A group of United Methodists who boycotted their Nebraska church after the pastor performed a same-sex union ceremony last fall has decided to form its own congregation - the latest incident in the dispute over homosexuality that has roiled the 8.5 million-member church.
Same-sex ceremonies and the ordination of gays and lesbians will not be permitted at the new Nebraska church, a spokesman said, although gays and lesbians would be welcome.The congregation voted to formally sever ties with First United Methodist Church of Omaha in June.
The Rev. Jimmy Creech made national headlines last September when he performed a union ceremony of two women. About 450 congregants in the 1,900-member First United Methodist Church stopped attending the church in protest.
In March, a church trial cleared Creech of breaking denominational rules. But Nebraska Bishop Joel Martinez decided not to reappoint Creech as pastor, partly because the minister refused to promise not to perform any more same-sex unions.
Homosexuality and the issue of same-sex unions was on the docket at most of the recent meetings of 66 United Methodist regional conferences around the country. The 1996 General Conference added a sentence in the church's Social Principles asking that clergy not perform same-sex ceremonies and that United Methodist churches not be used for such services.
The Social Principles are a section in the denomination's "Book of Discipline." Debate in the church has centered around whether the principles carry the weight of church law or whether they are only advisory.
The nine-member Judicial Council, the supreme court of the United Methodist Church, will meet in Dallas in August to deal with issues related to same-sex unions and the Social Principles.