LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Conservatives in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have failed in their bid to force the denomination into an unprecedented showdown over enforcing a ban on gay clergy, according to The Associated Press.

Thirteen people who had signed a petition for a historic national meeting on the issue withdrew their names, church leaders said Jan. 27. That left conservatives short of the minimum number of signatures required under church law to call the meeting.

Conservatives have been critical of what they view as the refusal of higher church officials to discipline congregations that proclaim willingness to ordain non-celibate gays in defiance of church bans. The special assembly would have been the first ever held by the 214-year-old denomination, which has 2.5 million members.

The Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, an Atlanta minister and the denomination's moderator, or titular leader, said "there are no winners in this situation." He prayed for "unity in the midst of our diversity."

According to the AP, Abu-Akel had written to petitioners, lobbying against the special assembly that he said would cost $500,000 and divert attention from other church work.

Alex Metherell, the California layman who spearheaded the petition, said it seemed "pretty hopeless" to seek more signatures. He needed 25 clergy and 25 lay members of last year's General Assembly -- the faith's main legislative body -- to compel the denomination to recall the assembly delegates.

Metherell accused church officials of putting intense pressure to recant on the 26 clergy and 31 lay elders who signed the petition.

"It's blatant manipulation of these poor people's lives," he told the AP. "It took real bravery for these people to sign this petition in the first place, and we can see here why that is so."

An Ohio church filed a complaint over the matter Jan. 24 with the denomination's highest court.

In it, the Rev. William Pawson, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Canton, argues that the meeting still should be held because church leaders had no right to ask people to reconsider signing the petition.

The denomination has asked the court to dismiss the complaint.