Hi, I’m Holli.
As a child, one of my first memories of church is sitting in sacrament meeting, listening to the bishop mention a young boy who was turning eight and getting baptized. The bishop stated that he would give this boy a small sum of money (maybe $5) to start his “mission fund” so he could start saving for his mission down the road. The bishop did this for each primary boy who turned eight, but I couldn’t help but notice that my turn to receive a mission startup fund never came. Because I was a girl. That experience profoundly affected me and opened my eyes, even as a young child, to the fact that in big and small ways, girls and boys are not equal in the LDS church.
I’ve been a member of the church my entire life. I have ancestors on both sides of my family who knew Joseph Smith and were part of the church from the beginning. I grew up in the gospel, married in the temple, and have served faithfully in many callings, including as a full-time missionary (yes, former bishop, girls go on missions too), primary teacher, counselor in several Relief Society presidencies, and so many other callings. I put my whole heart into the church. But I have always been painfully aware of the inequality that exists between men and women within the church.
When boys’ programs receive a much bigger budget (usually through Boy Scouts) and therefore boys experience a wider variety of activities and adventures than girls do, it sends a message. When boys’ accomplishments are publicly and abundantly celebrated while girls’ accomplishments are quietly mentioned in passing, it sends a message. When boys receive the rite of passage into the priesthood at twelve years of age and girls have no such equivalent, it sends a message. When boys are given visible and revered duties within the church community such as passing and blessing the sacrament and girls don’t have access to similar visible callings or duties, it sends a message. When the top leadership of the ward, stake, and church are made up primarily of men, and when all major decisions are made by men only, it sends a message.
The church sends the valuable message to boys and men that they are important. But from the time they are young, so many boys and girls are receiving the corresponding message loud and clear: girls and women are not quite as important. And I believe this message is hurting both girls and boys and also impeding progress for the church.
I believe that when girls and boys are treated equally in the church, and when men and women have equal access to administrative and decision-making callings within the church at all levels, only then will the church reach its full potential. I believe women should be ordained.