By: Jimmy Creech
[posted November 4, 1998]
It was not surprising that the Judicial Council affirmed the constitutionality of paragraph 65C of The Book of Discipline that prohibits clergy from conducting ceremonies that celebrate "homosexual unions." It is, nonetheless, disappointing and painful.
This ruling adds another layer of authority to the abuse of lesbians and gay men to the teachings of our Church. It legitimizes the inconsistent treatment of lesbians and gay men by singling out "homosexuals" for special discrimination, thereby granting them "status," while at the same time denying them status under Article IV (Inclusiveness of the Church) of the constitution of the United Methodist Church. Status is recognized for discrimination and persecution, but not for inclusion and equal treatment. This is scandalous and corrupt.
Looking to the Judicial Council to free us from our error is vain. The Judicial Council has proven to be susceptible and amenable to the political pressures that protect the status quo. I believe the members of the Judicial Council to be good people who have been compromised by the fear of division affecting our Church.
The bishops of our Church counsel us to work "within the process" to make the changes we believe necessary at General Conference in the year 2000. They treat our concern as if it's simply a matter of resolving a difference of opinions on a debatable theological issue through a democratic process.
On the contrary, the mistreatment of gay men and lesbians by the United Methodist Church is not a matter of a difference of opinions. It is a matter of bigotry, injustice, a poverty of compassion and the failure of our witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. To say to lesbians and gay men that they must wait for justice until at some future General Conference -- whether it be in the year 2000 or 2004 or 2008 or whenever -- the majority of delegates vote to remove the discriminatory language against them from The Book of Discipline is to trivialize the persecution and oppression they experience. It is arrogant and callous.
What is at stake is not how we can live together with a difference of opinions regarding sexual orientation, but rather how will we be faithful to the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ? How will we embody the vision of God's sovereign presence in our midst? How will be free from the bigotry that infects our Church so that all may sit together at Christ's banquet table and receive the gifts of God's grace?
These are questions that have nothing to do with the polite game of Church politics, but everything to do with the work of the Holy Spirit for justice and compassion. As baptized Christians, we are called to be servants, not to a Church authority that has been compromised by injustice and bigotry, but to the authority of the life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ and presence of the Holy Spirit.
Laws have power and credibility only when we obey them. We obey laws when we grant them authority over our actions. Paragraph 65C is a "law" that should not be granted such authority because it is unjust. It is unjust because it treats lesbian and gay persons differently from non-gay persons, denying them the opportunity to affirm relationships of commitment in the context of their faith. It also should not be obeyed because, by requiring United Methodist clergy to mistreat gay men and lesbians, it compromises the role of pastor.
Consequently, let us celebrate the faithful ministry of Greg Dell and support him, Keith Eccarius, Karl Reinhardt and the community of Broadway United Methodist Church in Chicago as they move together toward a church trial.
And, let us stand with Don Fado, Jeanne Barnett, Ellie Charlton, the community of St. Marks United Methodist Church in Sacramento and the more than eighty clergy who plan to co-officiate Jeanne and Ellie's Holy Union in January 1999.
These are not just acts of defiance or acts of ecclesial disobedience. They are profound witnesses of justice and faithfulness, of standing with gay and lesbian persons and for the integrity of the pastoral office. They are actions that will help redeem the United Methodist Church, help bring it back to integrity.
Let us multiply these acts of faithfulness. To those of us who are clergy, I urge you to follow Greg's example by blessing the covenants of gay and lesbian persons without hesitation.
And, let us encourage couples of lesbians and gay men to follow Jeanne and Ellie's example by publicly announcing their ceremonies of commitment and inviting all willing clergy to co-officiate. Let such ceremonies and other creative strategies happen in every jurisdiction of the country. Let them become rule and not the exception. Then the cost of enforcing the prohibition in terms of time, energy and money will far exceed whatever benefit some may perceive or want it to have. The more the prohibition is defied, the less the prohibition will be enforced.
These are prophetic avenues for change in our Church. We cannot wait for any future General Conference to begin to act with justice and compassion. Nor should we wait. To do so reduces our witness for the gospel to nothing more than the vagaries of convention, fashion and trend. We must act now with courage and hope, knowing that we are in the midst of God's history, that God is moving among us and ultimately will use our actions for greater justice and peace.
Surely, there will be retribution and costly consequences for some who choose to follow these courageous examples. But, to those who believe you have a calling to be God's instruments of justice and grace in the Church and in the world, the knowledge that you have been faithful will be sufficient and satisfying enough to transcend the losses. I promise you that!
Jimmy Creech was fired from his job as pastor of First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska in May after he performed a holy union for a lesbian couple. Creech was acquitted in March during a church trial on charges he disobeyed rules by performing the marriage.