On Conscience, COVID, and the Church: A Call for Reflection

How moral language around vaccine mandates may have done lasting harm—and how we can begin to heal

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“It is our Christian duty to respect not only our own lives but the lives of our loved ones and those in our communities by accepting the scientific evidence and getting vaccinated against COVID-19.”
—The Episcopal Church (2021)

This is—and remains—the official position of The Episcopal Church.

As someone who serves on the vestry at my local congregation, I’ve been reflecting on how the Episcopal Church—and many other institutions—navigated the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic. I feel compelled to raise a concern that still deserves our shared attention.

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This is not about motives.

Let me say this clearly: I’m not questioning the good faith of those who worked hard to protect and shepherd our communities during a frightening and uncertain time. But I do want to speak to the moral framing around vaccine mandates—and how that framing may have unintentionally alienated faithful members of our church.

“We blurred the line between public health messaging and moral judgment.”

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Christian love or moral failure?

During the height of the pandemic, many churches—ours included—embraced a public position that strongly implied (or explicitly stated) that declining the COVID-19 vaccine was a failure of Christian love.

That position wasn’t vague. It was formally expressed in church policy. And in doing so, we blurred the line between public health messaging and moral judgment.

“Even if the science had turned out to be rock solid, moralizing it would still raise ethical questions.”

But it didn’t. We now know the vaccines did not stop or even remotely reduce transmission. But we should have known that all along. Dr. Deborah Birx, who coordinated the U.S. COVID-19 response, has publicly stated that authorities knew this early on. Clinical trials never tested for transmission prevention, and vaccine manufacturers later confirmed this in public testimony.

Yet even in that moment of scientific uncertainty, individuals were told—often from pulpits—that refusing the vaccine was selfish. That it was unloving. That it was, in some cases, un-Christian.

To many, that message landed not as concern, but as condemnation.

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That is not a small mistake.

It’s not just a breakdown of scientific humility. It’s a breakdown of Christian charity.

“As a Church, we are called to model grace—not to conflate prudence with righteousness.”

As a church, we are called to model grace, to respect conscience, and to invite open, truthful inquiry. We are called to speak to power—not always with it. But in this case, many people of good faith were made to feel morally deficient for making personal medical decisions based on their own discernment.

“Belonging should never come at the expense of conscience.”

That has consequences. It breaks trust. And it places belonging in conflict with conscience.

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So what now?

This is not about blame. It’s not about relitigating the pandemic. It’s about something far more important:
Healing with integrity.

“This isn’t about blame. It’s about healing with integrity.”

If we’re willing to reflect honestly on where we may have overstepped—or conflated prudence with righteousness—we have a real opportunity to restore trust and reaffirm our core values: humility, compassion, truth, and love.

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If you’ve been wrestling with this too—from within a faith community or just in general —I’d love to hear from you.
Feel free to leave a comment, share with others, or reach out directly.

Let’s keep the conversation open, honest, faithful and respectful.

In grace,

Ken

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