Wendy Woodworth is a pastor at Salem's Morningside United Methodist Church. She's also a member of the LGBTQ community.

When the United Methodist Church's global delegates voted last month against lifting a ban on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriages, Woodworth felt devastated.

"This is the church that, you know, loved me first and taught me about the love of God," she said. "It gets very hurtful and very personal."

Woodworth, a lifelong Methodist, was among hundreds of church members who gathered in St. Louis, Mo., for a special session of the United Methodist Church's General Conference, a large gathering over several days that resulted in delegates choosing to uphold a church-wide plan to exclude LGBTQ members.

In a statement posted online after the meeting, Bishop Elaine Stanovsky, a church leader in the Greater Northwest area, sought to reassure members, telling them none of the General Conference actions are going into effect until the beginning of next year.

LAST MONTH'S VOTE:United Methodist delegates reject plan allowing same-sex marriage, LGBT clergy

"Practices of candidacy, ordination and weddings will continue unchanged for the time being," Stanovsky wrote in the statement. "Challenges to the constitutionality of some of the new provisions are underway that may overturn them. Regardless of how that turns out, as your bishop, I don’t intend to lead us backward. We have come too far together to turn back now."

The global decision has Salem pastors like Woodworth reaffirming their inclusive attitudes toward LGBTQ community members. After coming back from the conference, she adorned Morningside's altar with colored cloths and candles to form a rainbow pattern.

Rev. Dan Pitney of First United Methodist Church of Salem said church board officials are meeting soon to talk about what kinds of visible signs of reaffirmation they can promote.

To the global decision: "We've always been a church that has agreed to disagree," Pitney said. "What has held us together has been our common faith in Christ, but we had room for theological differences."

Pitney said it feels as though now, one group is saying members either have to agree with them or leave. "We're still uncertain about what that will mean for the future."

Still, he stressed nothing has changed at First United Methodist Church of Salem, "other than the pain and sorrow" stemming from the February decision.

His church has reaffirmed its commitment to openness, he said. "We will not change that view and we will go where it leads us."

Willamette University President Steve Thorsett also responded to the St. Louis decision in a Feb. 27 statement.

"As an Episcopalian who over the years watched my own denomination wrestle with these issues, I grieve for the LGBTQ members of the church, who have endured the pain of these last few days, as delegates debate their humanity," he wrote. "I share their anger and disappointment in the outcome of that debate."

"As the leader of the oldest Methodist-affiliated educational institution in the West, I want to assure all members of our community that we remain steadfast in our commitment to full inclusion of LGBTQ students, faculty and staff at Willamette," Thorsett wrote.

The ban on LGBTQ clergy, Stanovsky wrote, comes from the "Book of Discipline" that states, "The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching."

Moreover, punishments and standards were increased for bishops who choose to ordain and appoint LGBTQ clergy, as well as clergy who perform same-sex marriages, she said.

"The outcome was devastating for LGBTQIA people, whose very self-worth was debated, and for all persons in the church who believe Jesus models and invites us to become a radically inclusive community of faith," Stanovsky wrote.

The move has raised the question of whether it's time to leave the United Methodist Church in favor of "a new expression of church that opens doors and affirm people, rather than closing doors and denying or punishing them," she wrote.

Holly Meyer of the Nashville Tennessean contributed to this article.

Contact Statesman Journal reporter Jonathan Bach at jbach@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6714, or follow him on Twitter at @jonathanmbach.