Methodist pastor Faces second trial
United Methodist News Service, September 30, 1999
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 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 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 trial 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.”