Subject: How Soulforce Hopes "To Prevent" The Trial of Jimmy Creech
From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 08:54:35 EST

The following letter to the United Methodist Church regarding the trial of 
Jimmy Creech, Nov. 16-18, 1999, in Grand Island, Nebraska, explains the 
nonviolent direct action by the people of Soulforce "to prevent" that trial 
from taking place.  

Media are invited to attend a pre-trial Holy Union conducted by the Rev. 
Jimmy Creech on Tuesday evening, Nov. 16, at the Holiday Inn (on Locust) in 
Grand Island, Nebraska with a press conference with Jimmy and other special 
guests to follow.

OK to Copy, Forward, or Publish Without Permission

For more information, contact Mel White and Soulforce (www.soulforce.org)
    Email: <<JC OnTrial [email-masked]>> or <<[email-masked]>>
    Fax: 949-455-0959

A Second Soulforce Open Letter

To:     Bishops Grove and Martinez
        The Jury Pool and All Trial Participants
        All Clergy and Laity of the United Methodist Church

Re:     The Trial of Jimmy Creech
        Grand Island, Nebraska, Nov. 17-18, 1999

Date:   November 7, 1999

Brothers and Sisters, Greetings,

There are rumors circulating on the Internet that our Soulforce delegation is 
coming to Grand Island "to disrupt" or even "to prevent" the trial of Jimmy 
Creech.  I'm sorry that my own ill-chosen words helped launch those rumors. 
Let me try to explain our Soulforce mission more clearly.

Please understand at the outset that every Soulforce delegate has signed a 
pledge against violence, as Dr. King would say, "of the heart, the tongue, 
and the fist."  For us "to disrupt" or "to prevent" the trial would be an act 
of violence.  You can trust our Soulforce delegates to be loving and 
respectful even when we disagree with you.  We are sisters and brothers, 
children of the same Creator.  Like you, we are people of faith.  Many of us 
are United Methodists.  Reconciliation is our only goal.  You do not need to 
fear our presence in any way.

It is equally true that we do not want this second trial of Jimmy Creech to 
take place.  That choice, however, is yours, not ours.  And though you have 
no legal authority from the United Methodist Church "to prevent" the trial, 
you have the moral authority "to prevent" it by refusing to walk up those 
eleven steps into the sanctuary of the Trinity UMC.  We know this would take 
an act of moral courage, the same kind of courage Jimmy Creech has shown, and 
we beg you to consider it.

You may sincerely believe that this trial is a private affair between Jimmy 
Creech and the United Methodist Church.  Because of a recent ruling of your 
Judicial Council, in co-officiating in the Holy Union of a gay couple, Jimmy 
Creech has committed a chargeable offense.  We assume that you would prefer 
not to judge a colleague for his act of conscience, but you feel responsible 
as a member of the UMC to do your duty if even it is unpleasant.  

Consider another possibility.  Could it be that refusing to participate in 
this trial is that rare opportunity for you to perform your own historic act 
of conscience?  Gandhi says "it is as much our moral obligation to refuse to 
cooperate with evil as it is to cooperate with good."  Jimmy Creech has 
broken an unjust law.  Could it be possible that by trying Jimmy you are 
aiding and abetting the evil consequences of that unjust law and that by 
refusing to try him you would be taking an historic stand for justice?

We believe that the trial is an act of violence against all God's lesbian, 
gay, bisexual, and transgendered children.  We also see the trial as an act 
of spiritual violence against Jimmy Creech and all other UMC ministers who 
are persuaded by their conscience to add their blessing to the same-gender 
relationships that God has already blessed.  You don't mean to participate in 
an "act of violence."  And I may fail in this attempt to explain why your 
decision to try Jimmy Creech will have violent consequences in the lives of 
my sisters and brothers, but I must try.

I'm sure you felt anger and grief when you saw pictures of Fred Phelps 
carrying his "GOD HATES FAGS" sign at the funeral of Matthew Shepard.  For 
Phelps to misrepresent God and the Scriptures to support his own bigotry was 
clearly an act of spiritual violence.  And though your motives are entirely 
different from Fred Phelps we are convinced that this trial is just another 
"GOD HATES FAGS" sign that the media will broadcast to the nation.  Only this 
time, the sign is not carried by an obviously disturbed man but by the United 
Methodist Church, an historic, well-respected denomination with a history of 
social concern.  Few people are confused when Phelps carries the sign.  You 
risk confusing millions when that sign is in your hands.

Whatever your verdict, this trial will declare that you believe that our 
loving, faithful, same-gender relationships are condemned by God and by the 
United Methodist Church. Therefore, the heterosexual majority looking on will 
conclude that our loving, faithful, same-gender relationships should also be 
condemned by our friends and families, our pastors, deacons, and elders, by 
our employers and landlords, and by drunken thugs carrying baseball bats, 
knives, and guns.

Whatever your verdict, the trial will declare to America's gay and lesbian 
minority that you believe that the love we feel for each other is sick and 
sinful; that what seems natural to us is unnatural in God's eyes; that we 
should hide our relationships or forfeit them altogether; and that we should 
attempt instead to satisfy our God-given need for same-gender intimacy and 
affection through occasional promiscuous sex rather than loving, committed 
relationships.  

Worse, though you don't mean to say it, this trial will reinforce the 
terrible untruth that God doesn't love the GLBT individuals that God has 
created.  That message cripples the souls of our sisters and brothers and 
plunges all too many of them into years of self-hatred, worthless 
"reparative" therapies, loneliness, suffering, and even death.  Or it causes 
many others to leave the church, give up their faith, and end their spiritual 
journeys altogether. 

Whatever your verdict, this trial will declare that people like Jimmy Creech 
who believe that our loving, committed relationships are ordained and blessed 
by God are no longer welcome in the United Methodist Church.  And it will 
make unmistakably clear that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people 
of faith, as well as our friends and families are not really welcome either.

To help prevent these acts of spiritual violence, we are hoping and praying 
that just one of you (if not all of you) will refuse to walk up those steps 
on Wednesday morning, November 17, 1999.  We will continue to respect you and 
consider you our brothers and sisters if you decide that we are wrong (and we 
might be).  We certainly will not prevent you from entering Trinity UMC if 
you decide against us.  But, in our sincere effort to help you re-examine 
your decision one last time before walking through those doors into the 
courtroom, our Soulforce delegation is drawing three  lines in the sand (or 
on the sidewalk) around the church on Fifth Avenue and Elm Street that you 
must cross before you can start the trial.

The first line is invisible.  It is the line that conscience draws around 
Trinity UMC.  What is your heart saying about this trial and your 
participation in it?  When you silence all of the conflicting voices 
(including ours) what is the still small voice of God whispering to you about 
the Trial of Jimmy Creech?  If you have any doubt about entering that 
sanctuary turned tribunal, don't do it.  As a member and employee of the 
United Methodist Church you are responsible to perform faithfully the tasks 
assigned you, but in Christ you are urged to place the authority of the Holy 
Spirit above all earthly powers.  Have you heard God's voice in this matter? 
If God has told you to try Jimmy Creech then we will not stand in your way; 
but if you decide that the Holy Spirit is leading you to support Jimmy in his 
stand for sexual minorities and against this act of spiritual violence, then 
do not cross the line.  

The second line is also invisible.  It is the line that the Christian 
community draws around Trinity UMC.  There are literally thousands of loyal 
UMC members praying for you.  There are tens of thousands of GLBT people of 
faith and our friends and families who are praying that you will not try 
Jimmy Creech.  Do you know anyone who is praying that this trial will take 
place?  

Those who are praying that the trial won't take place have at least three 
concerns.  First, we are concerned about the present and what this trial will 
say to the watching world about Christ and His body the church (let alone 
about the UMC).  Second, we are concerned that you are ignoring lessons 
learned from the past that organized religion has placed on trial all the 
wrong people and lived to regret it.  Third, we are concerned that you are 
ignoring the future, what history will say about this trial when the UMC 
finally realizes that same-sex orientation is another mysterious gift from 
God to be accepted, celebrated, and lived with integrity.  If you have 
considered the past, the present, and the future implications of this trial 
and still decide to try Jimmy Creech, we will not stand in your way; but if 
you decide that you cannot add your name to this historic event, then do not 
cross the line.

The third invisible line is the line that Christ draws around Trinity UMC.  
We all agree that He is risen and among us, but where will He be standing on 
Wednesday morning, Nov. 17? We picture him standing outside Trinity UMC with 
us.  Where do you picture him?  Would he enter those doors to place Jimmy 
Creech on trial?  Or would he be outside protesting this event?  Jesus was 
violent just once in His life when he drove the moneychangers from the 
temple.  To Jesus, God's house was a house of prayer for the outcasts.  His 
dream was and is the same for your church and for mine.  Would He use that 
sacred space that was ordained as a place of prayer for the outcast to try 
Jimmy Creech, the outcast's friend? It's very popular these days to ask "What 
would Jesus do?"  It's a lot harder to do it. 

Because we are convinced that Jesus would not enter Trinity UMC to place 
Jimmy Creech on trial for blessing a relationship that God has already 
blessed, we are going to make visible with our bodies that line that Jesus 
draws.  

On Tuesday evening, November 16, at 7PM at the Holiday Inn on Locust in Grand 
Island, Nebraska, we are going to reinact the Holy Union that has led to this 
tragic and traumatic trial. Our "instant replay" of that beautiful service 
will be co-officiated by the Rev. Jimmy Creech and will include the same two 
gay men who took their vows that night, the same liturgy and music, even the 
same flowers and unity candle.  You are invited to see for yourself what 
Jimmy Creech has done.  Wouldn't seeing that Holy Union service help you know 
whether or not your law is just and whether or not enforcing the law an act 
of justice? We are inviting the media to be present as well.  Unfortunately, 
we will be holding this sacred service in a banquet room because no church in 
Grand Island would give us sanctuary for this event. 

After that Holy Union service, our Soulforce delegation is moving to those 
same eleven steps that you must climb to try Jimmy Creech.  To show our 
genuine concern that this trial must not take place, we will hold a 
candlelight worship and vigil on the steps. Then in shifts, we will continue 
that vigil of concern throughout the entire night.  

On Wednesday morning, November 17, as the sun rises, the entire Soulforce 
delegation will gather on the steps again to make visible the line we feel 
that Jesus has drawn.  Exactly one hour before the trial is scheduled to 
begin two of our delegates will lock arms at the bottom of the stairway.  The 
Chief of Police in Grand Island has advised that after locking their arms for 
one minute blocking the entrance symbolically (there will still be room for 
you to pass), that couple will be arrested. Immediately, another couple will 
take their place.  

For one hour the symbolic civil disobedience and the arrests will continue.  
Our Soulforce action will be in total silence.  We respect your decision 
either way and will not shame, coerce, or intimidate you if you make your way 
up the stairs.  However, if you lock arms with us in our symbolic act and 
refuse to take those eleven steps into history, we will celebrate your 
courage and bless your name.   

You may join us in being arrested or just join the line of those who stand 
with us in solidarity. A city official will issue a $48 fine.  Once you've 
paid your fine, you will be released on the spot. There will be no trip to 
jail.  The arrest will not appear on any official record but the record you 
carry in your heart.  After you have paid your fine, please join us for our 
continuing vigil on the steps.  

If the trial is convened we will continue our candlelight vigil until it is 
adjourned.  If Jimmy Creech is found guilty, our last Soulforce act, will be 
to put on black armbands that demonstrate our grief and signal a period of 
mourning for the United Methodist Church. We will pray one last prayer that 
truth will finally conquer untruth in your midst.  Then we will carry our 
candles from Trinity United Methodist Church in a slow, silent procession 
that symbolizes to us the Holy Spirit's departure from that place.  How can 
Christ remain where any of God's children are no longer welcome?  And though 
we would grieve the departure of the Holy Spirit from the United Methodist 
Church, we would also clearly demonstrate not resignation but resolve to 
continue to work for full acceptance by the UMC of God's lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgendered children and for your blessing of our gay and 
lesbian relationships.

One last time we beg you to exercise your individual moral right to help us 
prevent this trial.  Lock arms with us.  Be arrested or stand in solidarity 
with us.  Write your check for bail.  Save the cancelled check.  And one day 
when the United Methodist Church discovers what science, history, and 
personal experience have already taught us that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgendered people are God's children, too; one day when the UMC can 
celebrate with us our love for each other and God's blessing on that love; 
one day when we are welcomed home to the churches of our childhood and 
granted all the sacraments of the church once again, you can take out that 
cancelled check and show it to your lesbian granddaughter or gay grandson and 
say proudly, "I'm glad I didn't go up those steps."   We are betting our 
souls on the fact that one day, Christ himself will answer, "I'm glad, too."