Minnesota Pastors Call for Spiritual, Political Action against Gay Marriage
The Minnesota Family Council gathered hundreds of church leaders from around the state on Thursday to back a gay marriage ban and strategize for political action and spiritual support at Grace Chuch in Eden Prairie, Minn.
The Minnesota Family Council gathered hundreds of church leaders from around the state on Thursday to back a gay marriage ban and strategize for political action and spiritual support at Grace Chuch in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Some 300 pastors assembled for the Minnesota Pastors' Summit to protect traditional marriage and get the proposed ban measure in the hands of voters on the 2006 ballot.
"To me this is a mandate we are called upon to take up in the name of Jesus Christ," said H.B. London, vice president of Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, according to the Associated Press.
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The bill passed the House on bipartisan lines early April but was blocked in the state Senate.
Pastors called fellow church leaders to rally the support of their congregations in pressuring legislators and preserving traditional families. Participants signed a five-point pledge to pray for the constitutional amendment, preach "on God's plan for marriage," collect petitions, register voters and distribute information on the amendment effort, according to the Star Tribune.
State Sen. Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater) said the marriage initiative is "not a Republican-Democrat issue; it's a biblical, moral issue."
Minnesota law already bans same-sex marriages, but some argue that only a constitutional amendment can truly protect marriage to be between one man and one woman. The proposed measure also bans "legal equivalents" to marriage.
The Minnesota Family Council is the chief backer of the state marriage amendment banning gay marriage.
