Prophetic authority: A revealed policy on same-sex couples and their children, reversed
In 2016 Russell M. Nelson told members that the Lord had inspired President Thomas S. Monson “to declare the mind of the Lord and the will of the Lord” in the 2015 exclusion policy. In 2019 the Church removed the policy’s restrictions and attributed that change to divine direction too. Members are still taught that the Lord will never permit the Church president to lead them astray.
The short answer
Was the 2015 exclusion policy presented as revelation before it was reversed?
Yes. In January 2016, Russell M. Nelson attributed the policy to revelation received by Thomas S. Monson and confirmed to the apostles. The policy restricted ordinances for children of same-sex couples and classified same-gender marriage as apostasy.
The thread
Assurance, outcome, accommodation
Read chronologically, the sources show dated promises that did not arrive, an unconditional assurance that the president cannot lead the Church astray, and a policy announced as the mind and will of the Lord, then reversed.
- The canon
Error is possible; fulfillment is promised
“The prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.”
Doctrine and Covenants 1:24–28, 37–38The preface to the revelations says God’s servants spoke in weakness and could err, be corrected, and receive knowledge. It also gives a categorical assurance that the prophecies and promises will be fulfilled. The tension is present at the beginning of the record.
- A dated promise
A temple “in this generation”
“Which temple shall be reared in this generation.”
Doctrine and Covenants 84:2–5The revelation locates a temple in Independence, Missouri, and ties its construction to the living generation. No temple was built there in that period. A current Church manual treats the Saints as excused after persecution and expulsion prevented the work.
- A passing horizon
Fifty-six years should “wind up the scene”
“Even fifty six years, should wind up the scene.”
Joseph Smith Papers annotation to D&C 130Minutes from 1835 preserve Joseph Smith’s expectation that the Lord’s coming was near. The horizon passed. In 1843 he recorded a related statement about reaching age eighty-five, but said he could not decide whether it referred to the Second Coming, an earlier appearance, or his own death.
- Categorical assurance
The President cannot lead the Church astray
“The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray.”
Wilford Woodruff, excerpts following Official Declaration 1Wilford Woodruff said God would remove a Church president who attempted to lead the Saints astray. The statement became a durable institutional assurance, repeated by later presidents and in Church curriculum.
- Assurance repeated
“The prophet will never lead the Church astray”
Teachings of the Living Prophets, chapter 2Ezra Taft Benson made the promise one of his “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet.” The same address says the prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord “in everything,” extending the assurance beyond formal canon or a narrow class of pronouncements.
- Explicit accommodation
Leaders have “simply made mistakes”
“There have been times when members or leaders in the Church have simply made mistakes.”
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Come, Join with Us”Uchtdorf acknowledged that some things said or done by leaders were not in harmony with Church values, principles, or doctrine. He paired that admission with confidence that God would not allow the Church to drift from its appointed course.
- Policy presented as revelation
The “mind of the Lord” restricts ordinances for children
“To declare the mind of the Lord and the will of the Lord.”
Russell M. Nelson explains the 2015 handbook changeThe November 2015 handbook policy restricted naming, blessing, and baptism for children living with parents in a same-sex relationship. In January 2016, Russell M. Nelson said President Thomas S. Monson had been inspired to declare the Lord’s mind and will, and that every apostle felt a spiritual confirmation.
- Policy reversed
The restrictions are removed after further revelation
“We recently felt directed to adjust the policy.”
Russell M. Nelson, “The Love and Laws of God”Three and a half years after adoption, the Church allowed bishops to authorize baptisms and parents to request infant blessings without First Presidency approval. Same-gender marriage was no longer treated as apostasy for Church discipline. Nelson said continued supplication produced direction to make the adjustment.
- Current framework
Prophets are “not infallible” and may make mistakes
“Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not infallible.”
The Role of Prophets, current Church study guideThe current guide says prophets may make mistakes and an individual teaching can be personal opinion. It retains the no-leading-astray assurance by defining divine guidance institutionally: the Church will fulfill its mission, later revelation can supersede earlier teaching, and continuing revelation can eliminate error.
The dated record
When the ordinary reading does not arrive
These two examples compare dated expectations preserved in Church sources with the outcomes and later institutional explanations.
A promise tied to “this generation”
Doctrine and Covenants 84 says a temple would be built at the designated site in Independence, Missouri, in the living generation. That building did not occur on that timetable.
A current Church manual says the Saints’ transgressions and expulsion prevented the work. It cites a later revelation that excuses people when enemies prevent God’s commanded work and treats the Independence temple as a future promise.
A near horizon, later recorded with ambiguity
The 1835 minutes record Joseph Smith saying that the coming of the Lord was near—“even fifty six years, should wind up the scene.” That horizon passed in 1891 without the Second Coming.
In 1843 Joseph Smith said he could not decide what a related age-eighty-five statement meant—the Second Coming, an earlier appearance, or his own death. Current Church sources preserve that uncertainty rather than the 1835 timetable.
A revealed policy with a three-and-a-half-year life
“To declare the mind of the Lord and the will of the Lord.”
The 2015 handbook change treated a member in a same-gender marriage as apostate for disciplinary purposes. It also withheld a child’s formal name and blessing and ordinary eligibility for baptism when the child lived with a parent in a same-sex relationship. Baptism before adulthood required an exception from the First Presidency.
Nelson did not present this only as a prudent administrative judgment. In January 2016, while serving as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he said the apostles had fasted, prayed, considered many scenarios, and sustained what had been revealed to President Monson.
In April 2019, the Church announced that children could be named, blessed, and baptized without First Presidency approval, subject to parental permission and ordinary local authorization. Same-gender marriage remained a serious transgression but was no longer categorized as apostasy for discipline.
The First Presidency said the changes followed “fervent, united prayer” to understand the Lord’s will. Nelson later said both the 2015 and 2019 adjustments were motivated by love and that continuing supplication brought direction to alter the earlier policy.
The doctrine was said not to have changed. The operative policy—and the consequences for children and parents—did.Biblical context
Scripture tells hearers to test
The Bible does not exempt prophets from examination. It asks whether a word comes to pass, whether teaching is faithful to God, what fruit a teacher produces, and whether God’s declared word can be reversed.
Prediction
Did the word come true?
“If the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken.”
Deuteronomy 18 places this test in a covenant setting where a speaker claims to speak in God’s name. A failed prediction is not dismissed merely because the speaker holds an office.
Deuteronomy 18:20–22, ESV ↗Teaching
Does the claim confess the truth about Christ?
“Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
First John immediately gives a doctrinal test centered on Jesus Christ coming in the flesh. Discernment is an obligation of the believing community, not an act forbidden to it.
1 John 4:1–3, ESV ↗Fruit
What does the teacher produce?
“You will recognize them by their fruits.”
In Matthew 7, Jesus warns that false prophets may look harmless. Their character and results disclose what appearance alone does not. This is a test over time, not just of a single claim.
Matthew 7:15–20, ESV ↗Constancy
Does God reverse what He has declared?
“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.”
Balaam’s oracle in Numbers 23 contrasts God’s word with human inconstancy: “Has he said, and will he not do it?” Scripture also records God relenting from announced judgment when people repent, as at Nineveh. The 2015–2019 record is different: no change in the families involved is given as the reason. Opposite rules for the same children were each presented as the Lord’s will.
Numbers 23:19, ESV ↗The biblical tests apply to what was actually claimed. Here the claim was explicit: the Lord inspired the 2015 policy, and the apostles felt a “spiritual confirmation” of it.
The documentary tension
The assurance remains alongside correction and reversal
The current Church guide does not withdraw Wilford Woodruff’s promise. Instead, it distinguishes ordinary error from leading the whole Church permanently away from its divine mission. The guide presents correction by later revelation as part of divine guidance, while allowing earlier teachings to be superseded.
The guide permits mistaken teaching and later correction while retaining the assurance. In that framework, a teaching can later be reclassified as a leader’s error without affecting the promise. The 2015–2019 record shows the cost: members were told a policy was the mind and will of the Lord, and were then told its removal was the Lord’s will as well.
Sources
Read the record in context
The central comparison uses canonized scripture, official Church curriculum, general conference, and the Church Historian’s Press.
Each dated expectation is quoted from the Church’s own canon or the Joseph Smith Papers, alongside the explanation the Church now applies. The biblical quotations use the English Standard Version.