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Victory for minister in church trial over lesbian ceremony
Creech Methodist jury fails to find violation of church discipline
In this story:
March 13, 1998
- Charges stem from ceremony for lesbian couple
- Methodists wrangle over gay issues
- Related Stories and Sites
Web posted at: 10:40 p.m. EST (0340 GMT)KEARNEY, Nebraska (CNN) -- A United Methodist minister on trial for performing a same-sex commitment ceremony will get to keep his pulpit after a jury of ministers was unable to convict him on charges that his actions violated church discipline.
Eight of the 13 jurors hearing the case against the Rev. Jimmy Creech found that his actions were disobedient "to the order and discipline of the United Methodist Church."
But nine guilty votes were required to convict Creech, who could lost his credentials as a United Methodist minister.
Rev. Jimmy Creech reacts to the verdict 
485K/20 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Creech's supporters cheered and embraced after the verdict was announced Friday evening.
"This is more than just important to me personally. It's important to the whole church. I feel personally very pleased, but I'm just delighted for the church, for the denomination," said Creech, who described himself as "exhilarated" by the verdict.
Creech will be allowed to return to the pulpit Sunday morning.
Charges stem from ceremony for lesbian couple
On September 14, 1997, Creek, 53, senior pastor at the First United Methodist Church of Omaha, performed a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple, despite being warned by his bishop not to do so.
He said he went ahead with the service because "there was no way I was going to say 'no' to the two women."
"I will not treat them with disrespect. I will not question their dignity and their right to love and commit themselves to the persons they love and are committed to," Creech told CNN.
After performing the ceremony, Creech was suspended from his duties at First Methodist in Omaha, the denomination's flagship church in Nebraska.
He was brought to trial on charges that he violated a provision in the church's code of social principles, adopted in 1996, which prohibits "ceremonies that celebrate homosexual union."
Supporters celebrate the victory Creech and his supporters contended the social principles were guidelines for pastors, not rules. No one had ever been tried before for violating them.
Among those testifying in Creech's behalf was the pastor of the Washington church President Clinton regularly attends.
"We have to find a way to be supportive of these committed relationships," said Rev. Phil Wogaman, pastor at Foundry United Methodist Church. "The church also speaks in many voices."
Methodists wrangle over gay issues
Like many mainline Protestant denominations, the 9.5 million-member United Methodist Church has been wrangling over how, or whether, to integrate its gay and lesbian members into church life -- a fact acknowledged in a statement from the jury, read by its foreman before the verdict was delivered:
"Our vote reflects the difficulty the general church has experienced with this issue. We struggled together in a spirit of love ... and our hope is that United Methodists everywhere will receive our verdict in that same spirit of love and respect."
Creech left his last church in North Carolina after parishioners claimed that he too strongly advocated gay and lesbian causes, says that despite being brought up on charges, he will continue to perform same-sex ceremonies.
Responding to threats by some Methodists to leave the church if he prevailed in the trial, Creech said: "That was going to be a possibility whichever way the verdict went."
"If I had been found guilty, there were a number of people -- not only gay men and lesbians but people who feel the church needs to be truly open -- who would have left. So I think it was inevitable that we were going to have losses," he said.
Correspondent Jeff Flock contributed to this report.
Related Stories:
- Methodist church weighs homosexual marriage - March 12, 1998
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Related sites:
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- United Methodist Information
- Stephen P. Dresch: Homosexual Marriage: U.S. Debate Misses the Fundamental Issue
- Gay and Lesbian Rights
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