UPDATED: Nine Iowa congregations have joined a new sect of Lutheran churches, signaling that they could leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in the world.

The moves come after the ELCA voted this summer to allow gay and lesbian pastors in committed relationships to serve in the clergy.

The nine congregations will join a new group of churches called LutheranCORE, which requires members to subscribe to a “Common Confession” that asserts, among other things, that “sexual activity belongs exclusively within the biblical boundaries of a faithful marriage between one man and one woman.”

The affected churches are scattered across Iowa, generally outside metropolitan areas. View the full list here.

An earlier version of this post incorrectly asserted that joining LutheranCORE was an indication that a congregation had already broken ties with ELCA. A commenter points out that membership in LutheranCORE does not necessarily mean that a church has left ELCA, even if LutheranCORE itself was formed in part as a disapproving response to the ELCA vote this summer. Congregations must still vote to sever ties with ELCA before anything is official.