Jimmy Creech was an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church from 1970 to 1999. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Divinity from The Divinity School of Duke University. In July of 1996, Jimmy was appointed Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska. In March of 1998, he was acquitted in a church trial of a charge of violating the Order and Discipline of the United Methodist Church when he celebrated a covenant ceremony for two women in September of 1997. In April of 1999, Jimmy celebrated the holy union of two men in Chapel Hill, NC. New charges were brought against him and a second church trial was held in Grand Island, Nebraska, on November 17, 1999. The jury declared Jimmy guilty of “disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church” and withdrew his credentials of ordination. From 2000 to 2005, Jimmy was Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Soulforce. Jimmy was also the Executive Director of Faith In America from December 2005 through November 2007.