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Haight said she arrived at
church early, expecting
protesters, but there were none.
“The people of the congregation
have been incredible to us,”
Dammann said Saturday.
But there was concern about
the fallout for the United
Methodist Church, the nation’s
third-largest denomination with
8.5 million U.S. members.
"I believe the vast majority of
United Methodists are in grief and
shock today. I’m personally heart
broken,” said Patricia Miller, ex
ecutive director of the Confessing
Movement, a conservative move
ment within the United Methodist
Church.
“I think the issue is, a part of the
jurisdiction has broken covenant
with the rest of the church and has
decided to go the way of the world,
as opposed to being faithful to and
abiding by church law.”
The conservative renewal
movement, which claims more
than 600,000 members, was formed
10 years ago. Miller said she could
not predict how the tensions with
, in the denomination will play out.
“We’re just praying about what
is the proper response to what has
occurred,” she said.
Church law prohibits the ordi
nation of open homosexuals and
the church’s Book of Discipline de
clares homosexuality to be “in
compatible to Christian teach
ings.” However, the denomina
tion’s social principles support
gay rights and liberties.
Dammann, 47, declared her sex
ual preference in February 2001,
when she sought a new church ap
pointment. She and her partner of
nine years, Meredith Savage, mar
ried earlier this month in Oregon.
They have a 5-year-old son.
Dammann said she and Savage
5 planned to stay out of the public eye
for a few days rather than join her
congregation, but said she hopes to
return to Ellensburg as pastor.
She’s been on family leave for more
than two years, caring for her son,
who has a respiratory illness.
At Sunday’s service, attended
by about 60 people, the Rev. Ron
Hines, superintendent of the
Pacific Northwest Conference’s
Seven Rivers District, read a let
ter from Bishop Elias Galvan.
“This decision will not resolve
the conflict within the United
Methodist Church, nor within the
congregations of this conference,”
Galvan wrote. “As long as this is
sue is important to society, the
church must continue to reflect the
ologically and biblically and lead
in ministries of justice and peace.”
Dammann said she realizes the
church has a difficult time ahead
of it. “For the church it means the
beginning of another stage of the
struggle,” she said Saturday. “I’m
mindful of that. This is going to be
painful.”
Since the late 1980s, Pacific
Northwest Methodist leaders have
petitioned for eased policies on ho
mosexuality at each of the denom
ination’s General Conferences,
held every four years. During past
international General
Conferences, most attendees have
Opposed change. The n,ext General
Conference begins next month.
PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Firemen go through remains of a local train’s carriage.
Investigators in Madrid
focus on bomb assembly
BY ANDREW SELSKY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MADRID, SPAIN — Investigators
searched Sunday for the place
used to assemble the backpack
bombs that blew apart four train
cars during morning rush hour
earlier this month, killing 202 peo
ple and wounding more than 1,400.
Spain still grieves after the
March 11 attacks. Thousands of
people, including Madrid Mayor
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, crowded
the platform of El Pozo train sta
tion — where one train was
bombed—for a funeral Mass.
The Rev. Jose Manuel Peco
urged mourners to “reflect upon
what we are going through, and
reflect upon our capacity for for
giveness and reconciliation,” the
news agency Efe reported.
With seven Moroccans, two
Indians and a Spaniard in cus
tody, investigators focused on
where the bombs were assembled.
An estimated 220 pounds of explo
sives were used for the bombs,
which were stuffed into bags and
detonated by cell phones.
Ten bombs exploded, and four
others failed to detonate. One was
taken apart and provided clues
that led police to suspects.
“We’re now looking for the
place where the bombs were put
together,” an Interior Ministry
spokesman told The Associated
Press.
The attacks, three days before
national elections, also shook
Europe. Spy chiefs from France,
Britain,-Germany, Italy and Spain
planned to meet in Madrid on
Monday to review the attacks and
discuss improving cross-border
cooperation.
Spanish Prime Minister-desig
nate Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
called for “much greater coopera
tion between intelligence services."
In an interview published
Sunday in the daily newspaper El
Pais, Zapatero also said “the focal
points that produce fanaticism
and violence” must be addressed,
and ending the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict was “absolutely neces
sary.’
I_I