Subject: NEWS BULLETIN 1: On The Scene of the Trial of Jimmy Creech
From: UfmccHq <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 12:51:52 EST

N E W S   B U L L E T I N

Press contact information located at end of bulletin.

THE TRIAL OF JIMMY CREECH

A Report from Kearney, Nebraska 
By the Rev. Dr. Mel White, Justice Minister UFMCC

Bulletin 1.  (Wednesday, March 11, 1998)

Today, in Kearney, Nebraska, the Reverend Jimmy Creech will be tried before a
jury of his peers for "conducting a homosexual union" and in the process
"disobeying the Order and Discipline of the United Methodist Church."  This
historic trial will be a first for America's third largest Protestant
denomination, a Christian church with a long history of civil rights activism.
After a lifetime of distinguished service to his denomination, Mr. Creech
faces the very real possibility that his credentials will be revoked and his
career as a United Methodist Minister ended.

"Frankly," Pastor Creech explains, "I don't feel that I'm in trouble.  I feel
the Church is in trouble for choosing to deny God's blessings of grace,
support, and care to anyone."

As senior minister of Omaha's First United Methodist Church, Pastor Creech
celebrated a lesbian couple's holy union in September, 1997, after being
advised by his bishop that it would be "in violation of the Order and
Discipline" and that if he proceeded "charges would be brought against him."

"I want to be accountable to my bishop and to my church," Mr. Creech
confesses, "but I could not withhold God's blessing from these two faithful
members of my congregation.  I told the bishop that I believed the United
Methodist Church was wrong [in its position to withhold the blessing of a holy
union from same-sex couples] and that to abide by that position would give
credence and power to it."

On Friday, when the jury of thirteen Methodist ministers from across Nebraska
announce their verdict,  lesbian and gay Americans will have a lot clearer
picture of where we stand in our quest for full and unqualified acceptance by
the Christian churches we have loved and served.  In 1997, when the United
States Congress passed and President Clinton signed into law the "Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA)," the states were given legal permission to deny us the
1,047 rights of marriage.   Now, United Methodism is deciding whether an
individual pastor will face censor and trial for granting lesbian and gay
congregants the marriage rites. 

"My trial will determine," Mr. Creech explains,  "whether or not - by blessing
two people who have shared their vows of love and fidelity with God's grace -
I have violated the integrity of the Church.  I have to tell you," he adds,
"that the integrity of the Church was violated when the Church decided to
prohibit the celebration of the love and fidelity of two people regardless of
their gender, regardless of their sex."

The trial will take place in the Family Life Center gymnasium at Kearney's
First United Methodist Church. After selecting the jury on Wednesday,  the
prosecution will present its case and  its witnesses.  The United Methodist
Church is the prosecutor.  The "prosecuting attorney" or church counsel is the
Rev. Lauren Ekdahl, a Methodist pastor from Lincoln, Nebraska.  The assistant
to the church counsel is Warren Urbom, a Methodist layman and current federal
district court judge.  The complainant is the Reverend Glenn Loy, a Methodist
pastor from Ogallala, Nebraska, and his counsel is the Reverend Jeff Thurman,
of the Stromsburg-Polk United Methodist Churches. Rev. Loy brought the initial
complaint against Jimmy Creech. 

Mr. Creech is the defendant. His counsel is Dr. Doug Williamson, Professor of
Religion at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, assisted by Mike
McClellan, an attorney in Omaha and a member of Jimmy Creech's church.  The
Presiding Bishop, the Rev. Leroy Hodapp, hopes to conclude the trial and
announce the verdict by late Friday afternoon.

Last night, on the eve of the Jimmy Creech trial, a group of about fifty
friends and supporters from his church in Omaha, from PFLAG, from the
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, and from other
concerned activist and spirit groups, gathered at the Kearney United Methodist
Church "to exorcise the demons of fear, ignorance, arrogance, and control -
those influences and power not of God which are preying upon the United
Methodist Church and holding it captive to alien principalities and power."
George D. McClain, the Executive Director of The Methodist Federation for
Social Action, led those who had assembled in the church choir room in Bible
readings, communion, the prayers of "social exorcism" and a sung blessing for
Jimmy Creech, "And God Will Bear You Up On Eagle's Wings."

During that pre-trial event, I presented Jimmy Creech a gold Star of David
embossed with a pink triangle, the badge homosexual Jews were forced to wear
in the concentration camps of the Third Reich.  I promised Jimmy publicly that
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Christians and non-Christians alike
would also "bear him up" during the next three days of trial.  Please, help me
keep that promise.

Editor's Note: If you are a journalist and need more information during the
Jimmy Creech trial,  (March 11-13, 1998), call the Regency Inn in Kearney,
Nebraska: Ph: 308-237-3141  Fax: 308-234-4675. Ask for Information Suite 200.
Or you can contact Mel White or his partner, Gary Nixon, at the Regency Inn,
Room 253, or by E-mail at [email-masked].

======================================================================

From: UfmccHq <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 12:59:34 EST
Subject: NEWS BULLETIN 2: On The Scene of the Trial of Jimmy Creech

The Trial of Jimmy Creech

A Soulforce Report from Kearney, Nebraska, 
By the Rev. Dr. Mel White, Justice Minister UFMCC

Bulletin 2.  (Thursday, March 12, 1998)

GHOSTS TESTIFY AT THE TRIAL OF JIMMY CREECH

Jury selection for the trial of Jimmy Creech began and ended yesterday in less
than three hours in the First Methodist Church in Kearney, Nebraska.  And the
unsung heroes and sheroes of that amazing day were gays and lesbians who had
the courage to come out five, ten, fifteen years ago to the very men and women
who, decades later, would be trying Reverend Creech for disobeying the Order
and Discipline of his church by marrying a lesbian couple.

Outside, the chill factor held steady at 27 degrees below zero; while inside,
the spotlights from at least a half dozen television crews flooded the
entrance with heat and light. Gary and I dashed across the church parking lot,
ankle-deep in icy slush and freshly fallen snow, through a cordon of
television, radio, and print reporters, into the rapidly filling gymnasium
where the front two rows of prospective jurors sat waiting.

As we entered the gym, witnesses for the prosecution and the defense were
signing in; but   there were other witnesses standing ready in the memories of
those jurors, unseen witnesses living and dead, lesbian and gay witnesses
whose words still echoed, whose smiles still lingered, whose tears still
flowed in the minds and hearts of those thirty-five United Methodist clergy in
the jury pool.  It was Jimmy's chief counsel, Doug Williamson, who brought
these ghosts to life with the question that always makes the difference.  

"Have you known any gay people," he asked them, "and if you have, how have
they affected your life?"  Suddenly, they were there in the gymnasium with us,
all those lesbians and gays from the past who had influenced the lives of
these United Methodist clergy men and women, walking up and down the aisles of
that ad-hoc courtroom, telling their haunting, hopeful stories. And as we
watched, Bishop Hadopp and his court, sitting before us on stackable chairs
behind folding tables underneath the basketball hoop directly over the little
wooden cross and the burning candle, finally listened to the jurist's replies.

I sat just four rows behind jurist number one who suddenly found herself
facing a question that could not be answered with a simple "yes" or "no"
reply. For a fleeting second she remained silent, then with clarity and calm
she spoke the truth, her own deeply painful and awkwardly personal truth and
her truth brought warm, fresh air rushing into that gym like the wind of God
once flowed into a room above Jerusalem. "My older sister is a lesbian," she
said quietly, "in a long-term relationship with another woman." 

Maybe I imagined it, but it seemed to me that for the first time that day,
everybody present at the trial leaned forward to listen. "When Sis came out to
us, my mother was confused,"  the clergywoman confessed, "and so was I.  But
we are family.  Today, my mother is a member of PFLAG [Parents, Family, and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays].My sister and I are close friends."

"In seminary," another clergy began, "I had three close friends who were gay."
"And how did that effect your life?" Mr. Williamson asked.  "I had to face my
fears and deal with them, honestly," he replied. "Did your friends go on to be
ordained," Jimmy's counsel asked. "Yes, two of them," he answered, "and years
later, they are still proving their call by their effective ministries."

"My ex-husband is gay," a second clergywoman offered, and I swallowed hard,
fearing the kind of story that might caricature and demean gay men and
lesbians who had entered into heterosexual marriage, hoping to resolve their
secret struggles.  "How do you feel about him today," Mr. Williamson asked.
"Oh, we've maintained a close relationship," she assured him, and I felt
ashamed that I had assumed the worst.  "We've spent a lot of time struggling
to make sense of it all," she confessed, "but we are still friends." 
 
 "When I was young, and a member of a very fundamentalist church," a third
clergy woman began, "a close friend confessed that she was gay. Unfortunately,
I wasn't ready to understand her pain."  "What happened?" the counsel asked.
"I lost her as a friend," the woman answered and you could feel the lingering
pain in her voice. "What would you do differently next time," he asked. "I
would love her no matter what," the clergywoman answered without hesitation,
"and I would be there for her."

A former military chaplain remembered his service days before "Don't ask!
Don't tell!" went into law. As an officer he felt it necessary to turn in the
young recruits who confessed their homosexuality, "…but I couldn't help but be
touched by their personal stories," he added.

One clergywoman admitted that in college the only man she had felt safe with
was a gay man.  Several clergy knew lesbian and gay couples in their
congregations living together in  loving, loyal, long-term relationships.
Other United Methodist clergy had gay neighbors who had become close friends.
One remembered sadly having a "best friend" in college who threatened suicide
and then "…just disappeared."  

At least four different Nebraska clergy waiting to try Jimmy Creech admitted
that they knew ordained gay ministers in the United Methodist Church.  "Have
you asked them to turn in their credentials?" Mr. Williamson questioned. "Have
you considered bringing charges against them?"  In turn, each potential jurist
answered, "No."  "And why not?" the defense counsel asked, "Because they are
good ministers," each replied, "and good friends," several added.

No cameras were allowed in the courtroom yesterday.  No tape recorders were
rolling.  I had to paraphrase these testimonials from my sketchy notes. But
the heart of each story was clear.

These good clergymen and women from Nebraska had been permanently changed by
the lives of lesbians and gays who had dared to tell their stories to friends
and family.  By coming out, they had left permanent, positive memories in the
hearts of thirteen men and women selected for the jury.  Now, if these jurists
dare to follow where their heart leads them, they just might save the day (and
in the process help save the church) as the court gathers this morning to
begin phase two in the trial of Jimmy Creech. 

(END)

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Although Bishop Hodapp refused to let Mel White's camera crew
video tape the trial, Mel's new video, "The Trials of Jimmy Creech" documents
this man's amazing life  journey through an intimate, revealing interview and
press conference.  The video is available by sending a check made out to VIDEO
3 for $10 (for duplicating, packaging, and mailing) to Soulforce Videos, P.O.
Box 4467, Laguna Beach, CA. 92652.   As with all of Mel's videos, you have
permission to copy "The Trials of Jimmy Creech" and share the video with
family and friends (or broadcast it on local television or cable access
stations.) If you include a second,  tax-deductible check to made out to UFMCC
and sent to the above address, one-half of your donation will go directly to
Jimmy Creech to help pay his trial expenses and one-half will help underwrite
mailing the videos to clergy across the nation with a personal letter from
Jimmy Creech.

======================================================================

From: UfmccHq <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 14:04:22 EST
Subject: NEWS BULLETIN 3: On The Scene of the Trial of Jimmy Creech

The Trial of Jimmy Creech

A Soulforce Report from Kearney, Nebraska, 
By the Rev. Dr. Mel White, Justice Minister UFMCC

Bulletin 3.  (Friday, March 13, 1998)

A Prophet Speaks at the Trial of Jimmy Creech

4:00 AM.  While fumbling for the "off" button on the motel alarm clock, I
knocked my glasses and a pile of change into an empty metal wastebasket.  Gary
bolted up in bed, muttered a quiet profanity, pulled the covers over his head,
and is at this moment trying to go back to sleep, wondering, I'm sure, why he
married a gay, Christian clergyman determined to spend these endless days and
sleepless nights in Kearney, Nebraska, reporting on the trial of Jimmy Creech.

Yesterday, we sat for thirteen back-breaking, mind-numbing hours on metal
folding chairs in a church gym-turned-courtroom listening to witnesses being
examined and cross-examined by the Rev. Lauren Ekdal, counsel for the United
Methodist Church, and the Rev. Doug Williamson, defense counsel for the Rev.
Jimmy Creech.  The audience was packed with members of his congregation in
their matching sweat shirts, pins and stickers reading "Support Jimmy."  They
had left homes, schools, and jobs and driven three hours from Omaha to stand
with their pastor during his "inquisition."

On the stand, one-by-one, distinguished leaders from Jimmy's church supported
fervently his commitment to the full acceptance of lesbians and gay men.
William Jenks, the program director of an Omaha radio station and a member of
Jimmy's congregation leaned towards the jury and spoke eloquently: "This goes
to the very heart of what it means to be a Christian," he concluded.  "A
slumbering giant has been awakened.  It will not go back to sleep again."

Today, the historic verdict will be announced and already, just outside the
Kearney United Methodist Church,  television remote trucks from CNN, the
networks, and local TV affiliates from across Nebraska are parked among the
snowdrifts with giant satellite dishes pointed heavenward, thick, blood-red
cables snaking their way through the icy slush, and half-frozen crew members
thawing out on coffee provided by smiling, frontier Methodist women in short
sleeves because the temperature has risen to 9 degrees above zero.

This rare church trial against the distinguished senior pastor of Omaha's
1,900 member First United Methodist Church, will decide if Rev. Creech is
guilty of "disobedience to the Order and Discipline of the United Methodist
Church."Another Methodist minister in Omaha originated the complaint against
his fellow pastor because on September 14, 1997, Jimmy Creech performed a
"covenanting ceremony that celebrated a homosexual union between two women in
his congregation."  

Yesterday, on the stand, Jimmy Creech admitted proudly that during his 29 year
ministry he has presided over dozens of these "covenanting ceremonies"
celebrating the pledge of "love and fidelity between two lesbians or two gay
men" and that regardless of the verdict of this trial court, he would be
"compelled by his commitment to the unqualified, all-accepting love of Jesus"
to continue that practice faithfully.

In fact, Jimmy Creech's alleged act of disobedience to his bishop and the
Methodist Book of Discipline is not the real issue here.  Conservative forces
within this third largest American denomination are struggling to control the
United Methodist Church, using their anti-homosexual fear tactics to raise
money and mobilize volunteers.  Jimmy is caught in the middle between the
urge-to-purge forces of fundamentalism and Methodism's historic commitment to
"justice, mercy, and truth" that began with the founding of this denomination
in 1784 by John and Charles Wesley, missionary-evangelists to the native
American Indians.  

There are growing signs of hope that justice, mercy and truth will conquer
ignorance, and fear.  Already, more than 1,000 Methodist ministers have signed
"In All Things Charity" a petition urging full, unqualified membership to
lesbians and gay men, including the marriage rites. There are 144 "Reconciling
United Methodist Congregations" who have voted officially to go public with
their full acceptance of God's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered
children and uncounted Methodist ministers who perform "covenanting
ceremonies" in private for their homosexual congregants. 

Until 1996, the United Methodist Church had no prohibition of such unions.
That year, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church, representing
36,000 American congregations, added these words to the "Social Principles" (a
22 page introduction to their weighty Book of Discipline): "Ceremonies that
celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall
not be conducted in our churches." 

Jimmy believes the "Social Principles" are guidelines for local pastors, not
laws to be enforced.  The prosecution disagrees. Yesterday, the Rev. Kenneth
Hicks, a retired United Methodist bishop implied quite clearly that if Jimmy
Creech couldn't obey church disciplines, he should leave the church.  Jimmy's
reply moved friends and foes alike.

"My credentials will have to be taken from me," he said quietly. "I will not
surrender them. It is my responsibility to give pastoral support to all
people, to share the message of God's grace with everyone. The United
Methodist Church is wrong in its position [against homosexuals].  I cannot
abide by it. To abide by it would give credence to it. Had I chosen not to do
the covenant ceremony, it would have been the same as turning my credentials
in, of saying I am no longer a pastor, of really forfeiting the call from
Christ that has come to me."

Yesterday, in the din of droning voices, we heard a prophet speak.  Today we
learn from the Trial Court's verdict whether the United Methodist church will
honor their prophet, heed his wisdom and his warnings or take away his
credentials and bar him from the Church. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDITOR'S NOTE: Although Bishop Hodapp refused to let Mel White's camera crew
video tape the trial, Mel's new video, "The Trials of Jimmy Creech" documents
this man's amazing life  journey through an intimate, revealing interview and
press conference.  The video is available by sending a check made out to VIDEO
3 for $10 (for duplicating, packaging, and mailing) to Soulforce Videos, P.O.
Box 4467, Laguna Beach, CA. 92652.   As with all of Mel's videos, you have
permission to copy "The Trials of Jimmy Creech" and share the video with
family and friends (or broadcast it on local television or cable access
stations.) If you include a second,  tax-deductible check to made out to UFMCC
and sent to the above address, one-half of your donation will go directly to
Jimmy Creech to help pay his trial expenses and one-half will help underwrite
mailing the videos to clergy across the nation with a personal letter from
Jimmy Creech. (For more information: www.soulforce.org.)

(END)

======================================================================

From: UfmccHq <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 15:38:42 EST
Subject: NEWS BULLETIN 4: The Jimmy Creech Verdict Is In

The Trial of Jimmy Creech

A Soulforce Alert from Kearney, Nebraska, 
By the Rev. Dr. Mel White, Justice Minister UFMCC

Bulletin #4.  (Saturday, March 14, 1998)

The Jimmy Creech Verdict Is In

The trial court (jury) filed back into the Kearney United Methodist gym
yesterday at 6:40PM.  After asking the pastors and the people in 36,000 United
Methodist Churches across America "to receive the verdict in a spirit of love
and reconciliation," the jury foreman read the numbers.  I was sitting just to
the right of Rev. Jimmy Creech and his defense team, watching these three men
as the verdict came down. Jimmy looked over his shoulder at his wife, Chris,
and smiled wearily.

"On the Specification [that Jimmy Creech had conducted a covenant ceremony for
two women in Omaha's First United Methodist Church], 11 guilty, 2 not guilty."

Somehow, Jimmy maintained his poise. Chris looked stunned. I died a little. If
this third largest Protestant denomination had no room for Jimmy Creech, it
had no room for God's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered children. And
yet we are their organist-choirmasters, their Sunday School teachers, youth
ministers, and pastors.  Television crews were poised at the back of the
auditorium like pioneers before a Nebraska land rush. What would I say that
would express our righteous anger and at the same time give hope and healing?

"On the Charge [that by performing the covenant ceremony for two women, Jimmy
Creech had violated the Order and Discipline of the United Methodist Church],
8 guilty, 5 not guilty."

Seconds passed. No one moved.  Then, together, we did the math.  The United
Methodist Book of Discipline requires nine votes to convict. Jimmy had been
found "innocent" by a single vote. Though he had broken the letter of a brand
new law against same-sex covenant ceremonies, the jury decided that by meeting
the pastoral needs of two women in his congregation he had fulfilled the
spirit of Christ upon which the laws of the United Methodist Church are based.
A message had been sent, not just to Methodism but to Christians around the
world.  If we are to be followers of Jesus, love must triumph over law.  

Bishop Leroy Hodapp declared the trial ended. The audience gave Rev. Creech
and his defense team a standing ovation and members of Jimmy's congregation,
wearing their "Support Jimmy" buttons and matching sweatshirts, stood in a
large circle, grabbed hands and began to sing, "Hallelujah. Hallelujah." Jimmy
and his defense team, Doug Williamson and Mike McClellan, were swept up in a
media frenzy.  I counted fourteen TV cameras, endless radio and print
reporters all wanting to hear from Jimmy.  CNN broadcast that moment live.
Maybe you saw it. As his people sang, Pastor Creech told the nation quietly,
"This is a victory for both sides.  No one loses here." 

And Jimmy is correct.  By a very close margin United Methodists in Nebraska
have decided that the dialogue about sexual orientation must advance to a new
level, that no one should be excluded, that there are plenty of seats at this
table.  If you doubt that there is a new wind blowing, I wish you could have
been in that "courtroom" yesterday to hear the expert witnesses being examined
on the stand.  

Rev. Phillip Wogaman, Pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington,
D.C., President Clinton's pastor: 
"Gay and lesbian Christians are already in our churches if we would only open
our eyes and see them.  Their commitments to each other, to Christ, and to our
Church are authentic.  They number among our finest leaders.  They fit
normally and actively.  They only want to be affirmed for what they are." 

Betty Dorr, PFLAG Mom,  Sunday School teacher, United Methodist Women's
Society:
"My son's gay sexuality is a gift from God. Our churches must take on the
responsibility of studying, learning, and accepting our gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgendered members.  My two heterosexual children were married in their
churches.  I'm dreaming of that day when my gay son will fall in love and come
home to celebrate his covenant ceremony in ours."

Gregory Herek, Full Research Psychologist, University of California at Davis: 
([email-masked] or visit http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow )
"In times past, religious leaders supported their ignorance about
homosexuality by calling it a ‘sin.' Secular authorities by calling it a
‘crime.'  Psychologists and psychiatrists by calling it a ‘sickness.' Now the
research has been done. Homosexuality is not a ‘sin,' a ‘crime,' or a
‘sickness.' People who still use those old labels, are really saying nothing
more than ‘We disapprove of homosexuality or we dislike homosexuals.'

When Dr. Herek was questioned about the paradox at the heart of the United
Methodist Book of Discipline - Methodists acknowledge that "sexuality is God's
good gift to all persons" but they prohibit homosexual behavior - his reply
brought  laughter to a very somber day.  "I oppose Methodism," he said
grinning, "but I support Methodists, as long as they don't perform Methodist
practices." The analogy was painfully clear.  Even the opposition joined in
the laughter.

At this moment, I'm back in our hotel room.  Gary is packing away our long
johns. (It's 54 degrees, not a bad jump from yesterday's 9 degrees.) Today we
drive to Omaha and Sunday we fly home to Laguna Beach to finish work on our
new video, The Trials of Jimmy Creech. CNN is still broadcasting from the
courtroom.  Someone from Jimmy's church who disapproves or dislikes
homosexuals has just informed the media that "He's not going to be my pastor."
Already the celebration has ended and the work of reconciliation has begun.
Jesus said, "Love your enemies."  George Burns replied, "It will drive them
crazy." Gandhi added, "...and set you both free."

If you think the Christian religion has been the enemy of God's lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgendered children, you are correct. If the thought of going
back to your church or to any church (or synagogue) makes you crazy, it's OK.
I understand. But something happened today in Kearney, Nebraska, that made me
feel hope again, hope that truth will triumph, that old prejudices will die,
that ignorance is losing its powerful hold, not just here but across the
nation and around the world. But it cannot happen without us.  

Behind me, on CNN, in a courtroom in Kearney, Nebraska, a young, gay, African-
American from the Midwest who has been a victim of religious racism and
homophobia all his life is hugging a privileged white Southerner from Raleigh,
North Carolina. TV cameras broadcast the scene.  "You did it, Jimmy," the
black youth says grinning up at his pastor in complete disbelief. "We did it,
Roy," Jimmy replies, "together." For a moment, Jimmy Creech just holds the
young man.  Tears stream down both faces.  Their smiles light up the room.
Then Rev. Creech adds quietly, "Now the work begins."

EDITOR'S NOTE:  If you are interested in receiving a copy of Mel White's new
(30 minute) video, The Trials Of Jimmy Creech, send a check for $10 made out
to Video 3 to Soulforce Videos, P.O. Box 4467, Laguna Beach, CA. 92652.  For
$25 you will also receive Mel's videos, How Can I Be Sure That God Loves Me,
Too? and The Rhetoric of Intolerance. You have permission to copy the videos
to share them with your friends and family. If you would like a complimentary
copy of Mel and Gary's Soulforce newsletter, a quarterly report on their
justice ministry based on the principles of nonviolence taught by Gandhi and
King, just write or E-mail your name and address. To keep in touch, see Mel's
new web page: (www.soulforce.org).

NOTE: If you received duplicates of this Soulforce Alert, if you want to
change your email address, or if you want to remove your name from Mel's
Soulforce Alert list, just let us know.  We are receiving your duplicate
advisories and will correct our little Soulforce list early next week. Thanks,
Gary

PS: The following statement on human sexuality can be found in the Book of
Discipline of the United Methodist Church.  These words will give you hope
that one day, in the churches and synagogues of this nation,  all the
confusion and misunderstanding about God's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgendered children will end.

"We recognize that sexuality is God's good gift to all persons.  We believe
persons may be fully human only when that gift is acknowledged and affirmed by
themselves, the church, and society.  We call all persons to the disciplined,
responsible fulfillment of themselves, others, and society in the stewardship
of this gift.  We also recognize our limited understanding of this complex
gift and encourage the medical, theological, and social science disciplines to
combine in a determined effort to understand human sexuality more completely.
We call the church to take the leadership role in bringing together these
disciplines to address this most complex issue.  Further, within the context
of our understanding of this gift of God, we recognize that God challenges us
to find responsible, committed, and loving forms of expression."     Methodist
Book of Discipline, 65G.

(END)

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
James N. Birkitt, Jr.
UFMCC Communications Department
8704 Santa Monica Blvd.,  2nd Floor
West Hollywood, CA  90069

Tel. (310) 360-8640
Fax: (310) 360-8680

E-mail: [email-masked]

website: http://www.ufmcc.com