A group of Methodists from Chicago is heading to Kansas today to protest a recent church ruling that allows pastors to exclude gays and lesbians from congregations.

The United Methodist Church’s Judicial Council ruled last fall that a pastor in Virginia was within his right to exclude a gay male couple from church membership. The Council is meeting again this week in suburban Kansas City and those in favor of full inclusion for gays and lesbians plan to lobby the church’s highest judicial body to reconsider its ruling.

The Rev. Troy Plummer of the Chicago-based Reconciling Ministries Network is leading the protest. He says allowing a pastor to prevent gay Christians from joining the church is sin.

“When the church either in policy or practice separates people from being whole in the eyes of God, and from forming families and from being able to love and serve the church, the church is in error,” Plummer says.

Meanwhile, United Methodist bishops have issued a statement saying the Virginia pastor was wrong to ban the couple from church membership. However, the church’s official teaching, known as “The Book of Discipline,” calls homosexuality incompatible with Christianity.