FORT WORTH, Texas-Several years ago, a woman approached the Rev. Alice Wolfe asking to join the United Methodist Church. The 38-year-old pastor suspected the woman wasn’t interested in being a Methodist; she just wanted to get out of paying a fee for holding her wedding at the local Methodist church. “She has never come back, other than the wedding,” said Wolfe, of Sidney, Ohio. Just who can join the United Methodist Church has become a contentious matter in recent years. Methodist delegates here debated standards for membership long into Wednesday night. In 2006, the church’s supreme court upheld the decision of a Virginia pastor who denied membership to an openly gay man. Gay rights activists were hoping to counter the 2005 court decision by passing a law forcing pastors to receive all adults willing to affirm the church’s membership vows. That measure failed by just 12 votes.