c. 1998 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ The Rev. Jimmy Creech is back in the pulpit at First Methodist Church in Omaha, Neb., acquitted on charges he violated church rules by performing a same-sex blessing ceremony, but the congregation remains divided over the pastor’s action.

Indeed, in a telling symbol of how deeply the denomination remains divided over the issue of homosexuality, just one week after Creech was welcomed back to his church with a standing ovation by many, dissident members of First Methodist held a separate”laity rally”to express discontent with the verdict and to urge Nebraska Bishop Joel Martinez to end Creech’s ministry.

And activists on both sides of the issue plan not only to push their views but to escalate their actions and ratchet up their tactics.

While many Methodists had hoped the highly visible Creech trial would help resolve the homosexuality issue and put an end to what some fear could lead to a schism in the 8.5 million-member denomination, reaction to the verdict seems likely to only further polarize the church.

Ironically, the March 13 Creech decision came less than a month after a two-day meeting of representatives from both the liberal and conservative wings in the church at which the two sides sought to hammer out a way to”live in the same house”and avoid a schism in the nation’s second largest Protestant denomination. “We’re all weary of being preoccupied with the issue of homosexuality, but that is the issue the church is preoccupied with, and to ignore that is to ignore what is going on out there in the church,”the Rev. Maxie Dunnan, president of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., and a leader in the conservative wing of the church, said at the end of the Feb. 19-20 session in Dallas.

Reaction to the Creech verdict seems to bear out the fears of the Dallas conferees that the divisions on homosexuality _ rooted, as a statement from the group said, in”differing understanding of scriptural authority and revelation”_ could propel the church in the direction of division.

To be sure, much of the reaction, especially from conservatives, warned of division.”We believe that this crisis is so severe that it threatens the connection and ties that bind us together in worship and ministry,”said the Confessing Movement, a group formed in 1994 to call the church to”theological and doctrinal integrity.” Indeed, the crisis may well deepen as 92 more clergy have publicly announced their intention to perform same-sex unions and opponents, such as Good News, the church’s conservative caucus, threaten to find”ways of expressing conscience that will be financially disruptive to church programs at every level.””In failing to find Creech guilty, our system failed,”said the Rev. James V. Heidinger II, president of Good News.”Creech’s performing of the lesbian marriage was an act of insubordination to his bishop, as well as a violation of Scripture, church policy and the express intent of the 1996 General Conference,”the executive board of Good News said in a statement.”To resolve the crisis,”Good News has called on the church’s bishops to convene a special meeting of the General Conference, which is not set to meet until 2000. The quadrennial General Conference, which usually brings about 1,000 delegates together to set church policy, is the denomination’s top legislative body.

The Confessing Movement has also called for a special session of the General Conference, saying”classical biblical Christians … within the United Methodist Church have been long-suffering and patient in facing repeated attempts of the radical homosexual/lesbian lobby to force the church … to grant approval to the practice of homosexuality and homosexual unions.” Current church rules forbid the ordination of gays to the ministry and declare active homosexuality”incompatible”with Christian teaching while still welcoming gays as members.

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While it is unlikely at this time that the bishops will call a special session of the General Conference, Nebraska’s Martinez said he would ask the church’s Judicial Council _ its Supreme Court _ to clarify language in the denomination’s key policy manuals, The Book of Discipline and the Social Principles, on the issue of homosexuality and same-sex ceremonies.

He also insisted that his instructions prohibiting same-sex ceremonies remain in force in Nebraska and he”would do the same thing”if he receives a complaint similar to the one that launched the Creech case.

At least one member of the Judicial Council, the Rev. C. Rex Bevins of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Lincoln, Neb., said the acquittal of Creech does not change church policy barring United Methodist ministers from performing same-sex ceremonies.

Creech supporters, however, said the verdict, in which the 13 jurors fell one vote short of the necessary nine votes needed to convict the pastor, is the beginning of a trend to reverse church rules on gays.

Mark Bowman, executive director of the Reconciling Congregation Program, a network of congregations that explicitly welcome gays, called the verdict”a glimmer of God’s grace”and evidence of God’s spirit”moving the church toward … a fuller understanding of the inclusive and compassionate gospel of Jesus Christ.”

MJP END ANDERSON