Epworth Church welcomes author Jimmy Creech Nov. 17
The Reconciling Ministries and the Social Justice Pathway of Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth Beach will host author and former United Methodist pastor Jimmy Creech Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 17 and 18. He is the author of “Adam’s Gift - A Memoir of a Pastor’s Calling to Defy the Church’s Persecution of Lesbians and Gays,” published by Duke University Press in 2011.
Creech, who was removed from ordained ministry, will present his views of the injustice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. Saturday. This will be followed by a short question-and-answer period and a book signing. The public is invited to this free event. The Saturday evening presentation will be American Sign Language interpreted, as well as the Sunday 9:30 a.m. Praise! Worship service. Creech will also present the sermon at all three services on Sunday.
“As a pastor,” he writes, “my mission was to help people overcome whatever damaged them spiritually, whatever diminished their capacity to trust God’s love, to love others and to love themselves. I’d never imagined sexuality to be an issue of justice, much less a spiritual one. In fact, I knew no clergy who did see it that way. Adam launched me on a journey with no clear destination and with no guide or maps to follow, other than an intuitive sense of what was right, just and compassionate.”
Creech is co-founder of Faith In America Inc., www.faithinamerica.com, an organization dedicated to ending bigotry disguised as religious truth and, in so doing, achieving full and equal civil rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in America. Since 1998, he has traveled around the country preaching in churches and speaking on college and university campuses, as well as to various community and national organizations on this topic.
Epworth United Methodist Church, a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network, is at 19285 Holland Glade Road, Rehoboth Beach. For details, contact the church office at 302-227-7743 or visit www.epworth-rehoboth.org.
