CLEVELAND — More than 300 people demonstrated at the Cleveland Convention Center May 10-11 during the church’s quadrennial General Conference to protest the United Methodist Church’s exclusion of sexual minorities. As a result, more than 200 people were arrested, including two United Methodist bishops.

Approximately 300 people participated in a May 10 rally organized by Soulforce, a coalition of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people and heterosexuals from a variety of faith backgrounds. After an outdoor rally, the group marched once around the convention center. Then, groups of 13-25 people locked arms and blocked the center’s driveway.

More than 190 protesters were charged with aggravated disorderly conduct, according to police Commander James Davidson.

Nearly 100 activists interrupted the May 11 morning plenary session after delegates voted 628-337 to maintain the language in the denomination’s Book of Discipline and add a paragraph stating "the church seeks further understanding through continued prayer, study and pastoral experience." The group walked onto the floor and stood in front of the morning session’s presiding bishop, Bishop Dan E. Solomon of the Louisiana Annual Conference.

Several hundred more people in the balcony overlooking the floor where the delegates sat formed a human chain and sang "We Shall Overcome." More than 100 delegates, alternate delegates and guests also stood at their seats in support of the protesters.

One woman stood on the wall of the balcony crying and proclaiming her homosexuality until two people there pulled her down.

Solomon asked the protesters to leave, and approximately half the group on the floor complied. He then called a 20-minute recess to allow conference officials to "handle" the situation.

During the recess, a covenant with the protesters was made, and on approval of the delegates by a 621-328 vote, the protesters were allowed to stay on the floor "in a kneeling or sitting position during the discussion."

After much debate, delegates voted not to change the church’s prohibition against pastors performing homosexual unions. Approximately 30 protesters then stood in the chancel area of the conference and sang in objection to the decision, breaking the covenant made earlier to remain seated or kneeling on the floor.

Police led the protesters off the chancel area and out of the center. Among those arrested were the Rev. Greg Dell and bishops Joseph Sprague of the Northern Illinois Conference and Susan Morrison of the Albany Area.

Florida Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson said this protest reminded him of past protests. "It’s really a flashback to my participation in the civil rights struggle at previous General Conferences when I stood around the wall," he said. "I sat today with tears in my eyes and hurt in my heart."

Members of the Florida Conference’s delegation also expressed hurt. "It’s a very, very sad moment in the life of the United Methodist Church because there is so much division," said Leland McKeown, a lay delegate from First United Methodist Church, Brooksville. "We have to stand for the truth and the light and what the Bible says," he said, adding homosexuals should "be praying for God to heal them."

The Rev. Phil Roughton, pastor of First United Methodist Church, Ormond Beach, said there is a lot of pain around the issue caused by "the stress of people struggling to find a place."

However, Roughton said he agreed with the vote to retain the current language on homosexuality. "I think the church made a good decision, a hard decision, but a good decision," he said.

Henderson said he was moved by the passion on both sides. "My prayer is that we will continue to be prayerful as we seek the will of God and that we will be bold and courageous enough to proceed in the direction we feel God is calling us to go, without bitterness and with compassion and charity," he said.

The Rev. James Jennings, a clergy delegate and pastor of First United Methodist Church, Sarasota, said the arrests brought to the forefront his own pain at the injustice he has experienced as an African-American. "The singing of that song ["We Shall Overcome"] was like déjà vu for me," he said. "I stood with them in their pain and suffering because I still experience moments of racism."

Jennings said he struggles with how to make this experience relevant to people in the Florida Conference. "The people at home have to be here to experience this ache I have in my gut…and understand the pain," he said. "Then they’ll think about what they’re saying and doing."

Mary Alice Massey, a lay delegate and head of the delegation, was visibly shaken and crying after the arrests, but said the church had done what it needed to do. "We upheld the standards we needed to for what we needed to do," she said. "I think Bishop Solomon was very fair."

The Rev. Terri Hill, a clergy delegate and Jacksonville District superintendent, said she was "saddened that people we tried to express love to weren’t able to receive that love along with our belief in scripture and the position of the United Methodist Church."

The Rev. Dr. Keith Ewing, a clergy delegate and the bishop’s administrative assistant, was also visibly shaken. "It just doesn’t feel like this is what should be happening at the General Conference of the church," he said.

Despite the hurt, there was also hope among Florida’s representatives. Hill said she has been strengthened by her own spiritual disciplines of fasting, praying, taking communion and singing praises to God. "There is a supernatural presence of the Holy Spirit that gives me strength and courage," she said. "I feel very strengthened to be the church Jesus Christ wants us to be."

Jennings said his faith also helps him. "We still haven’t overcome," he said, "but…I know God is bigger than all the sexism and racism."