Minister Won’t Halt Same-Sex Marriages

A Methodist minister in Chicago who was suspended for presiding at a same-sex marriage vowed to continue violating church law when he returns to the pulpit next year. The Rev. Gregory Dell of Broadway United Methodist Church was suspended in March by a jury of church elders for performing a “holy union,” or same-sex marriage, for two gay men last year. A Methodist appeals board, maintaining the penalty was flawed because he was not suspended for a specific period of time, said Dell could resume his preaching duties. “On the one hand, it comes as very good news. The bishop has contacted me and said I would be reappointed next July,” Dell said. “On the other hand, nothing has changed. And if there’s not a change, it means that if I am reassigned to the pulpit it will be for a short time because I cannot discriminate against 30% of our congregation.” Chicago’s Broadway United Methodist Church lies in the heart of a large Chicago homosexual population. The United Methodist Church imposed the same-sex marriage ban in 1996. A Nebraska pastor was tried in a similar case last year, but was acquitted. Dell was charged with “disobedience to the orders and discipline” of the church and became the first person convicted under the 1996 law. Dell said he has conducted 33 same-sex marriages in the last 18 years.