As the enormity of the decision just handed down in Obergefell v. Hodges hits church leaders, many are responding with assurance of the truth of God’s word and the power of prayer.

The voices of the Catholic and evangelical mainstream were unanimous: this decision alters nothing. Marriage remains the same, whatever the laws pretend. A statement from the National Association of Evangelicals explains:

Nothing in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges opinion changes the truth about marriage. What has changed is the legal definition of marriage, which is now at variance with orthodox biblical faith as it has been affirmed across the centuries and as it is embraced today by nearly two billion Christians in every nation on earth.

In its role as a moral teacher, the law now misleads Americans about the true nature of marriage. Evangelicals and other followers of the Bible have a heightened opportunity to demonstrate the attractiveness of loving Christian marriages and families. Evangelicals should renew their commitment to the sacrificial love and covenantal faithfulness to which Jesus calls all husbands and wives.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops likewise cites Jesus’ teaching “that from the beginning marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman” and goes on to compare this latest ruling to that of Roe v. Wade:

Regardless of what a narrow majority of the Supreme Court may declare at this moment in history, the nature of the human person and marriage remains unchanged and unchangeable. Just as Roe v. Wade did not settle the question of abortion over forty years ago, Obergefell v. Hodges does not settle the question of marriage today. Neither decision is rooted in the truth, and as a result, both will eventually fail. Today the Court is wrong again. It is profoundly immoral and unjust for the government to declare that two people of the same sex can constitute a marriage.

The unique meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is inscribed in our bodies as male and female. The protection of this meaning is a critical dimension of the “integral ecology” that Pope Francis has called us to promote. Mandating marriage redefinition across the country is a tragic error that harms the common good and most vulnerable among us, especially children. The law has a duty to support every child’s basic right to be raised, where possible, by his or her married mother and father in a stable home.

These Christians are not naïve. They know that the power of the state, in service of a lie, now menaces those who tell the truth. Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Leadership Conference, noted in his statement today. “Today’s SCOTUS decision redefining marriage serves as a de facto and legal catalyst for the marginalization of Americans who embrace a biblical worldview.”

In the face of the state, Rodriguez continued: “As children of the Cross, committed to biblical truth, we affirm the biblical definition of marriage as a sacred union between one man and one woman. At the same time, as Christ followers committed to the loving Gospel of Jesus, we reject and repudiate all vestiges of homophobia, intolerance and bigotry.”

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, released a video reminding Christians that now is not the time to panic. “The Supreme Court can do many things, but the Supreme Court cannot get Jesus Christ back in that grave,” he said.

Bishop Paul S. Loverde and Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, representing  Virginia’s Catholic bishops, said in a statement, “[I]t is more vital than ever that we share the Church’s consistent witness to the truth about marriage, and we call on Catholics and those concerned for the common good to continue to pray, live and speak out with charity about the true nature of marriage. The truth cannot be marginalized.”

Inevitably, the national conversation sent out ripples all over Twitter. Some bring more light than the heat that might be expected. God and the Gay Christian author Matthew Vines tweeted at Hannah More biographer Karen Swallow Prior that he was sad to see she “opposed even civil marriage equality for all Americans”:

.@VinesMatthew For me the issue is less about the church’s mission than it is about human flourishing.

— Karen Swallow Prior (@LoveLifeLitGod) June 26, 2015

As The Stream‘s own Jay Richards points out, Christians committed to human flourishing have just been issued a challenge. “We are now entering a time of suffering, in which many of our fellow citizens, for whom we are working, will hate us. But if we work together, our suffering can lead to success.”