This is a false dichotomy.Creation vs. Evolution
There is "Evolution", and then there is "Evolution out of Nothing."
It is possible to believe that God created everything out of nothing, created man in his own image, and still accept certain elements of Evolution.
However, when some people say "Evolution" they really mean "Evolution out of Nothing", which means there is no God and everything came to be in some other way. THAT is what must be rejected by Christians, obviously.
It is important to differentiate between the two.
In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words. In order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current.
The fact is, Genisis 1 is meant to teach one thing and one thing only: That God created everything out of nothing, that he created man in his own image, that man seperated himself from God through disobedience, and that God immediately set about the long - or at least it seems long to us - process of healing that rift, a process which culminated with the death and resurrection of Christ. That is ALL it teaches.
Everything in Genesis is meant to convey that truth, but it is done in the ancient Semitic style of writing, using allegories, fantastic imagery, and all based on traditions that were handed down for centuries. I do not believe there was a serpent, or a tree, or a garden, etc. These are all images & allegories, in a certain style of writing, meant to convey the fundamental truth I stated above.
Now, do not misunderstand me: I am NOT saying that the Genesis account is not true, or that it is mere metaphore. The Genesis acccount IS true, but the truth it is conveying is as I said above.