LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR – AUGUST 2026

written by Dennis Nelson | August 4, 2026

UNWRAPPING BOUND CONSCIENCE

by Dennis D. Nelson

Note:  Many thanks to Larry Becker, NALC pastor in southern California and member of the board of Lutheran CORE, for gathering several of the references and resources that are used in this article. 

Last month I wrote an article for the July issue of our newsletter about the study guide from the task force that is reconsidering the 2009 ELCA human sexuality social statement. HERE is a link to that article.  The study guide focuses on the whole issue of bound conscience, which is the term the social statement uses to describe the fact that people in the ELCA hold different views on same sex relationships.  This month I would like to further explore the whole concept of bold conscience – where it came from, whether it has been helpful, is it being followed, and what we might anticipate for the future.

Pages 19-21 of the original 2009 (the social statement was revised in 2025) version of “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust” describe four different positions on same sex relationships that people within the ELCA hold “with conviction and integrity.”  It then says, “Although at this time this church lacks consensus on this matter, it encourages all people to live out their faith . . . with profound respect for the conscience-bound belief of the neighbor.”  It is this whole issue of bound conscience that the 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted overwhelmingly (708-93) to reconsider.

HERE is a link to a video from the 2009 Churchwide Assembly where Dr. Timothy Wengert explains the whole concept of bound conscience.  Dr. Wengert is professor emeritus at United Lutheran Seminary (Philadelphia) and was a member of the task force on human sexuality.  The whole motivation is clearly revealed in the comment made by the person who introduces him – to build a case that disagreement on human sexuality need not be church dividing.

When Lutherans think of bound conscience, they naturally first think of Martin Luther’s defense in 1521 at the Diet of Worms.  “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.  I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.”  For Luther bound conscience was not about different people holding different views “with conviction and integrity” and we need to have profound respect for all.  Bound conscience is not personal conviction, subjective sentiment, political pressure, nor group consensus.  Rather it is submission to the authority of the Word of God. 

But Dr. Wengert – in his introduction – spends the larger portion of his time talking about what he describes as a second way in which bound conscience came up during the Reformation.  That second way had to do with specific, practical, ethical dilemmas such as whether to pressure lay people to receive both bread and wine at communion and rules regarding the practice of fasting.  Dr. Wengert compares the Reformers’ approach to these issues to the way the apostle Paul deals with eating meat offered to idols when he writes to the Romans and the Corinthians. 

Because of what Dr. Wengert places greater emphasis upon, he has reinterpreted bound conscience as giving permission for mutually exclusive moral positions.  As I see it, according to his way of thinking, my conscience becomes bound by my opinion of what the Word of God says (or should say), not by the clear message of Scripture.  As a worst-case scenario, the Word of God becomes bound to my opinions (and the values and beliefs of my culture) rather than my conscience is bound to the Word of God.  No wonder Paull Spring (former retired ELCA bishop, later chairperson of the Lutheran CORE steering committee and bishop emeritus of the NALC), said, “In its emphasis on conscience, the task force forgot that Luther was not talking about his own right to his own opinion.  He was declaring his commitment and allegiance to the Word of God.  It is exactly the opposite of the task force’s idea of conscience as one’s personal beliefs.  They are encouraging the strange notion of a bound conscience as nothing more than individualism.” 

There are four points that I would like to make regarding Dr. Wengert’s definition of bound conscience.

  1. It does not make sense.
  2. It has been rejected.
  3. It is not the way the ELCA has been doing things.
  4. What’s next?   

First, it does not make sense. 

If one person believes that a certain behavior is sinful and another person believes that it is holy, pleasing to, and blessed by God, they cannot both be correct.  Also, if the Church were to lift up two opposing practices as equally valid, how could or would it have any moral authority to proclaim truth?  Instead of having a prophetic voice, the Church would become a reflection of its culture.

Second, it has been rejected.

 Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) and its predecessor organizations trace themselves back to 1990 when two San Francisco congregations extended calls to openly gay and lesbian pastors, in violation of ELCA policy.  In 1993, the Extraordinary Candidacy Project was created to provide a credentialing process for publicly identified LGBTQIA+ people.   After the ELCA changed its ministry policies in 2009, those who had been ordained outside of the ELCA structure and process were welcomed to the ELCA list of rostered leaders.  Some of these people, as well as many other members of ELM, are in positions of considerable power and influence in the ELCA.

In early September 2022 – shortly after the 2022 Churchwide Assembly which authorized the reconsideration of bound conscience – Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries put out a statement that said, “The ELCA must address our sins of racism and ‘bound conscience.’”  HERE is a link to that statement, which then goes on to say, “Many queer-rostered ministry leaders experience . . . harm in the ELCA with little recourse because of ‘bound conscience’.”  The 2019 Churchwide Assembly adopted a formal letter of repentance to commit to examine the church’s complicity in slavery and to acknowledge “the ELCA’s perpetuation of racism.”  At the 2022 Churchwide Assembly Bishop Eaton formally apologized to the worshiping community of Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina in central California for both individual and institutional racist harm done to the congregation and the Latine community.  In the same way Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries believes that “queer people in the ELCA deserve an apology and behavior consistent with repentance for the harm caused by ‘bound conscience’ and policies like ‘Visions and Expectations.’”  This statement then ends by saying, “It is time for ‘bound conscience’ to go.” 

Here Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries basically is equating racism and bound conscience.  Since for the ELCA racism is the worst of the worst, then the provision for bound conscience also must be the worst of the worst.    

No “profound respect for the conscience bound belief of the neighbor” here.  Knowing the high-powered positions of many who are a part of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, no one with traditional views should feel welcome, valued, respected, and/or safe. 

Third, it is not the way the ELCA has been doing things.

 As I have mentioned in previous articles –

  • ELCA youth gatherings have become grooming events for LGBTQ+, transgender, and non-binary ideology. Why would anyone with traditional views want their child or grandchild to attend an ELCA youth gathering?
  • The Human Sexuality Reconsiderations Task Force recommended and the 2025 Churchwide Assembly approved by a vote of 742-46 changes to the social statement which they described as “simply editorial,” when actually they amounted to no less than a full embrace of every diverse form of sexual orientation and gender identity.
  • Prior to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church recommended and the Church Council approved a number of Continuing Resolutions which are now part of the ELCA governing documents without ever having to be voted on by a Churchwide Assembly. Among these Continuing Resolutions are ones which make every diverse form of sexual orientation and gender identity a privileged and protected group within the church. 

It is interesting that the news release about the November 14-17, 2024 meeting of the Church Council did not give any specific information about the above.  Instead it just stated –

In key actions, the council:

Approved amendments to “Constitutions, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the ELCA” that were drafted in response to the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility (DEIA) Audit.

Recommended to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly certain amendments to “Constitutions, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the ELCA” that were brought to the council by the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC).

We did not learn anything specific until later – six months prior to the Churchwide Assembly – when the Church Council informed Synods of its recommendations.   

No “profound respect for the conscience bound belief of the neighbor” here if that neighbor has traditional views.  All those with traditional views need to realize that their position will continue to be eroded.  

Fourth, what’s next?

 I am going with the assumption that the language of “bound conscience” will be removed from the social statement.  The vote at the 2022 Churchwide Assembly to reconsider bound conscience was so strong (708-93).  Votes taken at the 2025 Churchwide Assembly on matters of human sexuality further eroded any standing that traditional views and those who hold them might still have.  Many people have spoken very critically about bound conscience because of the way they see it as allowing for traditional views. 

There certainly will not be in 2028 the “restraining influence” that there was in 2009 from those who hold traditional views.  They are simply no longer there. 

Some members of the task force have spoken very positively about the quality of communication and high level of trust among members of the task force – even among people who strongly disagree with each other.  Are there other members of the task force who would not say that?  

There definitely seems to be a desire to “get through this” with as little organizational damage to the ELCA as possible. 

On the other hand, if bound conscience is eliminated and some other wording that gives a place of dignity and respect for traditional views and those who hold them is not provided in its place –   

Why should or would anyone with traditional views ever trust the ELCA again?

Will synodical bishops be able to hinder a pastor with traditional views from being able to get another call and/or be able to hinder congregations with traditional views from being able to call another pastor?

Will seminarians with traditional views be blocked in their efforts to be certified for ordination and first call (so eventually there will be no traditional pastors left in the ELCA)?

If a pastor is sued for refusing to officiate at a same sex wedding and/or a congregation is sued for refusing to host a same sex wedding, will there be any backing and support from the synod and/or churchwide?

According to the schedule included in the study guide from the task force –

In 2027 a draft of revisions to the social statement will be released for public comment.

In 2028 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly will take action on any proposed revisions.

We will keep you posted as we learn or hear more. 

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VIDEO MINISTRIES

“PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH FOR MAMAS AND LITTLES”

Written by Hanna FitzGerald – Reviewed by James FitzGerald

Many thanks to Hanna and James FitzGerald for this video review of Hanna’s new book, “Prophecies of Isaiah for Mamas and Littles,” which will be published in August 2026 by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau.  Hanna is a former English teacher who is now a full-time mother while serving her church, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fulton, Maryland (ELCA), alongside her husband, the Reverend James FitzGerald.  The FitzGeralds are the ones who provide the weekly, lectionary-based children’s messages on our website. 

A link to the FitzGeralds’ video review can be found HERE.  A link to our YouTube channel, which contains seventy reviews of books and videos on topics of interest and importance, can be found HERE.      

Isaiah prophesied about the coming of Jesus: Emmanuel, God with Us.  During the Advent and Christmas seasons, we remember the gift of Jesus as a baby born in a manger, and we wait for the return of Christ Jesus in glory with the Advent of a New Heaven and a New Earth.  Selected scriptures from Isaiah and the Gospels reveal Jesus in the Old and New Testaments.  Included in this devotional are stories of modern motherhood, prayers, and journal questions.  With each adult devotional for mama, there is also a devotional for children to complete with mama.  These shorter devotionals include prayer, scripture, and a family activity.  Grow closer in faith as a family while preparing for Christmas with each turn of the page.