Cleveland, USA - Hundreds of United Methodists trying to make their 12 million-member, worldwide denomination more gay-friendly are meeting in Huron this week for a national conference.
They hope to soon change their church's official position that homosexuality is a sin -- an issue that has caused a raging debate among the laity and clergy for decades.
Unlike other mainstream Protestant denominations in the United States -- including the United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran, Episcopal and Presbyterian USA -- the United Methodists prohibit clergy from engaging openly in same-sex relationships.
And they disallow ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions.
"The practice of homosexuality is incompatible to Christian teaching," reads a section in the Methodists' Book of Discipline.
But the nearly 700 people expected to attend the four-day conference at Sawmill Creek Resort, beginning Thursday, are working to rewrite the Book.
To do that they will call on the denomination's General Conference in April in Tampa Bay, Fla., to vote on new language that would allow openly gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions.
They tried to do that at the last General Conference, in 2008, but were defeated.
The Rev. Troy Plummer of Chicago, an organizer of the Huron conference, conceded, "We might not get everything we want, but we'll get some of it.
"I think something dramatic will happen in Tampa," he said. "The vote will be close, by just a handful of votes this time. We're about to make it happen."
Previous conference votes showed the movement prevailing in the United States but failing in Europe and Africa, said Plummer, noting that Methodists in those two continents tend to be conservative.
He said the vote in 2008 lost by less than 5 percent of the 1,000 votes cast.
"We have the votes in the U.S.," he said. "Now we're working to get the votes worldwide."
United Methodists number about 8 million in the United States. The other 4 million are mostly in Europe, Africa and the Philippines. In Ohio, there are about 365,000 United Methodists worshipping in more than 1,800 churches.
Plummer said the state, reflecting its position in national politics, is a swing state about equally divided on the issue.
But the Rev. Ken Chalker, pastor of University Circle United Methodist Church in Cleveland, said an Ohio vote to allow openly gay clergy would lose by a substantial margin.
"I don't know what tea leaves he's reading," said Chalker, referring to Plummer. "The rules on ordaining gays or blessing same-sex couples are not going to change in Tampa. It would be wonderful if there were changes. I certainly would support them."
But the Rev. Chet Harris, pastor of the Dueber Church in Canton, certainly would not. He believes homosexuality is a sin, on the level with adultery and sex outside of marriage.
Harris said the push within the church for approval of same-sex relationships could be gaining ground and should be taken seriously.
"The movement is strong," he said. "These people are sharp. They wouldn't be doing this unless they thought they could pull off a coup."
Harris predicted that if the gay-friendly movement prevails, there would be a mass exodus of United Methodists, including himself.
"I will not serve in a church that will ordain homosexuals," he said. "I will not serve in a church that affirms their lifestyle. If this thing goes the distance -- and I think it has the potential -- it will splinter us like bamboo."
The Rev. Hugh Burtner of University Heights, retired from the Methodist ministry and from teaching religion at Baldwin-Wallace College, calls Harris' position closed-minded and homophobic.
But he agrees with Harris that the gay-friendly movement could prevail in Tampa.
"I think there has been a growing awareness of the problem of homophobia," said Burtner, who is attending the Huron conference. "The church went through this with regards to race 50 years ago.
"The general belief back then was, 'Jesus wants black people to stay on that side of town.' Fifty years later, we look back and say, 'How could people think like that?' "