Methodists defy church vote on homosexuality

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — More than 200 Methodists attended a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony Friday in defiance of a vote to uphold a church law that says gay relationships are "incompatible with Christian teaching."

The ceremony was at a park across from the Fort Worth Convention Center, where some 3,000 people are meeting for the United Methodist Church's general conference. It is held every four years to set church policy.

Methodists this week rejected replacing a sentence in its Book of Discipline — which says the church "does not condone the practice of homosexuality" — with other phrases, including one saying Christians differ on the issue. The measure to change the language also was rejected at the last conference in 2004.