GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Pastors around Genesee County chose their words carefully when discussing Friday's federal
that for a brief time allowed for unions in the state between same-sex couples.
An appeals court
, following a decision by a U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman on Friday who ruled the state's ban on gay marriage to be unconstitutional.
"We generally would support a more tradition role of marriage," said Glenn Teal, pastor of Davison Free Methodist Church on Sunday, March 23 before the morning's service. "God's plan is for a man and woman to be married."
Genesee County Clerk-Register John Gleason has said
Monday, March 24, but that move will have to wait until at least Wednesday.
Teal said the church's stance doesn't mean they will not allow same-sex couples in their congregation and noted there's a difference in disagreeing with someone's lifestyle and being mean-spirited and uncaring of them as a person.
"Those two don't have to go together," he said, adding the church will have to sort out its response as society continue to lay out its definition on what marriage is in the future.
Ed Norton, associate pastor at Faith Tabernacle of Greater Flint in Burton, said "The church isn't going to turn away anybody," but he would not approve same-sex marriages.
"Practicing homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God," Norton said. "We don't accept it, we don't condone it."
While the topic of same-sex marriage has been approached in some teachings and sermons, Norton said it's never been made the brunt of any discussions that have taken place at the church.
"We don't make a big deal about it," he said.
Steve Bentley, pastor of Bridge Church in Flint Township, has had a number of one-on-one conversations about the topic with members of the congregation on which he said they take a biblical stance that marriage is between a man and woman.
"I don't think that precludes salvation," said Bentley of gay marriages.
In terms of gay marriage, Bentley said he's had to question his own beliefs and potential scenarios such as a gay couple wanting to dedicate their child at the church. He did have an issue in government attempting to legislate personal stances.
"It's futile to try and legislate morality," Bentley said. "That comes from heart change, not from law change."
But parishioners at Unitarian Church of Flint expressed some frustration about the state's take on gay marriages and the stay.
"I think it's pretty mean. It's just mean spirited," said Howard Schultz, 75, of Mundy Township, of the gay marriage ban. "It's not hurting you if two people get married."
Deborah Baldwin, 60, of Flint, said as she stood by as a witness during a wedding Saturday, "That's when it really started to hit me. That's when I started to get really excited. I'm getting married on Monday" before the stay was granted.
"You still want my money, you still want my taxes, so treat me like a citizen," she said, having planned to marry her partner Aimee Loubert. "(The stay) is frustrating, but compared to what we've lived with as an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community -- no rights in housing, no rights in the work place -- those are the things to be frustrated about."
For Susan Owen Kinsey, the frustration came not over sexual orientation, but the issue of equality.
"It shouldn't even be called gay marriage. It's just marriage," she said. "I think we're all upset with the stay, whether we're heterosexual or homosexual."
Flint Journal Writer Molly Young contributed to this report.