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Several bishops say the proposal is contrary to the spirit of the denomination. They're skeptical that Hinson would win support for his plan.

Bishop William Oden of Dallas says it's a statement that has not been affirmed by any group or caucus in the church.
 

"Conservatives, however, suggested that they had no intention of actually presenting the proposal to the delegates in Pittsburgh.

Mark D. Tooley, who works at the Institute for Religion and Democracy and directs United Methodist Action, its program focused on Methodists, said in an interview that the proposal was intended not for the delegates here, who are "institutionalists" likely to defend church unity, but for church members and clergy around the country.

The strategy, he said, is to float the idea so it would be embraced by church members around the country, both conservatives and liberals, who would come to see that separation is a practical solution. Four years from now, after the proposal has had time to be thoroughly digested, the actual dismantling of the church could begin to be put in motion when the church meets again for its next general conference, he said.

Mr. Tooley said that conservatives had been hoping to engineer a divorce from liberals for years. He said that a large group of conservative caucuses in the church supported the idea, even though Dr. Hinson said in making his proposal that he was speaking only for himself. .."

Soulforce supporters were also successful in interrupting proceedings at the conference for about 20 minutes on Thursday. The group reports that after the interruption, "hundreds of protestors and several delegates" moved to the third floor of the convention center and continued their rally.

Activists from the pro-homosexual special-interest group Reconciling Ministries are also making their presence known at the entrance of the convention center.

The Rev. Jim Heidinger, chief executive officer of Good News, said he personally agreed with Hinson's call, saying he at least wants the church to appoint a task force to begin planning a separation.

"Nobody feels any sense of joy about this kind of thing, but we're looking at a reality," he said. "We sense we're at an utter impasse."

But Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, another group pressing for conservative changes in mainline Protestant denominations, said his group still hopes for "reform" rather than a division of the United Methodist Church. He favored more public discussion of Hinson's call. ....

PITTSBURGH -- Conservatives in the United Methodist Church proposed splitting the denomination today at a national policy meeting, the latest sign that a decades-long disagreement over homosexuality is worsening.

The Rev. William Hinson, president of the Confessing Movement for conservative Methodists, said evangelicals were just beginning to explore the idea and that no break was imminent in the 8.3 million-member church.

NEW!!!! Methodist stand against gays leaves denomination divided; conservatives propose formal split
URL: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/05/06/national1029EDT0544.DTL

RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer
Thursday, May 6, 2004
©2004 Associated Press

(05-06) 09:26 PDT PITTSBURGH (AP) --

More than 200 people protested the denomination's prohibition against gay sex by disrupting the Thursday morning session. The demonstrators walked onto the floor and the stage where church officials were directing the debate, singing hymns and waiving rainbow streamers and posters for about 20 minutes.

Dozens of delegates and bishops stood up in a sign of solidarity with the protesters before business resumed.