For reconsideration - Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust
The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly authorized two specific reconsiderations of the 2009 social statement, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.
The first reconsideration is editorial and focused on small, clarifying word changes that do not change the overall meaning of the social statement. As the authorization indicates, civil law governing same-sex marriages, public acceptance of such marriages, and diversity of family configurations have changed dramatically since 2009. The most obvious example is the 2015 Supreme Court decision that makes the marriage of any two individuals the law of the land. Given the legal and social changes since adoption of human Sexuality, the task force will examine editorial questions such as whether the statement should use ‘marriage’ for all couples.
A task force seated by the ELCA Church Council has been hard at work since Spring 2024 on this first reconsideration, and has made the draft edits from the task force available online for public feedback at www.elca.org/Reconsiderations. The public comment period runs until January 31, 2025.
On www.elca.org/Reconsiderations you will be able to find several resources:
A copy of the entire Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust social statement with draft edits underlined and highlighted (also available in Spanish);
A document with Explanations of the Draft Edits, which helps connect each draft edit to the authorization from the 2022 Churchwide Assembly (also available in Spanish and large-print)
A conversation guide for groups (also available in Spanish and large-print); and
A survey for people to submit their feedback on the draft edits.
Follow the button below to learn some more background on the reconsiderations and the initial authorization from the 2022 churchwide assembly. Questions or comments? The email Reconsiderations@elca.org is monitored by the editorial team. They share, “We move forward with hope that the Holy Spirit will guide these conversations and with gratitude for this church and for you.”
