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The Newsletter of the Interfaith Working Group
December 1999/January 2000
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Trying to Make Issues Go Away
The big November religion story in the media was the
move by Roman Catholic American Bishops to more
closely control the teaching of religion at Catholic
universities; but there were also two trials in the
Presbyterian Church (USA),
two congregations expelled
by the Georgia Baptist Convention,
a Texas court
decision redefining gender, and what should have been
the big story, considering the implications:
the United
Methodist Church trial of Jimmy Creech in Grand Island,
NE.
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Last month
we reported
that the Permanent Judiciary
Commission (PJC) of the Synod of the Northeast
overruled two presbyteries (Southern and Northern New
England) in cases involving ordination of sexual
minorities. Cases involving the same PJC were heard in
November: against the
Presbytery of West Jersey for
accepting Graham Van Keuren (who is gay) as a candidate
for ordination, and against the
Presbytery of the Hudson
River over its action regarding the rights of sessions to
approve ceremonies of holy union, understanding that
they are not marriages. There are no actual
PCUSA rules
against commitment ceremonies or against accepting a
gay man's candidacy. The charges in both cases were
dismissed.
The Philadelphia Inquirer had excellent coverage of
the West Jersey case, including a profile and color photo
of Van Keuren, and an attempt to link his case to those in
other denominations. According to a CNN story, Jeff
Halvorsen and George Cisneros had a commitment
ceremony in January at
South Presbyterian Church in
Dobbs Ferry, New York, "blessed by the Rev. Susan
DeGeorge, one of several Presbyterian clergy who have
conducted several such ceremonies." After this, the
Hudson River vote overwhelmingly gave ministers "the
freedom to decide whether to unite couples of the same
sex." CNN also mentioned other cases in the PCUSA and
other denominations. Long post-decision articles
appeared in the Inquirer, Washington Post, Newark Star
Ledger, and New York Times.
Georgia Baptists
The Georgia Baptist Convention
voted to expel
Decatur's Oakhurst
Baptist Church and
Atlanta's
Virginia-Highland Baptist Church ("an inclusive community of
faith where everyone is welcome"), for what the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution called "ordaining homosexuals and
condoning same-sex unions." Reuters said the vote was
"88 percent to expel Oakhurst and 90 percent to expel
Virginia-Highland." The
Oakhurst covenant
says: "we reject any status in this
fellowship in terms of church office, possessions, education,
race, gender, sexual orientation, mental ability, physical
ability, or other distinctions."
Gender and Marriage in Texas
In a case involving a wrongful death suit by a widow
who was once legally male, the Texas Fourth Circuit
Court ruled that marriage is only valid between a person
with an XY-chromosome pair and a person with an
XX-chromosome pair, regardless of their legal gender. In his
decision,
the Chief Justice asks (and answers) the
question: "Is a person's gender immutably fixed by our
Creator at birth?" He ignores that, medically, gender is
determined by four factors which are sometimes not consistent
with each other; that not everyone has an XY- or XX-chromosome pair;
that most people never get chromosome tests;
and that in most states, including Texas, legal
gender is based on medical opinion, and can be changed.
Before the United Methodist Church Trial
On November 1 and 7, the Rev. Mel White of
Soulforce
sent
open letters
to "Bishops Grove and Martinez,
The Jury Pool and All Trial Participants, All Clergy and
Laity of the United Methodist Church," asking them not
to participate in Jimmy Creech's trial. On November 9,
Rev. Creech
released a
statement thanking everyone for
their support, in all forms that support would take.
Beginning Sunday, November 14,
prayer vigils
and support services for Rev. Creech were held around the country.
On the eve of the trial (November 16), Rev. Creech
held a recommitment service for
Jim Raymer and Larry
Ellis, whose holy union service led to the charges against
him. Following the service, one-hundred twenty people
from across the nation (mostly United Methodists),
organized by Soulforce, including clergy from the UMC and
other denominations, began an all-night vigil outside the
church where the trial was to be held.
The Day of The UMC Trial
On November 17, at 8 am, as the Presiding Bishop,
prosecutor, and potential jurors arrived,
Soulforce
volunteers blocked the door, three deep, arms linked,
singing, "We Shall Overcome." Bishop Grove asked them to
move; they refused. Over seventy people were arrested.
Rev. Creech,
who had declined counsel, refused to
participate in the jury selection process, letting the
prosecution select the entire panel; jury selection ended by
9:30. The trial began at 10:00 am. Rev. Creech did not
enter a plea, so a "not guilty" plea was entered for him.
He declined to make an opening statement or call
witnesses. The prosecution called two witnesses: Rev.
Creech and the complainant.
The prosecutor made a brief closing statement at
10:30. Rev. Creech then began his fifty-five-minute
closing statement, calling the trial an act of violence against
GLBT people, and raising the immorality both of the law
he was being charged under, and UMC policy on sexual
minorities in general. He talked about the lives of GLBT
people he had known, the ideology of heterosexism and
its moral equivalence to racism, the failure of the trial as a
deterrent, and the punishment of the church. He asked
the jury not to render a verdict.
The jury returned with a 13-0 guilty verdict at 1:15
pm. At 3:30 they announced that Rev. Creech's
credentials as a United Methodist minister were revoked.
What Was Significant About the UMC Trial?
Before the trial the
United Methodist News
Service (UMNS) web site listed three significant things about the
trial. The first two points listed were that it was the
second trial for the same person and that his first acquittal
forced a clarification of the rules. The third thing
mentioned was that the Rev. Greg Dell was convicted under
the same rule last March and suspended for a year. They
failed to mention the widespread support for the accused,
the use of civil disobedience with Rev. Creech's blessing,
and his refusal to participate in the trial.
Media Coverage of the UMC Trial
Media coverage of the
UMC trial did not approach
the level of the first trial, nor
last month's Soulforce
action. It was covered by CNN, but not national network
news. Stories were distributed by the AP and Reuters, but
TV and newspaper coverage was mostly limited to
Nebraska, Des Moines, Denver, Miami, Pittsburgh, and
Raleigh.
The Omaha World Herald ran many stories, and a
column and editorial criticizing Rev. Creech. The Grand
Island Independent had interviews with Mel White and
local clergy. The Lincoln Journal Star reported on the
recommitment service (a "solemn religious ceremony") and
members of the
Association of
United Methodist Evangelicals in Nebraska
(trial supporters), who "spent part of
the afternoon marching around the church praying and
reading the Bible." Their trial story began: "It looked like
a scene from the civil rights movement." They also
conducted "person on the street" interviews, asking, "What
would you have done as a jury member?" The Daily Nebraskan
ran preliminary and follow-up stories interviewing
local UMC clergy, representatives from pro-GLBT and
Religious Right organizations, and GLBT people on
campus. The reporter attempted to explain the conflict:
"traditionally the Bible has been used to condemn
homosexuality, but most Christians believe the teachings of
Jesus Christ encourage acceptance and forgiveness of all
people."
The Des Moines Register reported on Mel White's
visit to
Plymouth Congregational Church,
"teaching the
tactics of nonviolent resistance;" ran a guest opinion by
the Rev. Steve Sabin,
Lord of Life
Lutheran Church in Ames,
who said, "rather than
visiting Lynchburg, I
suggest gay and lesbian couples visit the county clerk's
office and stay there until they are either given marriage
licenses or arrested;" interviewed two of "about 15
Iowans arrested and released;" and ran a column on the
need for peacemakers in the
UMC and
ELCA.
The Denver Post ran a story on conflicts in the UMC.
The Miami Herald and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported
on local
events
in support of Rev. Creech. The Raleigh
News and Observer article reviewed
Rev. Creech's career
and said that the trial sent "a clear signal to the 44,000
ministers in the [UMC] that the denomination will not
tolerate gay unions and will, in effect, fire those who
perform them." The article also said, "In the short run, it
also will lead gay and lesbian leaders and their supporters
to find alternative places of worship, though it is unlikely
to cause a permanent schism in the denomination."
Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition
The IWG has joined
SPARC, the Statewide
Pennsylvania Rights Coalition, which sponsored IGNITE '99 in
Harrisburg earlier this year as part of Equality Begins At
Home, and held its annual conference in State College
for activists in October. The conference featured a panel
on "Spirituality, Religion, and the LGBT movement" with
Neill Johnson (Sexuality and Faith Committee, University
Baptist and Brethren), Chris Purdom (IWG Coordinator),
and Laura Montgomery Rutt (National Organizer,
Equal
Partners in Faith; member, SPARC steering committee).
Reactions to the UMC Trial
Affirmation,
In All Things Charity,
Methodist Federation for Social Action
and the
Reconciling Congregation Program
issued a
joint statement
which said in part:
"We grieve for
the church we love. The action of removing the
ministerial orders of the Rev. Jimmy Creech is a travesty of
justice and a violation of the integrity of the ministry of
the church."
In a
letter thanking
United Church of Chapel Hill for their support of Rev. Creech,
the Rev. John H. Thomas, president of the
United Church of Christ,
wrote: "I am
saddened by the action of the
United Methodist Church
to remove his clerical standing and am fearful that this
disciplinary decision will have a chilling effect on the
capacity of United Methodist pastors and congregations to
exercise their pastoral responsibility to all the members of
their congregations."
Rembert Truluck
commented on November 18: "The
conviction and sentencing of Rev. Jimmy Creech
yesterday points up the desperate need for churches to find
deliverance from the disastrous evil plague of misinformation
about homosexuality and the Bible that threatens their
very survival as credible spiritual institutions."
The Rev. Mel Luetchens, Bishop Martinez's assistant,
said in an Omaha World Herald story: "Finally people are
saying that this could be lethal. That could be the
beginning of real understanding, if not reconciliation, between
the two sides."
David Perkins, a Quaker and former United
Methodist, announced on the IWG's
religion email list that he had
written to the church where he was baptized, asking them
to expunge his baptismal record, and that they had
regretfully complied.
Just the Facts
GLSEN (the Gay Lesbian Straight Education
Network)
announced that "Just the Facts About Sexual
Orientation and Youth" was mailed to over 15,000 school
district superintendents. The new publication is from the
American Academy of Pediatrics,
American Counseling Association,
American Association of School Administrators,
American Federation of Teachers,
American Psychological Association,
American School Health Association,
National Association of School Psychologists,
National Association of Social Workers,
National Education Association
and the
Interfaith Alliance Foundation.
ABC News' Nightline featured a debate between
representatives from the
Interfaith Alliance
and the
Traditional Values Coalition,
and clips of Janet Parshall of the
Family Research Council (FRC),
who said: "This is really about turning the classroom into a bully pulpit,
about advancing one world view." Parshall (ironically) also speaks for the
FRC's "Hang Ten" program,
an effort to post the Ten
Commandments in schools and other public buildings.
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