An agreement was reached and a settlement was paid for two women who claimed they were fired from a church daycare because they were gay. But the Aloma United Methodist Church, in Winter Park, continues to deny that they did anything wrong.

"The women were not fired," said the Rev. Jim Govatos. "They left of their own volition."

"Their version of events simply is not accurate," said attorney Mary Meeks, who represents preschool teachers Jaci Pfeiffer and Kelly Bardier.

The two women told News 13 they were confronted in March by the director of the Early Childhood Leaning Center about their same-sex relationship.

"They were given an ultimatum and either have to stop being gay, or you can't work here anymore," Meeks said.

In a letter dated April 20, the United Methodist Conference superintendent cited its policy that all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are entitled to have their civil rights ensured, and the actions taken by Aloma United Methodist Church were improper.

Now, nearly a month later, the church says the conversation about the teachers' relationship had nothing to do with their sexual orientation.

"We expect people to live in celibacy and singleness, faithfulness in marriage," Govatos said.

The church maintains it does not approve of sexual relations outside of marriage. Now that gay marriage is legal in Florida, we asked Govatos if things would be different if the two women were married to each other.

"That's kind of a hypothetical situation that I really can't deal with," he said.

"At this point, what happened to my clients happened," Meeks said. "They were damaged by it. I'm happy that there is a settlement in place that compensates them."

In that settlement, the two women will split about $15,500. The settlement also states the two women will receive letters of recommendation, and the church must meet with gay rights groups.

It is currently legal in Florida and 28 other states to fire someone based on sexual orientation, but an Orange County human rights ordinance prohibits discrimination solely on sexual orientation or gender identity.