KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) -- A gay preacher ordained last month by the Church of the Brethren could lose his post because delegates at the Protestant denomination's annual convention voted to bar homosexual clergy.
The denomination said its Michigan district has some leeway in deciding the status of 34-year-old Matthew Smucker but said the situation was unique.
Smucker's fate came into question after the convention's 900 delegates decided by a 2-1 margin to affirm a 1983 policy paper against recognizing the ordination of homosexual ministers. The conference, held in Louisville, Ky., ended July 3.
State church officials plan to review the vote in August.
Smucker, who was raised in the denomination and ordained at Skyridge Church in Kalamazoo, said the vote saddened him.
"I plan to keep walking on this journey as far as I can. I have nothing to lose and a lot to gain," Smucker told the Kalamazoo Gazette.
The denomination, headquartered in Elgin, Ill., claims 135,000 members in 38 states, especially Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and Indiana.
Duane Steiner, the convention's executive director, said Tuesday he didn't know how many of the denomination's ordained ministers are gay.