When the country’s largest Lutheran denomination decided in August to allow sexually active gay and lesbian pastors to serve as clergy, a number of churches began taking steps to leave the organization.

Austin members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, however, have yet to indicate what their intentions are.

The controversial decision, made at the ELCA’s annual convention in Minneapolis, lifted a ban on such gay and lesbian pastors, provided they can show that they are in committed, lifelong relationships. ELCA delegates said they expected the policy to take effect in April.

However, for two of the three ELCA churches in Austin, the number of issues to be resolved before the policy is implemented means it is too soon to react to what happened in August. Pastor Ron Barnett at the third local ELCA church, St. Olaf, did not comment beyond saying the church’s mission is “to know Christ and to make Christ known.”

Glenn Monson, pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, said no plans have been made to leave the ELCA.

“We have no plans because it’s not really clear how this will play out,” he said.

Monson said the issue is not gay clergy — they’ve been permitted by the ELCA for years, he noted — but the fact that they are no longer required to be single. That issue, the pastor said, has been a topic of discussion for at least 20 years within the denomination.

“Honestly, I want to be supportive, but I have reservations,” Monson said. “But I’m waiting to see how it’s implemented.”

Jeff Forbes, pastor at Grace Lutheran, echoed Monson’s sentiments.

“We’re going to stay the course and wait until the dust settles,” he said, adding that leaving the ELCA now would be “hasty.”

But that doesn’t mean he agrees with the August decision. In fact, Forbes said he was “totally surprised” by the decision and ultimately can’t support it because it goes against Scripture.

However, the pastor said this is not a disagreement that should necessarily force his or other churches to leave the denomination.

“It’s very hard to leave the church,” Forbes said. “(And) it can only hurt us in the long run. Especially in the Midwest, where a lot of ELCA Lutherans live.”

But other ELCA churches in the country have started taking steps away from the organization.

One movement gaining some traction is the Lutheran CORE, an acronym for Coalition for Reform.

That group has been meeting in recent months, with plans of drafting a constitution and taking other steps to form the denomination. CORE leaders hope to have it off the ground by next August.

“There are many people within the ELCA who are very unhappy with what has happened,” said the Rev. Paull Spring, chairman of Lutheran CORE and a retired ELCA bishop from State College, Pa.

Still, it is unclear exactly what kind of numbers this group could attract.

John Brooks, spokesman at the ELCA’s Chicago-based headquarters, said the ELCA has not seen significant departures yet, but he cautioned it’s too soon after the August decision to read much into that.

So far, he said, five congregations nationwide have voted to leave the ELCA. More have started the process, with 87 taking a first vote to leave the denomination. Of those, 28 did not achieve the two-thirds vote necessary to leave the ELCA. In all, there are 10,300 ELCA churches in the country with about 4.7 million members.

Brooks said the Lutheran CORE movement was not unexpected, but he expressed hope that church members would ultimately opt to stay in the ELCA as it strives to be “a place for all people despite any differences we might have on any issues.”

Beyond the ELCA, other members of the Lutheran church are keeping a watchful eye on what happens with the denomination.

Tom Ogilvie, pastor at St. John’s in Austin, a Missouri Synod church, said the controversy has been hard on the church as a whole and that it has sent “ripple effects” through the community.

“Obviously, I feel bad for our brothers and sisters in the ELCA,” he said. “It’s an internal struggle taking place.”

Ogilvie said the ELCA’s decision goes against Scripture, which is why he said his church would likely leave the denomination if it was a member.

“I disagree (with the ELCA’s decision),” the pastor said. “But it’s not up to me. It’s up to Scripture.”

St. Peter’s Church in Austin is also not in the ELCA, and pastor Randy Fossum said, like Ogilvie, that he disagreed with the decision and would likely leave the denomination if his church was a member.

“The Scripture is very clear,” in not allowing gay clergy to be in relationships, Fossum said. “There’s no question about it.”

He said this is just one in a long line of instances of the ELCA being overly liberal and straying from Scripture.

Ultimately, Fossum said, gay relationships are wrong according to God.

So when they made their decision in August, the ELCA perpetuated false doctrine, Fossum added.

“What’s essentially at stake here is the cross,” he said. (This decision) is a cancer.”

-The Associated Press contributed to this report