New Ruling Due on Same-Sex Union Rite

A United Methodist appeals committee is drafting a written decision regarding the suspension from the ministry of the Rev. Gregory Dell for being convicted in a church court of breaking church rules by conducting a same-sex union ceremony.

This week, the eight-member committee on appeals of the United Methodist Church’s North Central Division held a hearing at which Dell’s appeal of his conviction was heard, the United Methodist News Service reported.

Bill White Jr., the appeals committee legal counsel, said that any decision on the appeal will not be released for 30 to 60 days. During that period, White will draft a written document and circulate it among the eight members of the committee for comment.

Dell was found guilty in March by a 13-member jury, or trial court, of breaking church rules. The jury said Dell should be suspended from his position as pastor of Broadway United Methodist Church in Chicago until he signed a pledge to no longer perform same-sex unions or until the denomination no longer prohibited the action.

The ban on Methodist clerics conducting same-sex union ceremonies was adopted by the denomination’s 1996 General Conference, the church’s top decision-making body. Earlier this year, the church’s Judicial Council, its top court, ruled that the 1996 ban had the effect of church law.

Dell has refused to sign the pledge promising not to conduct the union ceremonies. His suspension became effective July 5.