The following excerpt is from an article on ChristianityToday.com by Jocelyn Green. To read the entire article, click here.

Jocelyn Green, (pictured with her husband, Rob) who grew up in the Grace Brethren Church of Waterloo, Iowa, is a freelance writer and book author.

Iowa Churches: We Need to Be Clear on Same-Sex Marriage

But pastors disagree whether last week’s court decision should mean more activism on the issue.

Jocelyn Green in Cedar Falls

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled April 3 that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, making Iowa the first Midwest state to legalize same-sex marriages.

Iowa does not have a residency requirement for couples applying for a license. Changing the Iowa Constitution requires a resolution to be adopted in the exact same form by the House and the Senate of two consecutive General Assemblies before the issue would go before voters for ratification. The earliest such a resolution would clear that process would be the 2011 session.

In the meantime, Iowa pastors are responding to the Supreme Court ruling.

“This decision has no bearing on the church whatsoever,” says Jeff Gillmore, senior pastor of Parkview Church (Evangelical Free) in Iowa City. “We found that there is no obligation for the church to marry people of the same sex. We can have our own qualifications—and for us, they will continue to be scriptural guidelines: marriage is between a man and a woman.”