Nebraska pastor who performed lesbian marriage fired
12:03 PM ET 05/06/98
OMAHA, Neb. (Reuters) - A Methodist pastor who performed a lesbian marriage last year has been fired by his bishop, church sources said Wednesday.
The Rev. Jimmy Creech was told by Bishop Joel Martinez he would not be reappointed as pastor to the First United Methodist Church in Omaha, the sources said. The church has not confirmed that Creech was fired.
Creech was narrowly acquitted in a church trial in March, where eight of 13 jurors declared he had been disobedient to "the order and discipline of the United Methodist Church." Nine votes were required for dismissal.
Creech performed the lesbian marriage in September. Some 400 of the 1,900 parishioners of First United have been meeting in "exile" at a high school in protest of his participation in the ceremony, according to a church group, the United Methodist Covenant Relationships Network.
Since Creech's trial, the church's International Council of Bishops has issued a pastoral statement reaffirming its position that pastors should not perform same-sex marriages.
The issue has divided the 9.5 million-member church, and was expected to be considered at a meeting in Dallas in August.
REUTERS
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