Hi, I’m Kathy. I’m a wife, a writer, and a mother of three who gave birth to my last child while undergoing treatment for cancer. Before I had children, I worked as a journalist. I have served in the church as a missionary, a ward missionary, a primary teacher, a ward activities committee member, a visiting teacher, a relief society president and as a nursery worker.
I love the Mormon church for its emphasis on family, service and on developing a relationship with God. I believe God speaks to me. Usually, I feel like God speaks to me through the people around me – through their reactions, their words, their stories, their feelings and mine own. Thus in my perspective, when you shut out half of your membership from true leadership in the church, you hamper the process of revelation and handicap your organization and its members.
At church, I hear a lot of talks where men are encouraged to honor women. I appreciate the sentiment but think those sermons often miss the point. Honoring women doesn’t mean holding a door open for us. It doesn’t mean talking about how we’re better than men. (We’re not). It means giving us true respect: making our voices heard just as much as the voices of our brothers, giving us the symbols of honor, such as leadership positions, and giving us the ceremonies that mark us as having the authority, in our community, to act in the name of God. I believe women should be ordained.