c. 1998 Religion News Service

Creech says bishop won’t reappoint him to his church

(RNS) The Rev. Jimmy Creech, the central figure in the United Methodist Church’s current firestorm over homosexuality, says his bishop has told him he will not be reappointed to his Omaha church.

Creech, who in March barely was acquitted of charges he broke church law by performing a same-sex union ceremony, said Nebraska Area Bishop Joel T. Martinez told Creech he has been unable to lead his congregation, which has lost what Creech called a”significant number”of members opposed to last September’s lesbian ceremony.”He felt that I am not going to be able to bring about a reconciliation,”Creech told the Associated Press on Tuesday (May 5). Martinez was not available for comment and it was unclear whether Martinez would appoint Creech to another pastorate.

Under Methodist rules, clergy are appointed by bishops to one year terms at a church.

Late last month, the 8.5 million-member denomination’s Council of Bishops issued a pastoral letter urging reconciliation in the church over the divisive gay issue but also unanimously reaffirming the church’s stand against its clergy performing same-sex union ceremonies.

In August, the church’s equivalent to the Supreme Court, the Judicial Council, will meet in Dallas to consider whether the denomination’s Social Principles, where the ban on same-sex ceremonies is stated, carry the force of church law.

Orthodox threaten partial boycott of World Council assembly

(RNS) A meeting of high-level representatives of 15 Orthodox churches has recommended their churches boycott worship services, common prayers and some votes taken during the World Council of Churches assembly in Zimbabwe in December.

The recommendation came out of a April 29-May 2 meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece, as a means for Eastern Orthodoxy to”express … concerns”about the direction and positions of the World Council, the international ecumenical agency with 322 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican members.

Among those attending the Thessaloniki meeting were representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the spiritual head of world Orthodoxy, and the Russian Orthodox Church, which is the largest member church in the WCC. One denomination, the Georgian Orthodox Church, has dropped its membership and retains only”observer”status with the WCC.

Some Orthodox churches have long been critical of the WCC for what they claim is a preoccupation with the concerns of the council’s Protestant members. They are particularly critical of the WCC’s use of”inclusive”_ non-male gendered _ language in worship and the presence of women priests and pastors in WCC worship.”The grievance is mainly not against the WCC itself, it is against some Protestant members of the WCC which bring to the council some elements or issues regarded by the Orthodox as unacceptable,”the Rev. George Tsetsis, the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s representative in Geneva _ headquarters of the WCC _ told Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.

Tsetsis said the recommendation not to worship and to boycott votes other than those in which Orthodoxy has a”particular interest”was a compromise”because there was pressure within some churches to send only observers to the assembly.” Even a partial boycott would be an embarrassment to the WCC, which will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in Zimbabwe. A major event at the assembly is expected to be a”re-commitment”service during which the 322 members are expected to pledge their support for ecumenism.

Ala. governor: U.S. Supreme Court rulings can be ignored

(RNS) Alabama Gov. Fob James has told the U.S. Supreme Court that state officials need not follow High Court rulings officials believe to be unconstitutional.

In court papers filed Friday (May 1), James declared his position on school prayer and asked the Supreme Court to overturn the decision of a federal judge who limited religious activities in DeKalb County public schools.

Alabama’s attorney general distanced himself from James’ action, saying the governor was not speaking for the state, the Associated Press reported.

A lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who has opposed the state in the school prayer case said the governor’s argument seemed to support an overthrow of the judicial system.”This is treasonous,”said Pamela Sumners, the attorney general.”The governor’s actions are a profound embarrassment to the state of Alabama. The governor has succeeded only in underscoring how revolutionary his thinking is.” Bob Gambacurta, the governor’s spokesman, said James was not calling for the overthrow of the U.S. court system, but he declined to comment further.”We’ll let the lawyers argue this,”he said Tuesday.

The governor also has appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Attorney General Bill Pryor also has appealed the case to that court on behalf of the state _ but in a separate action from the governor.

At issue is a ruling made by U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent, who banned Bible giveaways, teacher-led devotionals and vocal prayers during school hours. Dement also ruled that many religious practices were permitted in the schools, including silent prayer, the wearing of T-shirts and jewelry with religious sayings, and religious club meetings that abide by federal law.

In his arguments filed with the Supreme Court, James said the justices have purposely ignored the Constitution to create new rights, including the right to an abortion.”In the absence of this court’s acceptance of constitutional limitations, other constitutional officials owe no `deference’ to the decision of this court,”he stated.”No constitutional official of integrity should exercise the authority of his or her office so as to legitimize this court’s claim of unlimited power.” James also said Justice Sandra O’Connor’s”agnostic”beliefs prompted her to”close her own mind to the risk that abortion on the whole may be equivalent to murder.” Two pages of the filing, written by his lawyer son, Forrest James III, were filled with explanations of Old Testament history and quotes from the Bible.

Dissidents demand removal of Greek Orthodox archbishop

(RNS) A Greek Orthodox dissident group has called for the removal of Archbishop Spyridon, head of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

The demand, issued Friday (May 1) at a meeting in New York, is the latest skirmish in the ongoing dispute between Greek Orthodox American Leaders (GOAL) and Spyridon over his leadership of the 1.5 million-member archdiocese.

In March, GOAL set a May 1 deadline for Spyridon to respond to a list of grievances the group has concerning his alleged autocratic style and marginalization of the church’s lay leadership. GOAL maintains Spyridon’s actions violate the archdiocese charter.

When neither Spyridon nor Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew _ the Istanbul-based worldwide head of the Greek church _ responded by Friday, GOAL issued a new demand calling for Spyridon’s voluntary resignation or his reassignment.

Nikki Stephanopoulos, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said Tuesday (May 5) she knew of no plans for an archdiocese response to GOAL’s latest ultimatum.

Archdiocese officials have portrayed GOAL as a small group of malcontents with little influence in the church.

In a statement, GOAL said it will continue its”national campaign to inform the clergy and laity of the facts regarding the crisis in management of our archdiocese, facilitate a collective dialogue of the clergy and laity about these issues, and organize clergy and laity to prayerfully resolve these issues.”

Reform Jewish rabbis put off vote on gay marriages

(RNS) A potentially divisive vote on the religious validity of same-sex marriages has been shelved by Reform Judaism’s rabbinic umbrella group.

The Reform movement’s Central Conference of American Rabbis had scheduled a vote on the issue for its June 21-25 meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

However, the controversial question stirred much opposition. Particularly opposed were Reform leaders in Israel who argued that approval of same-sex marriages would do great damage to the Reform effort to gain acceptance in Israel, where a rigid Orthodoxy currently holds sway.

A committee that had studied the matter reportedly concluded that same-sex marriages could contain”kedushah,”or holiness, making them eligible for Reform ritual approval, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service.

The committee also concluded that rabbis should make their own decisions about performing same-sex marriage ceremonies.

The decision to shelve the vote was announced in a letter sent to Reform rabbis by Rabbi Richard N. Levy, CCAR president. Levy said the committee that proposed the same-sex wedding ceremony resolution has agreed to withdraw its request at this time. A counterresolution has also been withdrawn, said Levy, of Los Angeles.

Two years ago in Philadelphia, the Reform rabbis approved a resolution endorsing civil marriage for same-sex couples. Despite the lack of official policy on religious same-sex ceremonies, many Reform rabbis are known to officiate at such rites.

Levy is among the more than 200 Reform rabbis who have signed a list saying they have performed such ceremonies or would do so if asked.

One supporter of same-sex ceremonies, Rabbi Jerome Davidson of Great Neck, N.Y., said that CCAR had abdicated its responsibility by delaying the vote.”We have to do what’s right for the large number of gay and lesbian Jews, and the time is now,”he said.”Postponing it is really failing to meet a Jewish need, and we ought to be on the cutting edge.” First rabbi receives prestigious Vatican honor

(RNS) Rabbi Mordecai Waxman of Great Neck, N.Y., has become the first rabbi to be named a Knight Commander of St. Gregory by the Vatican.

Waxman, a longtime leader in Jewish-Catholic dialogue, received the papal honor Tuesday (May 5) at a luncheon in Baltimore.

Waxman, 81, is chairman of the board of the National Council of Synagogues and is the spiritual leader of Great Neck’s Temple Israel. He is a past chair of the Rabbinical Assembly, the umbrella group for Conservative rabbis.

The Order of St. Gregory the Great was established by Pope Gregory XVI in 1831 to honor citizens of the Papal States, then encompassing the west-central portion of the Italian peninsula around Rome. Today, the order is conferred on persons who are distinguished by their personal character and achievements.

Although the first rabbi to receive the St. Gregory award, Waxman is not the first Jew to be so honored. At least four lay Jewish leaders have been named Knight Commanders of St. Gregory.

Quote of the day: German Interior Minister Manfred Kanther

(RNS)”It’s a discouraging development. We have to remain on alert. We will fight extremists on the far-right, as well as the far-left, without any let up at all and we will win.” _ German Interior Minister Manfred Kanther commenting May 5 on a report showing the number of racist and anti-Semitic acts of violence in Germany rose 27 percent last year and the number of hard-core radicals capable of violence climbed 19 percent.

END RNS