NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Speakers on the final day of a Southern Baptist conference titled “The Gospel, Homosexuality and the Future of Marriage” have stressed that it’s more important to love gays than to condemn their behavior.

North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear publicly apologized Wednesday for the church’s failure to oppose anti-gay discrimination and abuse, but said the Bible is clear that God only designed sex to be enjoyed by a husband and wife.

Greear said, “We can and should preach the possibility of sexual orientation change, but acknowledge that it may not happen in this life.”

He urged evangelicals attending the three-day conference to look past a person’s sexual orientation to what everyone has in common, being “made in the image of God.”

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