Adam's Gift : A Memoir of a Pastor's Calling to Defy the Church's Persecution of Lesbians and Gays

Jimmy Creech, a United Methodist pastor in North Carolina, was visited one morning in 1984 by Adam, a longtime parishioner whom he liked and respected. Adam said that he was gay, and that he was leaving The United Methodist Church, which had just pronounced that “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” could not be ordained. He would not be part of a community that excluded him. Creech found himself instinctively supporting Adam, telling him that he was sure that God loved and accepted him as he was. Adam’s Gift is Creech’s inspiring first-person account of how that conversation transformed his life and ministry. Adam’s visit prompted Creech to re-evaluate his belief that homosexuality was a sin, and to research the scriptural basis for the church’s position. He determined that the church was mistaken, that scriptural translations and interpretations had been botched and dangerously distorted. As a Christian, Creech came to believe that discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people was morally wrong. This understanding compelled him to perform same-gender commitment ceremonies, which conflicted with church directives. Creech was tried twice by The United Methodist Church, and, after the second trial, his ordination credentials were revoked. Adam’s Gift is a moving story and an important chapter in the unfinished struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil and human rights. Jimmy Creech, a United Methodist pastor in North Carolina, tells the story of how a longtime parishioner's decision to leave the church because of its stand against homosexuality prompted him to research the scriptural basis for the church's position and to conclude that discriminating against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people is morally wrong--a stance that eventually led to his ordination credentials being revoked An autobiographical account of the events leading to the defrocking of Pastor Jimmy Creech, who won national recognition for his efforts to perform commitment ceremonies for gay couples in the Methodist Church Adam Orientation Reorientation Stepping off the curb A pastor again Covenant ceremony Hell breaks loose Under siege Pretrial The church on trial Aftershock New challenges Blessing withdrawn Epilogue. The inspiring first-person account of a minister whose ordination credentials were revoked by The United Methodist Church after he performed same-gender commitment ceremonies.