Post-Conference Commentary: A Few Questions for President Eyring
“You sisters do not hold a second place in our Father’s plan for the eternal happiness and well being of His children. You are an absolutely essential part of that plan.” President Gordon B. Hinckley
After quoting President Hinckley in his remarks at the Saturday evening session of this weekend’s general conference, President Henry B. Eyring spoke nostalgically about instances in his life when women created communities that approached the LDS ideal of Zion—a place of unity where people “were of one heart and one mind.” His first example was both inspiring and heartbreaking.
He described being in a branch of the church where he and his brother were the only Aaronic priesthood holders and his father the only Melchizedek priesthood holder. There were, however, a number of women, who, he said, ministered to each other “unfailingly.”
As President Eyring spoke, I thought about a past Ordain Women blog post, “The Global Need for Priesthood Keys”: “As a member of a small branch, it is impossible not to consider women and the priesthood. [O]nly two or three priesthood holders were in attendance on a given Sunday. … I attended one meeting where no males over the age of 8 were present. This meant that we officially could not have a sacrament meeting, and we couldn’t partake of the sacrament, because no priesthood holders were there to perform the ordinance.”
Being in the midst of a global pandemic further punctuates the problem of equitably—and safely—providing the sacrament and other essential ordinances to those without male priesthood holders in their homes.
Given the above, I have a few questions for President Eyring:
How many women does it take to organize an LDS branch? 0. Zip. Zilch.
(At least 4 Melchizedek priesthood holders are required.)
How many women does it take to organize an LDS ward? 0. Zip. Zilch.
(At least 15 Melchizedek priesthood holders are required.)
How many women does it take to organize an LDS stake? 0. Zip. Zilch.*
(At least 180/120 Melchizedek priesthood holders are required.)
Are men organizationally essential in the LDS church? Clearly. Are women? It’s difficult to see women as essential when the present male priesthood structure of the church strongly suggests otherwise.
It’s 2020. Isn’t it time to ordain women?
*Thanks to former Ordain Women Executive Board member Heather Olson Beal for her “Equality Is Not a Feeling” series. The number of Melchizedek priesthood holders required to organize a stake differs for the U.S/Canada and other countries, respectively. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/36-creating-changing-and-naming-new-units?lang=eng
Women Are Watching, Fall 2020 Conference Bingo
It’s that time of year again! As General Conference approaches after months of fear, loss, and social distancing, Ordain Women aspires both to lend hope and encouragement to our religious community and keep the movement for gender equality alive and well. To that end, we’re bringing back last April’s “Women Are Watching — Conference Bingo” to remind church leaders that women care deeply about gender equity and are watching for substantive signs that they do too.
To play OW Conference Bingo, download the Women are Watching — Conference Bingo Card here. As you watch each session of General Conference, mark the appropriate space when, for example, a woman offers a prayer or a woman of color speaks or a scripture is amended to be gender inclusive. As is usual in Bingo, the middle square is free and, like priesthood ordination and the generosity of God, should be available to all.
We’re also reprising our running conference photo commentary. (See example below and here.) This October, however, we’re inviting submissions from our supporters and will award OW swag—an OW necklace or lapel pin—to those we publish on our website.
Unless church leaders announce a change in their male-only priesthood policy, the first conversation bubble in each photo submission, if you use the photo in the example, might feature the comment, “Clearly, they won’t be ordaining women this year,” with two or three other conversation bubbles reflecting spoken—and unspoken—messages gleaned from conference proceedings. Or you might choose to use different photos or formats. Post submissions in the comments on the OW Facebook page once general conference begins. Though playful and/or pointed, please make sure your submissions are tasteful and accurately reflect conference content.
A Call to Listen, to Learn, to Act
Two years ago, Ordain Women Executive Board Chair Bryndis Roberts invited us to “spend some time listening to Stand By Me,” a song “born out of the Black gospel music tradition” and, like We Shall Overcome, “a civil rights anthem.”
“Its lyrics,” wrote Bryndis, “contain so many lessons about love, sisterhood, unity, and allyship—lessons about how we each draw strength from our Creator and from one another. These lessons will stand us in good stead as we work together in the area of social justice. We just have to be willing to listen and to learn.”
Given the widespread and desperate cry for social justice in the wake of yet another senseless killing, it seemed crucial, not only to repeat Bryndis’s invitation to listen and to learn, but also her call to act: “We each have to answer the call when our loved one, our friend, our colleague, or our fellow warrior says to us, ‘Stand by me.’” #BlackLivesMatter
Clearly, they won’t be ordaining women this year (part 4)
![Three women talking: "Clearly, they won't be ordaining women this year." "It's almost like they think we're a different species." "Hath not a [woman] eyes? Hath not a [woman] hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions..."](https://ordainwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/RS_ConfCritic6.jpg)
Women are Watching
Mormons were told last October that this weekend’s General Conference, which marks the bicentennial of the First Vision, would be unique. Little did we know then just how unique.
As Conference approaches in this time of fear, loss, and social distancing, Ordain Women aspires both to continue to give hope and support to our religious community and keep the movement for gender equality alive and well. To that end, OW created “Women Are Watching — Conference Bingo” as a way to remind church leaders that women care deeply about gender equity and are watching for substantive signs that they do too.
If you’d like to play along, download the Women are Watching — Conference Bingo Card here. As you watch each session of General Conference, mark the appropriate space when, for example, a woman offers a prayer or a woman of color speaks or a scripture is amended to be gender inclusive. As is usual in Bingo, the middle square is free and, like priesthood ordination and the generosity of God, should be available to all.