Thirteen ordained elders assigned to pass judgment on United Methodist minister the Rev. Amy DeLong delivered a split decision on Wednesday, finding her guilty of presiding over a same-sex union but not guilty on a charge of being a "self-avowed practicing" homosexual.

The penalty phase has begun and is expected to continue into Thursday.

Quiet gasps rippled through the church fellowship hall when the verdict was read, said the Rev. Scott Carlson of Sun Prairie United Methodist Church, who has attended the trial in support of DeLong. The guilty verdict was unanimous; the not guilty verdict, 12-1.

"It's pretty much what we expected. I would have loved to see not guilty on both. But this is what we anticipated."

DeLong's counsel, the Rev. Scott Campbell, had argued during the trial that church investigators never asked the lesbian minister whether she engages in prohibited sexual activity, the church's accepted definition for "practicing." And DeLong declined to answer that question when church counsel the Rev. Tom Lambrecht posed it during her testimony Wednesday morning.

"I don't know if you're being voyeuristic or just plain indecent, but there is no way, when you are trying to do me harm, that I'm going to answer and share the intimate, sacred details of our lives," DeLong said.

The exchange illustrated the crux of both the church and DeLong's stances in the trial at Peace United Methodist in Kaukauna. The United Methodist Church, the nation's third-largest denomination, allows homosexual clergy as long as they are celibate and prohibits its clergy from presiding at same-sex unions.

The church's Wisconsin Conference has accused DeLong of violating a section in its book of discipline that prohibits clergy from being "self-avowed practicing" homosexuals. DeLong has admitted conducting the same-sex union ceremony and being in a committed relationship with a woman.

About 100 observers, most supporters of DeLong, watched the proceedings in the church fellowship hall. Her supporters gathered outside the church before the start of proceedings Wednesday, singing and praying before lining up for a limited number of tickets available for the trial.

"I'm here for justice," said Mary Anne Balmer of Whitefish Bay United Methodist Church. "Amy is one of the most gifted pastors I've ever known."

DeLong, 44, was charged last year after divulging in her annual assessment of ministry that she had performed the union ceremony and registered with her partner of now 16 years under Wisconsin's domestic partnership law. She is executive director of Kairos CoMotion, an advocacy group that focuses on a number of issues facing the church, including greater inclusion of gay and lesbian members. She was appointed to that position by her bishop.