Orlando, Fla. ? With gays pleading for acceptance, delegates to a national meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America debated Thursday whether to approve ordination for partnered gays and to give pastors leeway in ministering to same-sex couples. Conservatives warned a change would irreparably damage the church.

The major proposals on the floor were meant as a compromise, aiming to uphold Lutheran restrictions on gays and lesbians who are not celibate, while allowing congregations and bishops to make exceptions in some cases without risking discipline.

The Rev. Sara Gausmann of the Lower Susquehanna Synod in Pennsylvania said easing the rules would make it impossible for her to teach children to follow Christian sexual ethics. Many delegates said the truly Christian approach would be to convince homosexuals to change their sexual orientation.

“This debate is not about emotional pleas for love and acceptance,” said Kara Felde of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod. “It’s about what Scripture says.”

Advocates for full inclusion of gay clerics attempted to counter these arguments by expressing the pain of what they called rejection by their own church.

Frank Petrovic of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod said he was gay and felt called to become a minister when he was in eighth grade. He questioned traditional claims that the Bible condemns gay sex, saying that those opposed to gay ordination were selectively picking scriptural verses to justify their position.

“I’m told I’m a member of the body of Christ, welcome to full participation,” he said. “So which human being has the right to tell me that because of who I love my call from God is not valid?”