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The Republican courting of black clergy, evident during the 2004 presidential campaign, has picked up the pace again, to the dismay of some Democrats.

The first of seven regional U.S. conferences drew scores of African-American ministers February 1 to a Los Angeles megachurch headed by televangelist Frederick K. C. Price. The meeting was designed to build support for banning same-sex marriage—an issue that resonated with black pastors last year.