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Editor's note: Information on the Beth Stroud case has been updated.
A UMNS Report
By Emily Snell and Kathy Noble*
5:00 P.M. EDT June 24, 2011
Former United Methodist pastor Jimmy Creech leaves Peace United
Methodist Church in Kaukauna, Wis., after the first day of the Rev. Amy
DeLong's church trial. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.
View in Photo Gallery
At least six different times during the past 20 years, disciplinary
action against clergy accused of violations of the discipline or law of
The United Methodist Church took place in a public forum. It is possible
that more than six such cases have occurred. However, the accused
determines whether the accusations and trial will be made public. Here
is a brief overview.
Jimmy Creech—1997
Jimmy Creech, a pastor in Nebraska, was charged with “disobedience to
the order and discipline of the denomination” for performing a same-sex
ceremony in September 1997. After a Jan. 23, 1998, hearing, the
committee on investigation of the Nebraska Annual (regional) Conference
determined that Creech’s case should go to a church trial.
On March 13, 1998, Creech was acquitted of the charges.
The jury voted 8-5 in ruling that Creech violated church discipline, but
nine votes were necessary to convict. Creech was reinstated as pastor
of First United Methodist Church in Omaha and preached the next Sunday.
Greg Dell—1998
Greg Dell
The Rev. Greg Dell, a clergyman from Illinois who had been “a member in
good standing” since 1970, was charged with “disobedience to the order
and discipline of the denomination” for performing a same-sex ceremony
in September 1998.
On March 26, 1999, after a church trial, Dell was found guilty
and was suspended indefinitely effective July of that year unless he
signed a pledge agreeing not to perform same-sex ceremonies or “until
the church no longer prohibited the action.” Dell refused, saying such a
pledge would be a “violation” of his ministry.
The North Central Jurisdiction Committee on Appeals amended the
suspension to one year and, on July 1, 2000, Dell returned to a local
church pastorate. He is now retired.
Jimmy Creech—1999
While on leave of absence and living in North Carolina, Creech performed a same-sex ceremony
in Chapel Hill in April 1999. The Nebraska Conference’s committee on
investigation once again determined that Creech should face trial.
On Nov. 17, 1999, Creech was convicted in a unanimous vote
of “blatantly disobeying the order and discipline of The United
Methodist Church” and was immediately stripped of his credentials as an
ordained United Methodist minister.
Karen Dammann—2001
Mark Williams—2001
In December 2001, now-retired Bishop Elias Galvan, who was then episcopal leader of the Seattle Area, announced he had filed complaints
against the Rev. Karen Dammann and the Rev. Mark Edward Williams, both
members of the Pacific Northwest Conference. The filing followed a
declaratory decision from the Judicial Council in October 2001 that the
admission of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” was sufficient
cause for a pastor to undergo a ministerial review.
In February of that year, Dammann, a pastor in the Seattle area, sent a
letter to Galvan saying that she was in a “partnered, covenanted,
homosexual relationship.” The Pacific Northwest Annual Conference’s
committee on investigation dismissed the complaint in July 2002.
The committee on investigation’s dismissal was twice appealed by the
church to the Western Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals. After the
appeals committee both times upheld the committee on investigation’s
action, the case made its way to the Judicial Council, which overturned
both committees’ decisions and ordered a new investigation.
In January 2004, the committee on investigation forwarded charges for trial.
Dammann was acquitted on March 20, 2004,
of the single charge of committing “practices declared by The United
Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings.”
In April, General Conference 2004 asked the Judicial Council for two
rulings related to the case. In Decision 984, the council said the
practice of homosexuality is a chargeable offense under the 2000 Book of
Discipline. In Decision 985, it said it did not have the authority to
review the findings of the trial court when the appeal came from the
church. It also said a bishop may not appoint one who has been found by a
trial court to be a self-avowed practicing homosexual.
In June 2001, Williams, then pastor of Woodland Park United Methodist
Church in Seattle, announced during the Pacific Northwest Annual
Conference session that he was gay. After a May 30, 2002, hearing, the
conference committee on investigation dismissed the complaint against
Williams. “In a statement, the committee said it ‘found there was not reasonable cause to forward this matter for a church trial.’”
After the dismissal, Williams told United Methodist News Service that
the statement he had made to the annual conference referred only to his
sexual orientation and “at no point have I ever intended to discuss my
sexual behavior.”
Beth Stroud—2004
In April 2003, Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud, a clergywoman in
Philadelphia, announced in a letter to her congregation that she was “a
lesbian living in a committed relationship with a partner.” In July
2003, Stroud acknowledged to the Eastern Pennsylvania committee on
investigation that the relationship included sexual contact.
On Dec. 2, 2004, a trial court, in a 12-1 decision, found Stroud guilty
of engaging in “practices that are incompatible with Christian
teachings.” In the penalty phase, the jury voted 7-6 to immediately
strip Stroud of her credentials. She remained on staff at First United
Methodist Church of Germantown as a layperson.
Stroud announced on Dec. 27, 2004, that she would appeal the court’s decision.
On April 29, 2005, the Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals
upheld part of the trial court’s finding but overturned the verdict in
an 8-1 vote, citing legal errors.
The appeals committee wrote, “The verdict and the penalty are reversed and set aside.” However, it said, “The evidence in support of the charge was overwhelming and would be sustained in the absence of legal error.”
The decision reinstated her clergy standing, but Stroud said she would
not exercise the ministry of an ordained person until “the whole process
is concluded.”
Eastern Pennsylvania Bishop Marcus Matthews then appealed that
decision to Judicial Council. On Oct. 29, 2005, the Judicial Council
permanently removed Stroud’s credentials, reversing the appellate
court’s decision and stating she had been accorded fair and due process.
* Snell is a United Methodist Communications intern, and Noble is editor of Interpreter and Interpreter OnLine.
News media contact: Kathy Noble, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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