Executive Board Announcement
Ordain Women is envisioning our future. We would like to formally announce our newest Executive Board Members. Kera Boaz and Sean Carter are both strong, smart, loving and hardworking souls who are committed to see religious gender equality within Mormonism. This Easter Season we proudly stand with them and add our testimony to theirs….
Easter has always symbolized a beautiful renewal to me. No matter my failings, shortcomings, or insecurities, I can start anew. What a beautiful, healing gift for me to realize I have the capacity to become better each day.
Kera Boaz, Voice of Narrating Ordain Women Podcast and Communications Committee Co-Chair
In this difficult season for many in the OW family, it should give us some solace to know that our Savior paid the ultimate price for the “crime” of apostasy. He was crucified for speaking a truth that His people were not yet ready to hear. And as we pick up our crosses and follow Him, let us gather strength from His example. And let us act in love towards each other, and even those who oppose us, as we are ALL beloved children of Heavenly Parents.
Sean Carter, Co-Chair of the Intersectionality Committee
When I was in elementary school I was very proud of a ceramic, pastel colored pin I had that said, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” I think as adults it’s helpful to remind ourselves, during this time of miracles and rebirth, what being ‘Christlike’ entails. To me it means knowing the expansive design of God’s plan, but never giving up on any single individual. Never giving up on their inherent worth, not because they are an adherent, but because they are human worthy of love inspite of ideology. I take this lesson from Christ and am striving to give others the space he gave me to grow, and just be.
Kate Kelly
I have faith in the ability of religion to liberate rather than subjugate woman. As we approach this season of rebirth and renewal, which will we choose?
I believe the fundamental tenets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints support gender equality, including the ordination of women. Indeed, in Mormonism spiritual empowerment is the sum of God’s hope for us as men and women.
New Testament scholar Scott Bartchy asserts that Jesus offered a radical critique of power, traditionally wielded through patriarchal authority, dominance and coercion. In its place, Bartchy suggests, Jesus provided a paradigm of power based on empowerment. Power used to coerce, dominate or control others will always burn itself out. Only power used to empower others is everlasting. This paradigm is foundational to the LDS doctrine of deity and priesthood. How can it not include women?
Lorie Winder
Perhaps my favorite part of the Easter story is the empty tomb when Mary of Magdalene arrives to care for the body of her beloved Teacher and finds his grave empty. I think of that moment. Already heartbroken over the crucifixion, Mary must have been devastated by the apparent theft of Jesus’ body. I imagine she felt horribly lost in those moments, robbed of even the brittle comfort of a mourning ritual. The small cave may have seemed to expand and darken around her as her heart throbbed in her ears and her eyes burned with tears, though she had already cried so many.
And yet. In this moment when her final hopes had fled, Mary turned to find Jesus. And, truly, don’t we all? When there is nothing left before us, we still have Christ waiting with His miracle.
Danielle Mooney
A few years ago, I was blessed to spend one Easter season in Jerusalem. I swam in Galilee and walked by the olive trees in Gethsemane. I stood in front of Golgotha and spent time in the Garden of the Tomb. These moments are special to me because they were a chance to see what my Savior may have seen, and to wait where Mary waited.
But what I love even more is that I do not need to travel thousands of miles to feel my Savior’s love. I can feel His presence in a moment of service freely given. I can hear Him in the laughter of my friends. I can feel His touch in my grandmother’s hands. And I can see Him in everyone – as long as I look long enough.
At Easter, I am grateful for the gift that is a testimony of Jesus Christ and of His teachings on love and service, on justice and faith, on courage and gratitude. May we keep these gifts with us all.
Debra Jenson
Betrayal. Suffering. Pain. Hope. Joy. Love.
There are many words that come to mind during the Easter season. For me, the most important one is love.
Jesus Christ loves each one of us. We see the evidence of HIS love in his willingness to die for us.
Let us follow HIS example and HIS great commandment by loving one another.
Bryndis Roberts
This Easter, my heart turns to the teachings of Jesus. My favorite scripture is Matthew 22:36-40:
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
This is such a beautiful and simple statement of how we should focus our lives. There are no exceptions or caveats to this law. We are simply to love others, as we would like to be loved. Male or female, black or white, straight or gay, rich or poor, we are simply to love. On this most basic and beautiful principle hangs all of God’s law.
May God be with you and bless you and your family during this Easter season.
Mark Barnes
Each September, while the rest of the world is hunkering down for the cold, we Down Under are laying our last fires of the year, we are heading to the pharmacy for our allergy medications, we are enjoying the burst of purple, white and pink along our avenues, and we are beginning to turn our thoughts to the warmth of summer and its promise of lazy, hot January days at the beach.So all of this April talk of renewal, Spring, Easter and re-birth needs to be refracted through the exigencies of geography that sees me on the other side of the world enjoying nature’s opposites. During Easter we in New Zealand are often required by our Northern Hemisphere counterparts to think of renewal, rebirth and resurrection during our own season of nature’s silence, sleep and death. Easter in April belongs to the North, not to the South.
I’ve become accustomed to living in a different polarity to the cradle of Christendom. It requires me to make leaps of logic, to live with the contradiction between what I am seeing and hearing from the North, and what I am feeling in my bones and in my body. As a result I have come to rely more heavily on my deep physical and spiritual encounter with the divine rather the voices that tell me every April that Spring is nigh, and every December that it is all snowballs and Santa. I have had to cultivate a faith that culminates in one simple message that transcends the seasons; I am loved, we are loved – infinitely, profoundly and absolutely.
I’ve also learned that my capacity to bring spiritual renewal to the world is irrespective of the nature’s rhythms. I’ve learned that my most important identity in the heavens is my spiritual identity and I feel certain that my divine nature is regardless of the body I wear, the discourse of the day, or even Earth’s seasonal orbit.
Gina Colvin
This Easter brings back beautiful memories for me. On Easter Sunday 2 years ago, I held my baby Rosie in my arms, at home, for her naming and ceremony. My husband blessed her that she would remember her namesake, Mary, who was the first to the tomb and first witness to the Savior’s resurrection, and also Mary, sister of Martha, whom the Savior himself taught in a culture where women weren’t students of Rabbis. We also named her after my grandmother, that she may look to her, read her life stories, and learn how to be strong in the face of trials. Wanting to hold Rosie launched me into this life I never would have imagined. If you told me in April 2012 I’d be a board member of a group faithfully agitating for the priesthood, I would have said you’re crazy. Yet here I am. And as I reflect on how my testimony of the Savior has grown, I am so grateful for these last two years. All my life I have leaned on my relationship with him to get through tough times, but these last two years especially I have felt His unconditional love for me, exactly as I am, unorthodox feelings and questions notwithstanding. I stand all amazed at the love He offers me, and how he descended below them all through the Atonement, that we might have life everlasting as an eternal family. I am so grateful for that knowledge, that I can be with Rolf, Evie, and Rosie forever, all because of Jesus Christ. I owe Him everything. And I will do my best to live my life as He would have me do, to use my agency for good and social justice as He did.
Kristy Money
Easter is healing to me. Emotionally, physically and spiritually. I am renewed with hope and promise, restoration and faith. This Easter I am especially thankful for the renewal in me over the past year. Never in my life have I grown so much spiritually, never have I felt closer to The Divine. I am filled with hope for the coming years. I am excited about the continuing light and knowledge that I can see and feel, filling the earth. I am aware of the love my Heavenly Parents have for me and that gives me a calming peace in my life that I hadn’t ever fully realized. I am overflowing with promise and positivity that the Restored Gospel gives all of its members. I honor my relationship with the Savior and look forward to building that connection and becoming more like Him. I take great comfort in realizing that when Christ emerged on the first Easter morning, he appeared to a woman… that was alone in her grieving… searching for a connection to Him. I believe Christ still does that to each and every one of us, in our hours of need. I have faith in our community, members and leaders to continually learn, to grow and to strive to understand one another, as Christ would.
Joanna Wallace
Honoring our past,
Envisioning our future.
To find out more information about Ordain Women’s Executive Board Structure please click here.
The Women in Jesus’s Life
Every year as Easter approaches, I find myself pondering more the life of Christ. This year, as in years past, I study the New Testament and work out how these scriptures apply to me and my discipleship. I love this process because it is where I learn about the role that women played in the life of Jesus. I learn about the women that surrounded him, the way he treated them, and—most importantly—the social mores that he dismissed.
Jesus’s interactions with Mary, sister of Martha, in Luke 10 are meaningful to me. Unfortunately, people often use this story to define further the role of women by exploring a false dichotomy between Martha and Mary. I think that conversation misses the most interesting and crucial point of the story. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, and he taught her. In a time when women weren’t allowed to be scholars or students, when women’s voices and minds were considered sub-par and worthless, Jesus taught Mary. He believed that her understanding of the gospel was just as important and that her mind, heart and soul were just as capable, as any man. The progression of her knowledge was a part of His mission, and He didn’t ignore her.
Another significant, and also overlooked, moment is in Luke 13, when Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath. He refers to her as a Daughter of Abraham. It is the only place this phrase is used in the Bible, of course. The phrase Son of Abraham is common and often used to establish lineage and reputation, and to indicate the promise of God’s blessings. At this moment, Christ speaks to the woman’s worth and her right to be blessed by Him.
Then there is the pinnacle moment in the scriptures. The moment we celebra
te this Sunday because it represents for us the salvation made possible through Christ. It is the moment we learn that He lives. And who is the first to hear this Good News? In John 20 we learn that it was a woman. In a culture where women would not have been called as a witness to much of anything, Mary Magdalen was chosen as the witness. He chose her to deliver the message to the others. Who can deny that Jesus has called on women to be His special witnesses? It was His first choice.
As I ponder these women, and the way Jesus addressed them and involved them, I appreciate what this means for me. I am valued and loved as an individual—not because of the role I play in society or whatever social mores I am called to live up to. Jesus has shown he doesn’t care about that. What he offers me is hope and salvation apart from all that.
Happy Easter.
God denies none that come unto Him
I am tremendously grateful for the blessings of the priesthood in my life. I can scarcely count them.
But, in spite of the phrase’s popularity, I could never realistically claim that I have “the fullness of the blessings of the priesthood.” There are several reasons that I could never make this claim, principal among them is that the priesthood continues to bless my life in new ways constantly. Every week when I take the sacrament, I experience a new blessing of the priesthood. When I receive wise counsel from a bishop or stake president or general authority, I am experiencing a whole new blessing of the priesthood. When I give a blessing to a sick loved one or participate in any priesthood ordinance, I am experiencing yet another blessing of the priesthood.
I have read and heard many commenters say that the fullness of the blessings of priesthood are available to both men and women. I appreciate the sentiment. It is certainly true that some of the richest blessings of the priesthood are available to both men and women. Baptism. Confirmation. Temple endowments. Temple sealings. Priesthood ordinances and their associated covenants have blessed my life tremendously as they have blessed the lives of countless men and women in the Church for nearly 200 years in this dispensation and thousands of years of scriptural history before that.
But really the problem with the claim that “the fullness of the blessings of the priesthood are available to all” is so basic as to be almost tautological: Priesthood ordination is one of the blessings of the priesthood.
Under current Church policy, women do not have access to this blessing of the priesthood.
And it is a blessing. There are incredible powers, experiences, and gifts that are only available to those who have been ordained to and to those who serve in the priesthood. I think that in many instances when I gave a blessing of comfort or health, it was more of a blessing to me than to the person to whom I ministered, strengthening my testimony and my connection to the Divine above anything that the recipient received (though I certainly can’t speak for them). Blessing my two little children (as they screamed and screamed) in sacrament meeting was among the most precious and sacred experiences of my life. I have never felt a greater reverence for the sacrament than when I blessed it or passed it. Some of the most profound experiences I have had to affirm that God leads this Church came as I knelt in prayer during bishopric meetings seeking confirmation before the bishop extended that calling.
I know I am not alone in this feeling. I have heard countless men speak reverently and tenderly not only about their experiences in receiving priesthood blessings or ordinances, but about performing them. In fact, I wager to say that many Mormon men are more eager to share their experiences exercising priesthood authority than they are to discuss times when a priesthood leader ministered to them.
Even for Mormons who are not ordained to any priesthood office, this should be no surprise. Sacrament meeting speakers and Sunday School teachers regularly express that their lives were blessed in greater measure by preparing their talk or lesson than it could have been by hearing it. (Often expressed in a fashion such as this: “I got more out of preparing this talk than I think you could ever get out of hearing it.”) Upon their release, every bishop of every ward I have ever been in expressed deep and humble gratitude for the blessings he received from his service in that calling.
When counting the blessings of the priesthood, nothing could be less grateful than to exclude the magnificent blessings that are available to those who are ordained to and serve in the priesthood.
And gratitude is very important. God has instructed us that “in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.” (D&C 59:21)
Perhaps more to the point, though, gratitude is one of the keys to revelation. One of the most famous scriptures in the Book of Mormon is Moroni’s Promise, which states that “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5) In my experience, the key to receiving a testimony through revelation is found two verses before that passage:
Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. (Moroni 10:3, emphasis added)
Remembering “how merciful the Lord [has] been” from the time of Adam until today includes a lot of things, to say the least. It includes pondering the sacred teachings in the scriptures; contemplating Jesus Christ’s ministry, atonement, and resurrection; reflecting on the restoration of the Church and priesthood through Joseph Smith. It also includes counting the ways God has blessed your own life. Thinking about the people who have touched your life, giving thanks for the opportunity to learn the gospel, reflecting on the covenants into which you have entered through priesthood ordinances, and – if you are a priesthood holder – the blessings of priesthood ordination and priesthood service.
When we confess God’s hand in our lives, the windows of heaven – of revelation – swing wide open.
This was the case with me. I did not always believe in or advocate for women’s ordination. That is not to say that I advocated against it or held a strong contrary opinion. I simply didn’t think about it all that much. (As a person unaffected by the policy, it was my privilege not to think much about it.) I reasoned that since this is God’s Church and this was Church policy, ordaining only men to the priesthood must be God’s will. When I heard about people who believed women should be ordained, I often dismissed them and their concern, reasoning that there must be something they simply don’t understand about the priesthood or gospel that I do understand. (Though I never really bothered to figure out what special bit of gospel knowledge or testimony I had that they didn’t.)
But when I truly contemplated the rich blessings that have come to my life not just because of the priesthood, but because I hold the priesthood, I could no longer hold back. My heart swelled with gratitude for the blessings that priesthood ordination has brought into my life and with empathy for anyone kept from these blessings. That is when a surge of revelation came to me. That is when I gained a testimony that in order for the priesthood to bless the earth in its fullest measure, it can not be withheld from God’s daughters based on gender.
When I truly made an honest accounting of the ways that the priesthood – its restoration to the earth, my ordination in it, and the service it has helped me perform – has blessed my life, one of my most immediate reactions was to wish those same blessings for others. (Enos 1:9, 11) I thought about so many wonderful women in my life and the incredible honors and privileges I have had and they have been denied only because of biology. As I have “let [my] bowels be full of charity,” and empathized with women who “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6) I feel as though the “doctrine of the priesthood [has] distil[led] upon [my] soul as the dews from heaven.” (D&C 121:45)
And what I have learned about the priesthood through my gratitude shouldn’t come as a surprise to any priesthood holder: Priesthood is about service.
The Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods are not clubs that draw value from their exclusive nature. They are God’s power on earth, entrusted to us only for the purposes of blessing God’s children. And accompanying them comes a charge to spread the gospel, to build the Church, and to share every blessing God has given you with others.
God “doeth that which is good among the children of men… and He inviteth all to come unto Him and partake of his goodness; and He denieth none that come unto Him.” (2 Nephi 26:33)
As a priesthood holder, I am a representative of God. And if God denies none that come unto Him, who am I to do so?
Honoring our past,
Envisioning our future.
Zachary Noyce, the author of this post, is on Ordain Women’s Male Allies Committee.
Sunday Spotlight – Noel
Today’s Sunday Spotlight features Noel. She discusses how important it has been to surround her self with supportive, faithful individuals who have created a community where it is okay, perhaps even encouraged, to have questions.
I didn’t join OW until the summer of 2014. I was a newlywed and had a broken heart after Kate’s exing. I knew of OW from the start. I was supportive, but had my heart set on a goal of teaching at BYU. I thought if I could get a job there, I would be able to help guide those students, who like me had doubts and concerns. Give them a different path for their lives, both by example and through talking with them. However, those dreams faded when I was passed over for more than one job based on a rather strange confluence of events.
After the second job had come and gone, I decided enough was enough and that I had to put my voice in with the women of OW. I had to be part of the change that is so desperately needed.
Growing up in the Church, I never really saw women as “less than.” This is largely thanks to my unorthodox parents and ward leaders who never told the girls we weren’t allowed to do things based on gender. My leadership encouraged the young women to attend high adventures, to gain real skills, and to look at alternative futures. My Young Women leadership consisted of women who had married outside the Church and women who were on second marriages. These women showed (by example) that there were other paths. Their words told us that there was one path to hope for and to seek after, but we knew that reality didn’t always follow that path.
When I say my parents weren’t orthodox, I mean it. My dad was a convert; he converted four years into my parents’ marriage. My mother is the daughter of converts and nearly lost her family because she chose to marry my dad. She once told me that she knew that she was meant to marry him, and that following that prompting was more important to her than her family’s disapproval. My grandparents did come around and were an active and supportive part of their marriage.
As I think about my mom’s experience with marrying my dad, I contemplate the injustice that she faced by the church. As a woman marrying outside the faith in the Seventies, she was precluding herself from the temple blessings. She knew that choosing to marry a Catholic man meant she would not be allowed entrance to the temple. I think of the courage and faith it took her to marry knowing that she wouldn’t be allowed to enter the temple. What makes this even more profound in light of OW is that men were allowed to marry outside the temple, but still be active temple participants. It wasn’t until the 1986 that this rule was changed and parity was given.
My parents taught all their children to be free thinkers, to come to their own decisions. This often meant living with consequences we didn’t like, but we were always told to think for ourselves. Our house was filled with religious books, which ranged from mostly LDS, to overviews of other faiths. Nothing was held back. Dinner was a time to ask all the questions that were haunting us. My parents openly answered these questions. It’s no wonder that in this environment of questions, I started to see flaws in my faith tradition.
One of my strongest memories of seeing the flaws in the faith, started with a well-intentioned lesson on eternal marriage. Being the daughter of a convert, my grandparents were not members, so sitting in a class that taught they would be separated after death. This did not sit well with me and I remember crying myself to sleep any time that these lessons were given. I could not understand how loving Heavenly Parents could be so cruel. My grandparents spent more of their earthly life together than apart. It would be hell to them to be separated. I learned quickly that it was okay for me to be a faithful member and to question teachings that didn’t seem in line with the gospel I was being taught. This idea that my grandparents weren’t going to be allowed to be together forever was forcibly rejected by my young mind. Why? Because my Heavenly Parents would judge the content of my grandparents’ hearts and see that they were truly meant to be eternally bound.
This is just one of many ways that I started to see the flaws. In my heart of hearts, I know that our Heavenly Parents see all their children as equals. That gender, sexual orientation, marriage status, etc don’t preclude their children from full activity and worship.
I got a sense of this inclusion living in Baltimore City. I attended the single’s ward there and I never felt that people would be uninvited for being different. In fact, I posted one night on Facebook that I was working on my talk (about the Atonement) while watching Kill Bill. The next day, my bishop approached me and laughed with me that my talk was not what he expected based on my Facebook post. That day I breathed a sigh of relief because I could be me.
This idea of all are welcome was consistently reiterated to me as I taught Gospel Doctrine. I stood in front of the class and openly admitted that I found the stories of the Bible to be just that, stories. They taught great lessons for us to learn, but they weren’t meant to be taken literally. My stake president and his counselors were in attendance. No one corrected me. In fact, this theme was continued throughout several other lessons, and I was thanked for being so honest. I am indebted to these friends I made, they gave me a community of fellow doubters who were all trying to find their place.
As I consider the future and what it holds, I am heartened when I look at the little people in my life. My stepsons are wildly dedicated to the idea of feminism. They do their part to show me love and support as I try to be bold about who I am and what I believe. My nieces and nephews are such loving and strong little people that I know they will be able to stand up and take charge of the church and world. I have hope that through the efforts of those in groups like Ordain Women, Mormons Building Bridges, Mormons for Equality, Sunstone, etc that one day I will be able to say,
All are alike unto God: male and female, black and white, gay and straight.
God is a Mother and a Father.
Mormon women matter.
(p. 140, Book of Mormon Girl)
And mean it.
Response to Priesthood Session’s New Policy
Ordain Women enthusiastically welcomes the Church’s new policy announced yesterday that female reporters will now be allowed to attend the Priesthood Session of General Conference in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since the founding of Ordain Women in 2013, we have vocally and repeatedly pointed out the disparity in barring female reporters from the building for that session. We applaud the Church for responding to concerns that female church members raised to rectify this glaring inconsistency, and we are pleased that they are choosing to listen and implement new policies like this one and others to eliminate gender inequality in the Church these past two years. Given yesterday’s policy change, we are hopeful that individual LDS women who want to attend their local priesthood sessions will be welcomed just as these female reporters, Mormon and non-Mormon alike, are now permitted to attend.
We are thankful that the Church took a step toward equality in journalism and hope they continue in that direction in all other areas.
As Sisters In Zion
I became aware of Ordain Women shortly before the first General Conference action. I had recently become a part of the Mormon Feminist community after an incident with a priesthood leader proved to me that I could no longer ignore the inequalities at church. This was not the first time I had seen a priesthood leader use his position inflict damage on others and I realized that there was no redress for women in that situation. I came to the conclusion that there could be no place for me in such a church. I thought there was no hope for change and I knew there was no process in place for me to try to make things better. However, when I first read about Ordain Women I cried tears of joy. I cried because even though I didn’t want the priesthood I was not the only women who noticed the inequality in the church. I cried because I realized that maybe there was hope for change and equality after all. I had never met any of these women but their courage and example helped me to find a way to stay in the church.
I do not personally feel the call to ordination. I am a believer is working within the system for incremental change. I want to see women as part of the organizational body of the church, whether they have the priesthood or not. However, as I have read the stories of those who feel called to the priesthood I have been inspired and heartbroken all at the same time. I read their stories and I hurt for my sisters and I remembered that the most fundamental part of the gospel is love. We are commanded to love God and to love one another. I do not have to agree with someone to love them. I do not have to agree with someone to listen to their experiences and try to understand their pain.
There is room in Mormonism for everyone. Elder Uchtdorf said “Regardless of your circumstances, your personal history, or the strength of your testimony, there is room for you in this Church.” I take him at his word and I believe that this church is for all of us. Church is not for the perfect; it is for the questioners, the strong, the weak, the doubters, the rebels, and the sinners. We are all trying to become better people and trying to become more like the Savior. I may not want the priesthood for myself but I know that I want the women who do sitting in Relief Society next to me, teaching me in gospel doctrine, teaching my children in primary, leading by example in Young Womens, and I want us to serve together. I believe that as sisters we can all work together to build God’s kingdom no matter our differences.
Honoring our past,
Envisioning the future.
Shelley Smith, the author of this post, is a lifelong LDS member living and working in Texas.
Sunday Spotlight – Sara
Today’s spotlight comes from Sara, who opens up and so eloquently describes her love for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, her testimony of the Priesthood and her confidence in her relationship with God.
What gives you hope for the future
I try to simply have faith in God’s love for each one of us. The Spirit has confirmed and testified of that love to me so strongly in my life, and based on that, I have tremendous hope that, in the eternities, we will have an incredible amount of peace, potential, and unity. We will be with God again. The words of the hymn, “All Now Mysterious Shall Be Bright At Last” has a view of the eternities that gives me hope.
Aside from ordination, what are some changes you would like to see implemented immediately in the Church?
I would love for the membership of the church to embrace the gifts of the spirit more fully. The scriptures say nothing about these gifts being separated by gender, and yet we so often talk and think as though priesthood holders are the only ones who can give blessings by the laying on of hands. I just don’t see any doctrinal foundation for that view, and I think it would be so incredibly spiritual and strengthening for women (and non-ordained men) to know that they could bless those around them — their children, their friends, their siblings, their spouses — simply through faith. What a beautiful way to invite the Spirit into our homes and our lives.
Tell us more about your connection to Mormonism?
My family has been part of the church for many generations, tracing back to the church’s founding days in the United States and to many powerful conversion experiences in Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and England. I grew up in an active Mormon family and have many cherished memories of church activities, from Primary classes through the present day. I think my testimony got its start at my first year of Girls’ Camp, and ever since then, that testimony and my church life have been very important to me.
What was your favorite calling?
I generally enjoy teaching and have had some great opportunities to teach in my callings, but I think my favorite calling overall was that of Nursery Leader (which I guess is technically a teaching calling, but our lessons usually lasted two minutes or less). I was 20 years old and living in my parent’s ward between school semesters, and I think I lucked into the most hilarious and sweet group of kids ever. That was a wonderful calling.
What are some of the things you love about the Church?
I love the church’s emphasis on family, on a personal connection with Christ, and on the Holy Ghost. I love testimony meeting. I love the chance to bond with my Relief Society sisters. I love the notion of all of us being God’s children, and I believe that with all my heart — that we are brothers and sisters, children of Heavenly Parents, with enormous responsibilities and worth. I love the fact that we have to rely on volunteer work in all of our callings and church activities, as much as that may be inconvenient or disappointing at times — it gives such opportunities for growth, charity, and forgiveness. I love the hymns and the annual Primary Program. Most of all, I love the beautiful, confusing contradictions — the challenge to find balance and focus on what’s truly important. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a wonderful place to come to know God and learn some of life’s most valuable lessons.
What prompted you to put up your Ordain Women profile?
I was prompted by the Spirit to publicly express my desire for women’s ordination through an Ordain Women profile. I had been thinking about the subject for many months, but my feelings were always changing, and to be honest, I didn’t have a testimony of the priesthood at that time. I knew that if I were going to support women’s ordination, it needed to be grounded in a true spiritual desire for the priesthood, not in any sort of intellectual or strategic reasons. That just wouldn’t have been right for me. But I felt no special need to make a stand on the issue, one way or the other; I just tried to be open to whatever God wanted to tell me. I was feeding my baby some applesauce one day and it felt like this rush of wind came from out of nowhere. I suddenly had this thorough belief that the priesthood — though complicated and hard to understand in many ways — was really from God, and united with that witness was the feeling that the desire for women to be ordained was a righteous desire and something I shouldn’t feel any shame about, that in fact, I should be vocal about it. I wrote and submitted my profile just a few days later and I checked in with God frequently to make sure I was doing the right thing. I felt very peaceful about it and to this day have continued to feel that same peace that comes from knowing that I’m following God’s will for me.
Have you had the opportunity to attend any actions?
I attended the second priesthood session action, in April of 2014. It’s hard to say how it affected or changed me; I suppose I feel like it was just one day in a very long string of days, and any single experience isn’t necessarily that important until it’s connected with the rest. I remember feeling that day like it was crucial that I have an inner confidence in my relationship with God. Nothing dramatic happened (aside from a sudden hailstorm!), and when all was said and done, I simply waited in a line with a bunch of other people in order to ask a question I already knew the answer to. I didn’t feel hopeful that we’d be allowed to watch priesthood session in person. But I still felt it was important and right that I be there, with my brothers and sisters, contributing my voice and my body and my faith. I walked home from Temple Square and watched the rest of the priesthood session in my living room. It was a quiet and purifying day for me. It was an important step in learning to care more what God wanted of me than what others thought of me.
If I had the Priesthood…
I currently serve as the Relief Society President in my ward. It is a very large ward, from a geographical and demographical standpoint, and includes all of the areas in Atlanta that would be classified as inner city. There are many needs in our ward and the calling of Relief Society President is a big one to fulfill and magnify.
I am thankful that God has blessed me with gifts and talents that I use to fulfill and magnify my calling. I have also been blessed with gifted and talented counselors. At the risk of sounding prideful, I think we do an excellent job. However, I think we could do so much more if we were ordained.
Let me be clear. I do not want ordination to put another set of letters or credentials behind my name. I have enough of those. I do not want ordination to put a title in front of my name – Ms. Roberts or Sister Roberts will do just fine. I do not want ordination because I think I somehow deserve it. I do not want to be ordained because I do not have enough to do. No, I want to be ordained and I have received confirmation that my desire to be ordained is in keeping with divine will because it has been revealed to me that every act of administering, ministering, and service I perform or oversee or delegate in connection with my calling would be greatly enhanced if I had priesthood authority, power, and keys.
On paper, women make up about 51% of our ward. In terms of active members, however, women make up about 67% of that group. Many of those women are single mothers. Under the current structure, there are simply not enough active priesthood holders in our ward to meet the needs.
In my role as Relief Society President, sisters often come to me for spiritual guidance. As they are confiding in me, I often receive the impression that they need a blessing. There have also been so many times when I receive a call about a sister in distress, who is in need of a blessing. While I may minister to that sister’s physical or temporal needs, I cannot provide that blessing. I may pray for that sister and I know that my prayer is heard, but my prayer, as heartfelt and fervent as it may be, does not fulfill that prompting I received; nor does it have the same ritual and reassurance that God is speaking through me to address her need.
Most of those sisters are unmarried and have no priesthood holders in their homes. In addition, many of those sisters do not have an established relationship with their home teachers, because they have recently moved into the ward and not been assigned home teachers or because scheduling conflicts have prevented them from connecting with their home teachers. I probably spend a good portion of my day coordinating with male priesthood holders to come and administer blessings when if I was ordained to the priesthood, I would be able to go ahead and administer those blessings. We believe that God has established a house of order. Does it seem to be in keeping with divine will that that so many people have to be involved to complete this task and administer to a sister in need?
In the confines of my previous faith history, I could have and would have blessed that sister. In the LDS Church of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, I would have had the authority to and would have blessed that sister. However, under the current structure, even though I may be just as faithful and as worthy as my sisters in the past were, l do not have the authority to bless that sister. So her pain, her distress, and her anguish have to continue until I can find not just one, but two male priesthood holders to bless her. I ask you again, is that situation in keeping with divine will?
I love my calling. I love the sisters who serve as my counselors. I love the sisters in the ward and am honored that I have been called to serve them. I have a strong desire to serve them. However, gender still trumps everything, including my desire and willingness to serve and my gifts and my talents, and because of my gender, I am limited in my ability to serve and minister to my sisters. Oh, if I only had the priesthood!
Honoring our past,
Envisioning our future.
Bryndis Roberts, the author of this post, is the Chair of Ordain Women’s Intersectionality Committee.
They can crush a few flowers, but they can’t hold back the springtime
On March 17, 2013 I hit the button to launch ordainwomen.org. 22 women and men put up profiles explaining both their connection to Mormonism and the reasons they felt women should be ordained. It is hard to describe what it felt like at that moment. It was as if with one push of a button, I was free. Free to speak my mind and free to acknowledge the patently obvious fact that men and women are not equal in our church.
Many of those original profiles were my friends and family members. It took courage to stand up and put our personal information out there for all to see not knowing what the result would be. It takes courage to keep standing when so many things have transpired over the last two years with the express purpose of discouraging us.
Yet, here we are.
Far from shrinking into obscurity, Ordain Women has grown to a robust, diverse, worldwide movement. Those original 22 profiles have grown to over 600 Mormon women and men willing to take very tangible risks to tell their stories. I never, never would have imagined at the beginning that the call for female ordination would attract so many and inspire such unwavering authenticity. I did not predict that it was an idea whose time had truly arrived.
Our Catholic sisters at the Women’s Ordination Conference taught me a phrase that has defined for me the beauty in our struggle:
‘they can crush a few flowers, but they can’t hold back the springtime.’
In March, the season of renewal surrounds us in many parts of the world. Spring brings warmth and our thoughts turn to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ cannot be separated from the cross he bore. He taught us of hope, renewal and fearlessness in the face of great odds.
The seeds of gender justice were planted in the Mormon Church by women who came many, many years ago. And, like a crocus in spring, they are just now beginning to emerge. It’s essential that we celebrate each milestone, each victory. It’s also crucial that we stand back and see the life of this struggle and realize that it is in its infancy. Fresh, new and ready to take root.
I learned from another faith tradition, this time the Quakers, about our place in this vibrant, continuous, sustainable march toward equality:
‘Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.
Do justice now.
Love mercy now.
You are not obligated to complete this work, but neither are your free
to abandon it.’
Those who newly find their courage will join those original 22 saints in speaking up for gender justice. We will continue to find joy and rejuvenation in speaking truth and bearing witness to the sacrifices of others. This movement, though in its infancy, has already been a resounding success because we have found our voices and banished our silence.
Happy birthday to Ordain Women, and many happy springtimes to come to all women who seek parity in a patriarchal world.