United Methodists stood firmly against homosexuality at a national meeting, even as their top court rejected a request from conservatives to intervene in the case of a lesbian pastor.
Delegates to the Methodist General Conference, held once every four years, voted down resolution after resolution that would have signaled broader acceptance of gays and lesbians in the church.
Even the ruling in the lesbian minister's case was not clearly a victory. The Judicial Council said Tuesday it had no authority to review the acquittal of the Rev. Karen Dammann, who had acknowledged she had a female partner and was charged with violating church law.
However, the court also ruled that bishops — in the future — cannot legally appoint someone who was found at church trial to be a "self-avowed, practicing homosexual."
Dammann's lawyer contended this restriction does not apply to the clergywoman when she comes up for reappointment. Some bishops and evangelicals insisted it did and argued she was no longer in good standing in the church.
"It's very tiring," said Ken Rowe, a spokesman for Affirmation, a gay advocacy group for Methodists. "Many people are tired of being hurt."
Evangelicals came to the General Conference, which ends Friday, intent on finding ways to uphold the church's condemnation of homosexuality. The issue has divided the 8.3 million-member denomination since 1972.
A jury of 13 pastors had outraged conservatives in March by acquitting Dammann of practices contrary to Christianity at her church trial in Bothell, Wash. The jurors effectively ruled that church law did not make it a chargeable offense for gay clergy to be sexually active.
Conservatives called the verdict a "schismatic act." When the General Conference began last week, delegates turned to the denomination's high court and asked it to enforce the church ban on ordaining homosexuals.
The council released a ruling Saturday that church law clearly declares gay sex "incompatible with Christian teaching." The court said in its 6-3 decision that violations could lead to removal from church office.
Delegates then directed the court to review Dammann's trial, since the church had no right to appeal the verdict.
Dammann, 47, who most recently served at a church in Ellensburg, Wash., is on leave to care for her 5-year-old son. She married her partner in Portland, Ore., in March after county officials there began allowing same-sex marriages.
"Every day she shows up for work is a small victory," said her attorney, Lindsay Thompson of Seattle.
Scott Field, legislative coordinator for a coalition of Methodist evangelicals, argued she could not be reappointed.
He said the jury that found Dammann innocent of "practices incompatible with Christian teaching" also determined she was sexually active. Field said that makes her ineligible to be a Methodist minister.
"I think she will not be appointable," Field said. "It's not a bell-ringer but it was a good decision."
Earlier Tuesday, conference delegates rejected a measure that would have officially acknowledged Christians disagree on homosexuality.
Conservatives argued that adding any language about the Methodists' internal rift would give the impression the church might diverge from Christianity's traditional prohibition against gay relationships.
Gay advocates quietly protested, standing silently during the debate, praying and holding up rainbow stoles that are the symbol of their movement. They began singing "Amazing Grace," as the votes were tallied. Some wept when the results were announced and one person exclaimed, "Injustice!"