Congress recently enacted the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) and it has two primary purposes.

1. It requires the federal government to recognize
   a marriage between two individuals if the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed.
2. It guarantees that valid marriages between two individuals are given full faith and credit, regardless of the couple’s sex, race, ethnicity,
   or national origin, but the bill would not require
   a state to issue a marriage license contrary to state law.
   
   These two purposes will have little, if any, effect on churches.