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Seventeen years ago, the 2009 Churchwide Assembly adopted the social statement “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,” a milestone in the church’s deliberation about sexuality. Then the 2022 Churchwide Assembly authorized the ELCA to consider whether the teachings in one section of the 2009 statement still speak to the church and the world today.
The development or reconsideration of social statements can only be authorized by a churchwide assembly. These processes are opportunities for the whole church to engage in thoughtful, prayerful deliberation.
In 2024 the Church Council appointed a task force composed of ELCA members with diverse backgrounds, identities, experiences and perspectives to lead the church in discerning a section of “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.”
When asked about their experience on the task force, co-chairs Joel Benson and Keats Miles-Wallace both conveyed how their early anxiety about the process transformed into hope as the group grew in relationship.
“Coming into this work on this task force was a very scary proposition for me because in 2009 I had voted against the social statement,” said Benson, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Butler, Pa. “I wondered, ‘Am I going to be accepted, a part of this church?’ I quickly found out that I am accepted as a part of this church.”
“Going into the task force there was a lot of anxiety,” said Miles-Wallace, pastor of Technicolor Ministries in Seguin, Texas. “And then coming to know the 16 people on this task force has been the greatest gift. We have that scriptural component of wrestling with God here in the best way. It’s been the greatest gift to wrestle with each other, with the statement, with Scripture, and to see where we come out on the other side.”
A common thread for task force members has been the Spirit’s presence in this work.
“In our task force’s covenant, we are covenanting with each other to be open to the Spirit’s work within this group,” Benson said. “We can point to different moments along this journey so far where we can say, ‘That was a Holy Spirit moment.’ The Holy Spirit opened us up and helped us to see somebody else’s perspective, somebody else’s opinion, somebody else’s thought process in a way that we hadn’t before.”
The reconsideration process
The group’s first task was an editorial reconsideration that proposed updated language considering changes in U.S. civil law related to marriage and more recent ELCA social teachings. The 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted these editorial changes by a vote of 724-46.
The task force now turns to the second reconsideration, which involves discernment by the whole church regarding the social statement’s description of four different convictions Lutherans hold in conscience about same-gender relationships. The process calls for:
- Resources, including a study for groups, which are now available online to help ELCA members engage in moral discernment of the issues and to discover how to talk together as Lutherans about tough issues. The two-session study, “Conscience and Conversation: A Study During the Reconsideration of the Social Statement ‘Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,’” includes activities, discussion questions and options for adapting it for different settings. People who use these resources are invited to give feedback to the task force on their experience before Sept. 30. This feedback will help inform the draft phase of the reconsideration process.
- A draft of the reconsidered text to be available in spring 2027 for input from ELCA members. The task force will closely study the public feedback on the draft.
- An update of the draft by the task force, which will be informed by the public feedback described above. The task force will submit a proposed reconsideration of the section to the Church Council in 2027. The 2028 Churchwide Assembly will vote on the second reconsideration, if recommended by the council.
The authorization of a reconsideration is an invitation to the church to communal discernment. It doesn’t dictate a specific end or predetermined changes to a social statement. The task force is directed to provide a proposed social statement to the 2028 Churchwide Assembly. Any changes will be proposed in light of the feedback the task force receives from ELCA members.
“If I could communicate one thing to my siblings in the rest of the church, it is this: as you are able, familiarize yourself with the process and please make your voice heard,” said Anna Tew, a task force member and pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, South Hadley, Mass.
Miles-Wallace said, “To have the experience we have had of wrestling with each other, the statement and Scripture with a genuine respect and love is all I can wish for ELCA members as they—we hope—engage a similar process to what we have.”
Find more information and resources here.
