The Minnesota South District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod voted at its convention in St. Paul late last week to support the state’s proposed marriage amendment.

The district includes 245 congregations in the Twin Cities and southern half of Minnesota.

Clergy and lay representatives approved a resolution affirming marriage as the union of a man and woman and were encouraged to support the proposed amendment on Nov. 6 that would add that definition to the state’s constitution, according to a news release from church officials.

The Minnesota North District approved a similar resolution in April.

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States, after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Five Minnesota synods of the ELCA have approved formal resolutions in opposition to the marriage amendment.