RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina toughened its policy on churches or affiliate groups that welcome gays and lesbians, proposing a new policy that says they may no longer be eligible for membership.

The policy, proposed by the convention’s board of directors at its meeting in Asheboro, would forbid churches from ordaining gay clergy, making public statements supporting homosexuality or accepting as members people who have refused to “repent of the sin of homosexual behavior.”

The policy must be ratified at the convention’s annual meeting in November.

The convention, with about 4,000 affiliated churches, has been taking steps to tighten its policy against homosexuality for several years. In 1992, it adopted a financial policy that refused money for churches showing “public approval, promotion or blessing of homosexuality.”

At last November’s annual meeting, delegates asked the board of directors to gauge the stance of individual churches on homosexuality, adding that standard to the question of whether a church is “in friendly cooperation” with the convention.

About a half-dozen North Carolina churches stand to be affected by the policy. Not all have publicly endorsed or supported gays and lesbians, but they do affiliate with the more liberal Alliance of Baptists.

That organization, based in Washington, D.C., welcomes gays and lesbians as equal members. In North Carolina, 21 churches affiliate with the alliance. Many have already left the state convention.

Others that are still members of the state convention say they may make the same break.