Money, power and sex.

Those are three of the topics expected to take center stage as United Methodists gather for two weeks in Pittsburgh, beginning Tuesday.

First is increasing the $545 million budget by 7 percent; second is decreasing the number of bishops by five to save money; and third is deciding on questions that impact gays in the church.

"These are some pretty heavy issues," said Brian Bauknight, senior pastor at Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park. "We are praying for a gentle spirit of discussion."

Bauknight is not a delegate this year, but he is serving as head of the General Conference's hospitality committee. He said conference-goers were being reminded not to "be hurtful or disrespectful in any way."

Less controversial matters that will surface at the conference include drafting pastoral responses to terrorism, strengthening ethnic ministries and reaching out to young people.

More than 1,000 delegates, lay leaders and bishops will converge on the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, for the denomination's General Conference, an event held every four years to rewrite the Book of Discipline, the United Methodists' governing constitution.

The theme of the conference, which is costing about $5 million to put on, is "Water Washed and Spirit Born," chosen to symbolize Christian unity and the city's three rivers. Because the conference draws families on vacation, clergy from other denominations and scores of observers, more than 6,000 people are expected to pass through the convention center for the debates, worship services and social events.

Delegates, though, have their work cut out for them, as they will have to sort through approximately 1,600 petitions submitted by church agencies, regional conferences and other groups and individuals who hope to set the direction for the denomination through 2008.

The total number of petitions for the 2004 General Conference, which covers everything from homosexuality and abortion to concerns over church structure and pension plans, is down slightly from the meeting in 2000, according to the Rev. Gary Graves, General Conference petitions secretary.

Any proposed changes to the constitution require a two-thirds majority vote of General Conference members and a two-thirds affirmative vote by the aggregate total of voting members of all annual regional conferences.

The church's 68 active United Methodist bishops are expected to attend the conference, but they do not vote and cannot speak in plenary session without the permission of the assembly.

It's the job of the 998 delegates, half of whom are lay people, half of whom are clergy, to decide on church policy. This year, more than 180 delegates are from international congregations, the most of any General Conference.

At 11 days, the General Conference will be the longest meeting to be housed at the new convention center. Planning for the event began six years ago, even before construction of the facility began.

Up to 15,000 room-nights in local hotels have been allotted for the two-week run, and visitors are expected to fill Downtown hotels and spill into a few suburban ones as well.

The convention-goers are expected to spend about $7.4 million in local restaurants, hotels and for other services while they are here. The state expects to receive $400,000 in tax revenue.

There are other benefits to the city, as well.

"Every time we expose people to Pittsburgh, they leave with a changed perception of our city," said Joe McGrath, president of the Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It's not what textbooks told them it would be."

Four years ago, the General Conference was held in Cleveland. The last General Conference held in Pittsburgh was in 1964.

Methodist roots

United Methodists trace their roots to the early 1700s, when clergyman John Wesley led a renewal movement within the Church of England.

Methodism spread to North America shortly before the American Revolution and was known for its "circuit riders" -- ministers who spread the gospel on the frontiers. In 1784, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Baltimore. The church split twice: first in 1828 to form the Methodist Protestant Church, and then in 1844, over the issue of slavery, to create the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

The North and South factions of the Methodist Episcopal Church reunited in 1939 as The Methodist Church. In 1968, the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren churches merged to create the United Methodist Church.

In the United States, there are 8.3 million United Methodists, the second-largest Protestant church behind Baptists. There are 1.5 million United Methodists in Africa, Europe and the Philippines.

The Western Pennsylvania conference stretches from Erie to Johnstown and into parts of Ohio and West Virginia. It has more than 200,000 adherents worshipping in 900 churches.

The first week of the convention will consist of committee meetings, in which delegates will debate the petitions. During the second week, votes on changes to the Book of Discipline are expected to take place.

Gay rights an issue

One of the issues that will be debated is homosexuality; there are about 70 petitions related to gays and lesbians and their role in the church.

The debate was given a sharper focus in March after Karen Dammann, an openly lesbian minister in Washington state, faced a single charge of "practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings." A jury of 13 of her peers found her innocent and called the charge not "clear and convincing." The acquittal was controversial for a church that forbids the ordination of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals."

"Karen's case just points to our division," said the Rev. Kathyrn Johnson, head of the Methodist Federation for Social Action, based in Washington, D.C.

Johnson does not believe that the issue of gay acceptance will split the church in the way a rift developed in the Episcopal Church over the ordination of openly gay ministers. For now, United Methodist policy says the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. It also prohibits self-avowed practicing homosexuals from being ordained or appointed as clergy, and prohibits same-sex union ceremonies by United Methodist ministers.

In 2000, delegates affirmed that homosexuals are people of sacred worth and some, like Johnson, are now seeking more inclusive language, wanting a constitution that says "faithful Christians disagree on the compatibility of homosexual practice with Christian teaching."

"We just want to take the negative language out of the petition and head in a new direction," Johnson said.

Budget questions

Also on the table is a proposed budget of $586 million to oil the church's administration, ministries and missions. That figure is up 7.3 percent from four years ago, but it presents challenges because there are fewer people to give. While weekly attendance is up, the denomination has lost about 43,000 members since the end of 2000.

The church also must wrestle with how to pay higher health care costs and fund pensions for its employees and reconcile how apportionments, the payments local churches make to the general church, should increase. The apportionments are based on a complicated formula that includes examining church attendance and expenses. Each regional conference sets its own formula for its umbrella of local churches.

"The economic situation has made [the increase] a challenge," said Steve Zekoff, communications officer with the General Council on Finance and Administration. In some cases, regional conferences have not been able to meet their financial commitment to the general church.

In the face of projected increases to care for active and retired bishops, there is a proposal to help cut administrative costs by reducing by five the number of bishops eligible for election. Supporters of the plan say it potentially could save about $1 million per bishop over the next four years in salary, benefits and office and travel expenses.

Finally, one petition calls for a more vocal pastoral stance on terrorism by urging international cooperation to combat terrorist groups. It also criticizes the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq as "deeply disturbing."

United Methodist policy says no war is justified, but President Bush, who is a member of the United Methodist Church, called for the war against Iraq.