c. 1999 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ United Methodist Church Bishop Melvin Talbert, whose jurisdiction includes Sacramento, site of a same-sex union ceremony last weekend, said Monday (Jan. 18) he felt compelled to uphold church law barring Methodist clergy from performing such rituals.

Talbert, who heads the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the nation’s second largest Protestant denomination, made his comments in response to Saturday’s ceremony at which more than 90 Methodist clergy defied church law by officiating at a union ceremony for two lesbians.

Saturday’s ceremony _ equal parts social protest and celebration _ was organized and led by the Rev. Don Fado for two of his congregants at Sacramento’s St. Mark’s United Methodist Church. Talbert, a longtime supporter of gay rights, including same-sex ceremonies, has called Fado”one of our finest pastors.” Talbert, who was jailed during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, told RNS he sympathized with those defying the church rule barring same-sex unions and said he knew what it was”to act in conscience.”But, he said, as bishop he must uphold denominational laws and possibly hold a trial involving those who participated in the lesbian union ceremony.

A formal complaint against the ministers is expected to be filed shortly, said Talbert, who has led the California-Nevada jurisdiction for 10 years. He said any of the denomination’s 8.5 million members have the right to submit a complaint. Until then, Talbert said his office will take no immediate action.”It is too early to say what will happen,”said the bishop, who described the initial reaction to the ceremony as”mixed.” Talbert’s said his job as bishop is not to pass judgment, but merely to refer a complaint to the church’s district superintendent _ a responsibility Talbert said he will perform dutifully. “As a bishop of the church, my job is to uphold the law, even a law that I do not support,”said Talbert.

In a recent letter to clergy and lay members of the California-Nevada conference, Talbert said:”I feel that (banning same-sex unions) infringes on the sacred pastoral role one has in being priest and servant. So, while I am obliged to uphold church law, I will also continue as a strong advocate to change the position of our church to be more consistent with the teachings and compassion of Jesus.” Saturday’s ceremony was the latest twist in a long history of controversy surrounding homosexuality and, now, same-sex unions that extends back to 1972 within the United Methodist Church.

In 1996, the denomination’s General Conference _ the church’s highest legislative body _ added a sentence to its Social Principles barring clergy from performing same-sex union ceremonies.

The following year, the Rev. Jimmy Creech challenged that statement when he joined a lesbian couple from his Omaha, Neb., congregation. A complaint was brought against Creech, who was narrowly cleared of the charge by a church tribunal.

But in August 1998, the denomination’s Judicial Council, in effect its top court, essentially overturned the tribunal’s decision, saying the ban in the Social Principles had the force of church law.

Soon after, the minister of a Methodist church in Chicago with a high percentage of gay and lesbian parishioners, performed a similar union for two men from his congregation. The Rev. Gregory Dell, from the Broadway United Church in Chicago, is currently awaiting a church trial. Dell said he had been performing such ceremonies for at least 17 years.

When Fado expressed his desire to lead a public same-sex ceremony as an”act of ecclesiastical disobedience,”Ellie Charlton and Jeanne Barnett volunteered. The two women have lived together for 15 years and both hold respected volunteer and elected positions within the church.

In addition to Fado and the other ministers at Saturday’s event, another 70 United Methodist clergy signed a statement as officiating”in absentia”in support of the same-sex ceremony. More than 1,000 supporters _ including gays, lesbians and church leaders _ attended the all-day event, held in the Sacramento Convention Center.

As Charlton and Barnett exchanged promises of life-long love, a dozen protesters across the street from the convention center waved signs reading”Brides of Satan,””Methodist Fag Church”and”God Hates Fags”_ the last of which was sung in hymn-form by three women protesters, the Associated Press reported.

Other reaction fell along predictable lines.

The chairman of the conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy’s United Methodist committee, David Stanley, called the union”another act of betrayal by extremists who are violating the Bible, church law, and the Christian faith still believed by millions of faithful United Methodists.” In a statement, Stanley said the church is called to transform society with”good news,”not to”surrender to society’s fads and fashions. These mistaken clergy are not only violating their ordination vows; they have chosen to sacrifice the gospel to the whims of current popular culture.” But PFLAG, the organization of parents and friends of gays, welcomed the Sacramento ceremony.”Weddings _ whether legalized as marriages or celebrated as holy unions _ allow us to to celebrate our connections,”the group said in a statement.”These occasions are enriched for many by declarations of religious approval or invocation of divine blessing.”

IR END ROCKWOOD