Methodist ‘Holy Union’ trial is instructive for PCUSA
The Layman Online, March 11, 1999
The Presbyterian Church (USA) faces a growing number of challenges to the denomination’s constitutional ordination standards requiring fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness. One trial, in which the installation of a gay elder was upheld, has been conducted and other cases are pending. In addition, “holy unions,” in which Presbyterian ministers perform ceremonies uniting people of the same sex, are expected to prompt other cases.
Similar challenges to church law are occurring in the United Methodist Church. Because of intense interest and questions about one case involving Methodist minister Greg Dell, the United Methodist Reporter provided the following question-answer material for Methodists. Presbyterian and Methodist polity and judicial proceedings differ substantially, but there are enough similarities to consider the Methodist situation instructive for the ongoing challenges in the PCUSA.
The United Methodist Reporter
What is a church trial?
A trial in the United Methodist Church occurs when a complaint is filed against an individual — in this case a clergyman — and specified committees have reviewed the charges and recommended a trial.
Most complaints against clergy are resolved in the supervisory process, making a trial unnecessary. According to the church’s Book of Discipline, “Church trials are to be regarded as an expedient of last resort.” The Book of Discipline contains the bylaws of the United Methodist Church.
While official policies and procedures are determined by the United Methodist Church as a whole through its General Conference, clergy in the United States are accountable to one of 66 annual (regional) conferences in which they have membership. A jury includes 13 clergy members from the annual conference, with nine votes necessary to convict.
Who is charged with what?
The Rev. Greg Dell, pastor of Broadway United Methodist Church in Chicago, will be on trial. He is charged with disobeying the “order and discipline” of the United Methodist Church, one of 10 chargeable offenses listed in the denomination’s Book of Discipline.
Dell performed a union ceremony for two men Sept. 19, 1998. The denomination’s top legislative body added a statement to the church’s Social Principles at its last meeting in 1996 saying, “Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.” There were conflicting opinions about the status of this sentence after it was adopted by the General Conference in 1996, but the church’s nine-member Judicial Council ruled in August 1998 that it is a chargeable offense and has the force of church law. The council is the denomination’s supreme court.
Dell said he has conducted 33 services of holy union for gay and lesbian couples during the past 18 years of his 30-year pastoral ministry. He also declared publicly that he “will never stop doing such services as long as I have my ordination.” He contends that to refuse such services is to discriminate against the approximately 30 percent of his congregation that is gay.
How does the widely publicized 1998 trial of Nebraska clergyman Jimmy Creech relate to this case?
Before the Judicial Council issued its opinion about the statement against same-sex unions, a church trial was held in Kearney, Nebraska, March 11-13, 1998, for the Rev. Jimmy Creech. He had performed a covenant ceremony for two women at First United Methodist Church in Omaha September 14, 1997.
Eight of the 13 trial jurors voted to convict Creech of violating the order and discipline of the church. He was acquitted since nine votes were necessary for conviction. The Dell trial in the Northern Illinois Annual Conference will be the first since the Judicial Council issued its ruling on the matter. Creech and Dell were friends in the Duke University Divinity School class of 1970. Trial officer (judge) for the Creech trial was retired Bishop Leroy Hodapp, Evansville, Indiana.
Who made the formal complaint against Dell?
Bishop Joseph Sprague of the church’s Chicago Area (Northern Illinois Annual Conference) filed a complaint against Dell October 12. Sprague has publicly stated that he disagrees with the church’s position against same-sex unions but made the formal complaint because he felt duty-bound to do so in his official capacity as bishop.
When and where will the trial be held?
The trial will begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, March 25, at First United Methodist Church, Downers Grove, Illinois, a suburb west and slightly south of downtown Chicago. It is not known when the trial will end. The Creech trial took three days.
The first major agenda item for the trial will be the selection of a trial court (jury) which could take several hours. Members of the jury are chosen from ordained elders in the Northern Illinois Annual Conference.
Who will preside over the trial?
Presiding over the Dell trial will be retired Bishop Jack Tuell of Des Moines, Washington (not Iowa), who was an attorney before becoming an ordained clergyman. Tuell has presided over several church trials.
The Rev. Stephen Williams, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Franklin Park, Illinois, will be the counsel for the church, assisted by James Geoly. Counsel for Dell will be the Rev. Larry Pickens, pastor of Maple Park United Methodist Church in Chicago, assisted by Theodore M. Swain and Atonious L. K. Porch.
How are members of the trial court (jurors) chosen?
Thirteen people and two alternates, all ordained elders and members of the Northern Illinois Annual Conference, will be selected out of a pool of 35 or more candidates. The pool is selected by the annual conference cabinet (district superintendents). There is no required procedure for their selection, but in some instances, a certain number of individuals is chosen from each of the districts within an annual conference. A person in the pool may not be a member of the cabinet, board of ministry, or committee on investigation that considered the case while it was in the process of going before the trial court. Special consideration is given to ensuring that the pool is diverse racially, ethnically and in gender. The counsel for the church and the respondent (Dell) shall each have up to four pre-emptory challenges, plus unlimited challenges for cause. The alternates shall sit as observers of the trial. They will be seated as members of the trial court in the event that one of the 13 original jurors is unable to continue.
Will the trial be open to spectators and the news media?
According to the church’s Book of Discipline, a trial is closed unless the respondent (defendant) requests in writing that it be open. It is expected that this trial will be open, but no official announcement has yet been made.
What if Dell is found guilty? Not guilty?
A conviction could result in penalties ranging from the withdrawal of his ministerial credentials to a “lesser penalty.” If found not guilty, it is likely that he would continue his ministry at Broadway United Methodist Church, retaining all the privileges of a clergy person in full connection with the annual conference.