Jimmy Creech

James Edward Creech (born October 21, 1944) is an American gay rights activist and former minister in the United Methodist Church who was defrocked in 1999 for marrying same-sex couples.

[2] In 1984, he became active in gay rights advocacy when a congregant came out to him, in response to the United Methodist Church formally banning "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from becoming clergy.

[1]: 82 [2] In 1996, he was appointed senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska, where he performed a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple the following year.

In 2007 Creech became the executive director of Faith In America, a non-profit organisation founded by Mitchell Gold, focused on educating people about religion-based bigotry.

In 2024, the United Methodist Church ended its bans on same-sex marriages and LGBT clergy, and allowed pastors who were defrocked under those policies to apply for reinstatement.