A Pastoral Letter to Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen

June 2, 2026 

 

Governor Jim Pillen 

1445 K Street 

Lincoln, NE 68508 

 Governor Pillen, 

Last week, you signed an executive order intended to create a system which will compile complaints and incidents of antisemitism in Nebraska public schools under the Department of Education. You also committed the Department of Education to providing materials on the Holocaust, and you said that state staff will receive anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training. You noted the rise in anti-semitism across the nation and within our state, a rise which concerns me as well. Working to fight religious persecution and reduce intolerance in its many forms is a laudable goal. As a Christian committed to justice and peace for all of God’s beloved children, I share that goal with you. 

However, Governor, your own words during the signing of that executive order showed that you have much to learn about hatred, history, and the people of Palestine, who suffer unjust persecution and violence of their own which also must be brought to an end. You said: “In Nebraska, we do not tolerate hate in any form.” Yet minutes later, you said, “those people [Palestinians] are born to kill Jews and Christians.” Governor, I cannot call those words anything but hatred for the people of Palestine, a dehumanizing dismissal of an entire people based in ignorance and fear. You said, “The only way hatred can thrive is if history is forgotten.” Yet minutes later, you forgot the history of illegal land seizures in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. You forgot the families who are still refugees within Palestine generations after the creation of the state of Israel. You forgot the estimated 75,000 Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli violence since the horrors of October 7, 2023, a slow genocide that continues today under a ‘cease fire’ in which Palestinian civilians continue to die. 

Governor, you mentioned traveling to Israel, meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and visiting an Israeli village in which 400 people had been slaughtered. I believe you when you describe the horror experienced by that village. The attacks of October 7th were an atrocity, and the people who carried them out should be brought to justice. But your comments last week make it clear that you have not heard from the people of the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, who suffer a no less atrocious violation of their human rights. Allow me to tell you some of their story. 

In January, I traveled to the West Bank as part of a delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to celebrate the consecration of the new presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land. I was a guest of this small but active Palestinian church for nearly two weeks. I was at the Jaffa Gate preparing for a celebratory procession to the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection just down the street from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher when we received word that the bishop’s family had been detained, his mother threatened at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers even though all the necessary paperwork for entry into the Old City had been completed weeks in advance. I met with a farming family who has spent over $350,000 in legal fees over the last 40 years, fighting an unjust Israeli court system simply to continue farming land which has been legally owned and occupied by their family for generations. I walked through the Aida refugee settlement, where snipers have killed children and civilians without cause and without consequences. I have seen the hills where Israeli settlements are started without legal justification and Palestinians have been forced to relocate yet again without fair compensation. I have met the staff of Augusta Victoria Hospital, a Lutheran World Federation facility which treats Palestinian refugees when no one else will do so, and I have listened to them describe their attempts to provide pediatric cancer treatment within the Gaza Strip only to be denied by the Israeli military for security reasons. Palestinian children are dying of cancer when life-giving care is within reach - and it is not the hatred of Palestinians that prevents that care from reaching those in need. 

Do you know what I never once heard, Governor? I never heard any Palestinian wish for harm to come to their persecutors. Not once. I heard anger at the perpetuation of injustice against the Palestinian people. I heard deep grief at the violence that has killed so many people on both sides of this seemingly unending conflict. I heard fierce pride in being Palestinian, and a steadfast determination to continue to work for justice and peace in the Holy Land. But not once did I hear anyone say, “That Netanyahu, he wants to kill every Palestinian person on the planet.” Not once did I hear any of our hosts say, “those Israelis are born to kill Palestinians.” Not. Once. 

In no way do I mean to excuse or deny the actual violence that has been carried out by Palestinians and Israelis. Atrocities have been committed by both parties, and any hope for a peaceful resolution to the current conflict will require those responsible to bear the consequences of their actions. Continued overgeneralization of this complex conflict, however, will serve only to proliferate an unjust and biased narrative and prolong the suffering of millions as a consequence. 

Governor, when you speak, your words reflect on the Nebraskans you serve. Your dismissive and dehumanizing words about the people of Palestine cast a pall of intolerance and ignorance on all of us. You supported an ill-informed and overly simplistic view of the conflict in the Holy Land. It would have been far better had you said nothing at all. We deserve better than this from you. The people of Palestine deserve an apology, as do your fellow Nebraskans. 

Yours in Christ, 

The Rev. Scott Alan Johnson, Bishop 

Nebraska Synod - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/pillen-signs-executive-order-requiring-reporting-for-antisemitism-across-nebraska/ 

December 2025 Reflection from the Bishop - "Them"

My days pass away like a shadow, and I wither like the grass.

But you, O Lord, endure forever, and your name from age to age.

You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to have mercy upon Jerusalem; 

indeed, the appointed time has come.

For your servants love the city’s very rubble, and are moved to pity even for its dust.

You will look with favor on the prayer of the homeless; you will not despise their plea.

Let this be written for a future generation, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord.

—Psalm 102.11-14, 17-18 (Evangelical Lutheran Worship)—

There’s a truth known by those of us who’ve grown up in the age of the internet: “Don’t read the comments.” The many benefits provided to us by the heightened connectivity of modern living come with the same problems shared by every age humanity has ever known: what exists can be used for sinful purposes, and likely will be as quickly as we can imagine. 

Reflecting on the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly

Beloved in Christ,

A party of 21 Nebraska Synod voting members attended the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly this past week. What follows are my reflections on the week together in Phoenix and what I believe this means for the future of our church. 

Elections

• The Rev. Yehiel Curry, Bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, was elected to be the next Presiding Bishop of the ELCA. You can learn a bit more about Bishop-Elect Curry at the video below.

• The Rev. Lucille "CeCee" Mills was elected to be the next Secretary of the ELCA. Learn more about Pastor Mills here.
• Elections for the ELCA Church Council and various committees & task forces were also held. PMA Matt Schur, a member of Southwood Lutheran Church in Lincoln, was elected to a six year term on the ELCA Church Council. 

Social Teachings, Constitutional Amendments, Memorials, and Resolutions

• We adopted our newest social statement, Faith and Civic Life: Seeking the Well-Being of All. 
• We approved editorial updates to the 2009 statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust. These updates reflect contemporary legal definitions and actions for all marriage relationships and do not change the essence of the statement itself. We will begin a reconsideration process for the statement this fall, which will be addressed by the 2028 Churchwide Assembly. 
• We heard the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church’s final report along with the ELCA Church Council’s response to the report. The CRLC’s work also found its way into some of our constitutional revisions, many of which were debated in great detail in the course of the Assembly's work.
• Memorial D4 "Stand for Palestinian Rights and End to Occupation of Palestine" Adopted 742-38
• Calls for the ELCA, its members, congregations, synods and churchwide units to advocate for human rights and a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis by supporting policies that end the occupation, to join the World Council of Churches in calling for an immediate end to the mass killing in Gaza, to urge the Office of the Presiding Bishop to petition U.S. leaders to recognize and act to end the genocide against Palestinians, halt military aid to Israel used in Gaza, and support Palestinian statehood and U.N. membership, to reject forced displacement and settler violence, to promote prayerful engagement and solidarity with those working for justice and peace, including ELCA partners in the region, and to amplify the voices of local partners and strengthen the ELCA’s advocacy through the Office of the Presiding Bishop, the Middle East and North Africa Desk, the Sumud initiative, and the Witness in Society team, among other offices.
• Memorial A3 - "Indian Boarding School Remembrance" Adopted 779-7 
• Calls for the church to observe the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools annually, develop educational programs and materials surrounding the history and ELCA’s complicity with Indian boarding schools, and provide ongoing recognition and support for the continued work to locate all known records regarding the ELCA predecessor churches’ involvement with Indian boarding and day schools, among other actions.
• Memorial B14 - "Consideration of Recommendation 1 of the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church" Adopted 646-144
• Calls for the church to acknowledge the importance of accountability in addressing racism within all structures of the ELCA, to affirm the work of the Strategy Toward Authentic Diversity Advisory Team, to request that the Church Council continue to work with the team to clarify the nature of mutual accountability, and to direct the Church Council to add a timeline to its actions taken and to provide progress updates to this church with a final report by fall 2027, including possible constitutional changes.
• We received the Common Statement on the Filioque. "Reception" means more than just hearing a report - it means we affirm the work that our ecumenical partners have done and will consider with care their recommendations related to bridging gaps between Lutheran and Orthodox churches.
• The Assembly approved an amendment setting a goal for youth (14-17) and young adults (ages 18-30) to make up 20% of Churchwide councils, committees, and task forces. 
• Special thanks go to Deacon Timothy Siburg of the Nebraska Synod for his service on the Churchwide Assembly's Memorials Committee. 

Worship, Prayer, Spiritual Practices, Speakers & Presentations

• The Assembly received the final reports of both Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and ELCA Secretary Sue Rothmeyer, who were both celebrated after their presentations and at a banquet on Thursday evening. 
• Other speakers and presenters included Presiding Bishop Susan Johnson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism; Bishop-elect Imad Mousa Dawood Haddad of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land; Rector Chad Rimmer of Lenoir-Rhyne University/Southern Theological Seminary, and many others. 
• Daily worship was a highlight for many of the Assembly attendees. We heard from a variety of preachers: Bishop Elizabath Eaton; the Rev. Imad Mousa Dawood Haddad, bishop-elect, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land; Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, General Secretary and President of the National Council of Churches; and the Rev. Wyvetta Bullock, ELCA executive for administration.
• On Tuesday evening, the ELCA's staff for Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations invited the Assembly to observe a powwow involving traditional dancers from a number of different tribes and nations. 
• On Thursday evening, AMMPARO hosted an impactful Candlelight Prayer Vigil for refugees and immigrants. 
• Voting members often paused for prayer before votes and even during plenary discussion.

Reflections

This is my second Churchwide Assembly, and it was a very different experience than my first (2022, as a replacement voting member and as bishop-elect). Some of you may remember that 2022 was a very difficult year for the ELCA. We were still working our way through COVID-related trauma and also struggled to deal with trauma within the church, some of it self-inflicted. I remember the plenary room feeling very anxious throughout the 2022 Churchwide Assembly; in 2025, anxiety was not nearly so rampant, even as we considered major leadership elections and further work we need to do as a church. We celebrated the ministries of Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and Secretary Sue Rothmeyer, giving thanks for their good work as leaders of this church. We acknowledged that changing structures and structural issues in this denomination is difficult, and that there is much work left to do, but I believe we also allowed ourselves to acknowledge that there are signs of hope that may not have been so apparent three years ago. 

I knew this was going to be a momentous Churchwide Assembly. I wasn't prepared for how the election of the presiding bishop was going to affect me emotionally. When Bishop Yehiel Curry was announced as the next presiding bishop of this church, I found myself tearing up. Some of that, I believe, is knowing the quality and character of our Presiding Bishop-Elect. Some of that is knowing what this election means for our church. Just as Presiding Bishop Eaton's election spoke volumes in 2013, so do the elections of Bishop Yehiel Curry and Pastor CeCee Mills in 2025. The repercussions of these elections will ripple through this church for years to come. So, yes: I had a very quiet little crying session as we stood and applauded the election of our new Presiding Bishop, and I'm fairly certain I'm not the only one who did, either. 

I asked our voting members to summarize their Churchwide Assembly experience in three words. Mine are: Changing - Determined - Hopeful. We are not the church we should be - not yet. But we are also not the church we were - not anymore. As a GenXer, I know I'm supposed to be suspicious of institutions (if not outright dismissive), but I continue to see signs of the Spirit's work in this church throughout all of its expressions. God is up to something in this church: from the smallest congregations to the Churchwide office, there are people who just will not give up on this church, and I saw that determination in abundance more than once during the Churchwide Assembly. It reminded me of the quote that Rector Chad Rimmer used to close his presentation: 

“This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise; we are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished, but it is going on; this is not the end, but it is the road; all does not yet gleam with glory, but all is being purified.” Luther, Defense and Explanation of All the Articles (1521)

"This is not the end, but it is the road." Amen, Brother Martin. Here in Nebraska, it's good to be on that road together with all of you. 

Bishop Scott

ELCA Church Council Report

The bishops from each of the 9 regions of the ELCA select one of their number to serve as a liaison to the ELCA Church Council for terms of 4 years. I serve as the Region 4 liaison bishop, and I attended my first ELCA Church Council meeting in Chicago April 11-15. What follows is my own reflections on the meetings; here is the link to the official news release from the Churchwide office.

What struck me most deeply in our time together was the wide scope of our church that is represented in that relatively small body. What we see in our local experience is only one part of who we are as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; sitting with council members from across the country it is much easier to see just what an amazing array of people we are (and the people themselves are pretty amazing in their own right). The denomination is well-served by this group of leaders. 

I’m one of two bishops working with the Faith, Society, and Innovation Committee, and we spent a lot of time wordsmithing two documents: a Social Message on Gun-Related Violence and Trauma, and the draft of the Social Statement on Civic Life and Faith. Both are crucial statements in our current environment, particularly the statement on Civic Life and Faith, which will be in its public feedback period until Sept. 30, 2024. I encourage you to make time to read and provide feedback. 

Other items of note:

• Presiding Bishop Eaton has returned from her time of personal leave and is very much back at work. In particular, she is working toward concrete action steps related to the Future Church and God’s Love Made Real projects, utilizing an implementation team that will be conducting online Town Hall meetings with Bishop Eaton in each region of the church in coming months. She was thankful for the time away to rest and recharge, and for the care given to her in that time, but is excited to move beyond research and studies into concrete action. 
• The co-chairs of the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church commented on a few findings within their work:
• The Commission has been amazed to realize how deeply the influence of the predecessor denominations still affects the ELCA, 35 years post-merger.
• The variety of practices in synods and regions is sometimes a contextual benefit and sometimes not. Some leaders genuinely lead and some are obviously carrying out agendas for others within the church. 
• It is clear that “Who are we?” is a question being asked throughout the ELCA. We have significant difficulty knowing where the ELCA fits as one slice within the worldwide church as a whole. 
• The institutions, organizations, and ministries which relate to the ELCA as separately-incorporated non-profits (think camps, campus ministries, service agencies, etc. which we often know as “serving arms”) are passionate supporters and innovators within the church. There was once some desire to begin referring to this group of folks as a “fourth expression” of the ELCA - it has since morphed into a preference for “related institutions, organizations, and ministries” instead, which has, of course, morphed into an acronym: RIOMs. 

Finally, I’ll end with a reflection from the Rev. Dr. Betsy Miller of the Northern Province of the Moravian Church, who brought greetings as a representative of our full communion partners. In describing the reality she sees as a leader of a church with fewer than 50,000 adherents, she said, “We’re a mission movement. We never should have become a denomination.” As much as the people gathered in Chicago were there to conduct the business of the denomination, I did have a definite sense that the mission, GOD’s mission for the ELCA, was in the midst of all our conversations. I think this will be the challenge of our time as the ELCA: in an age of institutional transformation, will we be captive to supporting the denomination at the expense of mission, or can we pivot to being a mission movement with a denominational structure that supports that mission? I'll be pondering this for a while yet; it's unsettling in the most spiritually enlightening sort of fashion.

Yours in God’s restless peace,

Bishop Scott Johnson