body meets May
2-12 in Cleveland. 

"Our denomination has never supported the tyranny of the majority," Dell
said. "I do believe a majority of our clergy cannot be instructed" to back
the rituals of the church, he said. "This (trial) is a blow to the whole
church." 

The 13 jurors were selected and seated by 10 a.m. Grove began the trial with
a prayer and closed with The Lords Prayer.  

Afterward, the prosecution gave its opening statement. Flader cited
Paragraph 2627 of the Book of  Discipline and charged  Creech was charged
with disobeying the order and discipline of the denomination.
 
Creech, in response, chose to make no statement. He did not plead guilty or
not guilty.  Grove automatically pled not guilty on behalf of Creech in
order for the trial to continue. The bishop also appointed the Rev.. Richard
Carter, a retired minister from Omaha, to be Creech's counsel in accordance
with the Discipline of the church so the trial could proceed. 

Creech's disobedience was for a holy union service he performed April 24 for
two men in North Carolina, Flader stated.  That ceremony constituted
disobedience to Judicial Council decision 833, given in August 1998, in
which the church's supreme court ruled that the Social Principles of the
United Methodist Church could be enforced as law, Flader said.

When Grove asked Creech if had any opening words, he replied: "I have no
statement."

The prosecution called Creech as its first witness. On the stand, he
described his relationship with the United Methodist Church as an elder in
full standing and member of the Nebraska Annual Conference. He was ordained
as an elder in 1974. 

Did you participate in the union of two men? Flader asked Creech. Yes,
Creech replied.

Under questioning, Creech began to speak about the service. Attributing the
eloquence of it to the two men, Jim Raymer and Larry Ellis, he began to read
the opening portion of the liturgy.

Flader posed a series of questions to Creech regarding the service: 
Did you give the call to worship?
Did you give the charge?
Did you officiate in the exchange of rings?
Did you commission the two?
Did you give the benediction?
Did you pronounce them life partners?
Creech's response to each question was: "I did."

Several letters were introduced as exhibits. The first, dated March 4, was a
letter from Creech to Martinez advising him that he, Creech, would be
holding a service of holy union for the two men at Binkley Memorial Baptist
Church in Chapel Hill, N.C. Creech wrote that he was going to co-celebrate
the service with the Rev. Jill Edens, pastor of the United Church of Chapel
Hill, which 
is a congregation of the United Church of Christ.

The next exhibit was a letter dated March 18 from Martinez, asking Creech to
refrain from performing the ceremony because it "would place you in conflict
with the Aug. 8 Judicial Council decision." 

The third letter, dated March 24, was from Creech to Martinez. The pastor
stated that he believed the Judicial Council's decision was unjust and in
conflict with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "I will not honor the
prohibition," Creech stated. He went on to say in the letter that he felt it
was his 
pastoral duty to perform this union, and that he did not want to honor the
culture of dishonor and bigotry. 

Flader then asked him: In the future, will you participate in same-sex
unions? 

"There is nothing that will deter me from doing that," Creech said.

A juror also questioned Creech, asking him whether he understood that he was
not to conduct the ceremony on the advice of the bishop. 

"It was very clear to me not to participate," Creech said.

"Did you consider this a marriage?" Flader asked.

"I considered it a marriage," Creech said. "It's equivalent to a marriage."

Creech was dismissed as a witness, with no more questions.

The prosecution's second witness was the Rev. James Wesley McChesney, an
elder in full connection in the Nebraska Annual Conference. In a May 27
letter, he formally charged that Creech had disobeyed the order and
discipline of the church. 

McChesney based his charge upon Creech's public acknowledgment that he had 
performed a same-sex covenant service in Chapel Hill. He quoted the 
prohibition against such a service as given in the Social Principles, in 
Paragraph 65C.

Flader began his closing argument at 10:30 a.m. by giving a recap of
Paragraph 65C in the Social Principles. He read the last sentence:
"Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our
ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches."

Flader told the jurors that the responsibility to enforce the Discipline
rested upon them. "It is up to you to enforce the decision of the Judicial
Council."

United Methodist pastors are voluntarily bound by a covenant to word,
sacrament and order, Flader said. That's why they are to support and
maintain the discipline of the church, he said. "Rev. Creech has broken this
covenant."

At 10:40 a.m., Creech began his closing statement, which was nearly an hour
in length. He ended by urging the jury of Nebraska pastors to return with no
verdict.

"My dear colleagues, this is truly a sad day in the history of the United
Methodist Church," he began. "This trial is an act of violence against gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender people." 

He told the jury that they were people of good will and they should uphold
just and honorable laws because laws help us live out our lives as United
Methodists.

"But this law is unjust," Creech said. "This law contaminates justice. You
have been asked to uphold a law which is wrong. You are about to do
something that is unjust and violent. The priority as a Christian puts our
call above injury, harm and suffering. Such causes violence against our
brothers and sisters. We are called to be beloved in the United Methodist
Church."

He went on to say that United Methodist clergy should not mistreat gay and
lesbian people and said the church's position calling the practice of
homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching" had "created a major
wound in our body."  He equated "heterosexism" with racism, and said the
church makes same-gender orientation a basis for spiritual violence.

Creech went through the jury's options of finding him guilty or not guilty,
then gave a third option. He urged the jurors to return with no verdict, as
a sign that they would not participate in this "unjust law of the church." 

In his closing argument, he referred to the violence that has been directed
at gay, lesbian, bisexual transgendered people. He went again over the two
same-sex ceremonies for which he has been tried - the 1997 service in Omaha,
Neb., which led to his trial and acquittal in March 1998, and the April 1999
ceremony in Chapel Hill, N.C., which led to the current trial. He told the
personal life experiences of the people involved. In each case, the couples
had thought this step through, and they had come to him, he said.

Putting the church's rules and institution above ministry to people is
idolatry, he said. "I always place the people of God above the institution
of the church."

Flader  reminded jurors that the trial was about the actions by an ordained
elder of the church in blatant disregard that existed on April 24 and now
blatant disobedience this morning.

Grove instructed the jury to select a foreman, charged the jurors and
recessed the trial until 1:15 p.m.

The jury returned to the sanctuary at 1:45.  Grove was handed the written
verdict. Then the foreman of the jury, the Rev. Jeffrey Kelly of Nebraska
City, declared: "We find Jimmy Creech guilty."

The bishop asked for the count. The trial court's vote was 13 guilty, 0 not
guilty. At least nine votes were necessary to convict. 

The sanctuary courtroom became quiet. The bishop explained to the jurors
their responsibility in selecting a punishment to fit the conviction.

Again Flader, the church's counsel, addressed the jury. Citing Paragraph
2627.1h of the Discipline, he told them they "are given the power to make
this decision. I ask that you withdraw Rev. Creech's credentials," Flader
said. "The church does not ask this lightly." 

Creech was again offered an opportunity to address the jury but he said, "It
would be inappropriate for me to do so." 

During the trial's noon recess, Riley Case, representing the Confessing
Movement, an unofficial caucus of United Methodists to reclaim the doctrinal
integrity the church's Wesleyan heritage, said he thought the surprise of
the trial was in Creech's new strategy which does not deny the loopholes in
the Discipline, rather the law of discipline should be disobeyed because
there is a higher law. "There is a great deal of arrogance because Scripture
and 2,000 years of church history that are in all Christian denominations in
all countries has been disregarded. Creech renders invalid everything taught
about truth of faithfulness in marriage and celibacy in singleness. All of
this is in jeopardy if we are to follow the plea of Jimmy Creech."

On the other hand, the Rev. Doug Williamson, a pastor in Lincoln, Neb., and
former defense counsel in Creech's first trial, sees Creech as a prophetic
voice for our time. "He needs to follow his heart and where he felt the Holy
Spirit was leading. One of the reasons Jimmy is dangerous to us all is
because he is willing to follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ-- no matter what
that might do to his personal ministry, his career. I believe someday we
will look on Jimmy Creech as a hero in the faith."

The 13 jurors were: the Rev. Samuel Rathod, Hastings;  the Rev. Patterson
Culligan, Bloomfield; the Rev. Timothy Pratt, Crawford; the Rev. Glenn
Emert, Laurel; the Rev. Anderson Kwankin, Red Cloud; the Rev. Gary Aten,
Sidney; the Rev. Jeffrey Kelly, Nebraska City; the Rev. Lyle Schoen,
Chappell; the Rev. Joyce Savage, Oshkosh; the Rev. Michael Burgess, Omaha;
the Rev. James Johnson, Cozad; the Rev. Harold Backus, Superior; and the
Rev. Melanine Adams, Adams.  
 
# # #
*Gangler is a free-lance writer from Grand Prairie, Texas.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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