ST. FRANCIS, Minn. — A church that refused to care for a woman who was once a man has found itself in the midst of debate over the role of faith-based social services.

The Anoka County Social Services Department has sent disabled seniors and other vulnerable adults who need care during the day to Trinity Lutheran Church in this town north of the Twin Cities. But when the county brought a woman who had begun life as a man to the conservative Lutheran-Missouri Synod church, the congregation refused to accept her.

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The county then refused to send any more clients to the church.

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