The leaders of an Australian Christian church voted Thursday to allow homosexuals to become priests, drawing protest from within the congregation.
Members of the Uniting Church opposed to the change warned it could trigger a mass exodus of followers from the church.
After two days of heated debate, more than 75 percent of delegates at the Uniting Church's national assembly in Melbourne voted for gays in the clergy.
The Uniting Church was formed in 1977 by a merger of Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational denominations. The church, Australia's third largest Christian denomination, already has some gay clergy but until now has not formally recognized them.
Uniting Church president the Rev. Dr. Dean Drayman said it was "inevitable" that Thursday's decision would cause division, but urged church members to keep an open mind.
"We want our members to read what the proposal is, to see that nothing has changed for their congregation," he said.
Mary Hawks, a spokeswoman for a conservative faction opposing gay clergy, said the church was now "horribly close" to a full-blown split.
The vote with the Uniting Church coincides with a long-running debate within another denomination, the Anglican Church, about whether it should also allow gay clergy.
Last month several Anglican bishops in Sydney condemned the appointment of gay bishops in the United States and Britain.