Methodist minister reinstated after perfoming “covenanting service”
United Methodist News Service, May 12, 2008
KEARNEY, Neb. – The United Methodist clergyman who performed a covenanting service uniting two women last fall has been acquitted of the charge that he was disobedient to the order and discipline of the denomination.
After the verdict was announced March 13, Rev. Jimmy Creech, 53, was reinstated as pastor of First United Methodist Church in Omaha, where he preached the following Sunday. He had been suspended by Nebraska Bishop Joel Martinez in November after presiding over the covenanting ceremony Sept. 14.
Ruling requested
After more than three hours of deliberation, eight of the 13 jurors – all clergy peers from Nebraska – voted that Creech had violated the order and discipline of the church, but nine votes are necessary in a church trial to convict.
Asked by a reporter if this meant same-sex marriages will now be permitted, Martinez said he would advise his clergy not to conduct the ceremonies. “This trial had to do with this case and this case only,” he said.
Martinez also announced that he planned to ask bishops of the church’s eight-state South Central Jurisdiction to formally request the Judicial Council – the church’s “Supreme Court” – to rule on the status of the Social Principles, a key issue at this trial. The principles have never been accorded the same legal weight as the rest of the church’s Book of Discipline – the denomination’s book of rules and procedures.
Standing on a chair after the verdict, Creech was jubilant. “We have a victory to celebrate, a victory for the church tonight,” he said. Once the verdict was read, shouts of joy and expressions of dismay erupted within the courtroom. Roy Wright, a gay man, jumped about shouting, “We won! We won!”
Church members critical
Creech’s return to the pulpit was not met with universal enthusiasm. Mel Semrad, a member of the 1,900-member Omaha church, said it was unfair for 13 Nebraska ministers to decide an issue that has impact across the nation. “The rest of the world needs to know how something like this can happen locally to them,” he said.
Some members have already left and others are visiting other churches, Semrad said. About 500 members have signed a letter opposing Creech’s actions, he said. “I do believe it sends a message across all of United Methodism to really dig down to see what are our foundations . . . and if the Book of Discipline is of any worth at all. “We do not worship or hate Jimmy Creech,” Semrad said. “We hated to see our church used as a pawn to advance his personal cause over the care of the congregation.”
Casey Biehl was another member expressing disapproval of the verdict. “I feel betrayed,” she said tearfully. “Until we can start dealing honestly with each other, it does not matter what we as lay people say . . . when you shut the billfold, the people whose salaries we are paying will listen to you.”
Peggy Sonnard, a member at First United Methodist Church in Kearney, asked in dismay: “When the church cannot uphold rules, how can parents?” She expressed concern that the denomination would be torn apart and the target of ridicule.
The church charged Creech with violating the Social Principles and creating unauthorized liturgy. However, Creech and his counsel argued that the Social Principles are not binding law. The General Conference, which meets every four years, is the top legislative body of the church and is the only group that can speak officially for the denomination.
More union ceremonies
The Rev. Phil Wogaman, pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., described the decision as a “healing verdict” and “a reflection of honesty in the face of some ambiguous questions.” He said the jury was not willing to convict Creech for violating church law “because the state of the law is confused.”
In a related vote, but not the one that decided Creech’s fate in the church, the jury agreed 11-2 that Creech had performed a homosexual union at First United Methodist Church Sept. 14.
The Rev. Mel White, who is spokesperson for about one-quarter of a million gay and lesbian members in the Metropolitan Community Churches across the nation, welcomed the decision. “God’s gay and lesbian children are welcome in the United Methodist Church.”
“Proclaiming the Vision,” a group of Creech supporters represented by about 70 people at the trial, announced that 92 United Methodist pastors from across the country have declared their intent to perform union ceremonies for couples, regardless of gender. Advocates and opponents of Creech all seemed to agree that the verdict has national implications for the church and sets the stage for what will likely be an emotional debate at the 2000 General Conference in Cleveland, Ohio.