United Methodists gather in one of the exhibition halls at the Pittsburgh Convention Center to open their 2004 General Conference on Tuesday, April 27, 2004.
PITTSBURGH -- United Methodists ordered their top court to review the case of a lesbian pastor after the court ruled Saturday that gay sex violates Christian teaching.
The denomination's General Conference voted 551-345 to direct the Judicial Council to review the case of the Rev. Karen Dammann, whose avowed homosexuality led to church charges of committing practices "incompatible with Christian teaching."
In March, a jury of 13 pastors in Bothell, Wash., acquitted Dammann.
But the Judicial Council, in a 6-3 vote Saturday, said being a practicing homosexual clearly violates Methodist law, and that such a violation could be cause for removal from church office.
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