"We may disagree with our president on this one issue. But we will keep him lifted up in prayer."

In Atlanta, at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church – where Martin Luther King Jr. got his start – the Rev. Ralph Warnock addressed the president’s remarks near the end of his sermon.

“The president is entitled to his opinion,” Warnock said. “He is the president of the United States, not the pastor of the United States.”

Warnock said that there is a place for gays in the church, and that “we don’t have to solve this today.”

Black churchgoers on Sunday appeared split on same-sex marriage, though many of those opposed to it said they still supported Obama.

“It’s a human rights issue, not a gay issue. All people that pay taxes should get … the same privileges and rights,” said Terence Johnson, a congregant at Salem Bible Church in Atlanta.