Raised a Mormon Feminist
[This is the first in a two-part series by Mark. Today he discusses his history as a Mormon feminist. In the second part, he discusses lessons learned as a male ally on October 5th.]
Raised a Mormon Feminist
“Why does Ordain Women matter to me?” After all, I am a middle-aged man in a secure career. By all measures, life has been good to me. Why spend my time and energy fighting for a cause that does not seem to directly impact my life. The truth is, I was raised a Mormon feminist. For me to live inside of Mormonism, I have to have hope for change.
My grandmother, Beatrice Peterson Marchant, was a feminist. During the time I knew her, she was a widow who lived just west of Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. She had raised her fifteen children in her small two-bedroom house, with a detached garage. The garage also served as sleeping quarters, in earlier years, when her children still lived at home. She lived among the poor of Salt Lake City, and was always a champion of the underdog.
In 1968, she ran for the Utah State House of Representative. As a nine-year-old boy, I remember going from door to door in her district handing out fliers. Miraculously she won the race, and spent a great deal of time over the next four years fighting for women’s rights. After Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, she fought for its ratification in Utah. After leaving the legislature, she was president of the ERA Coalition of Utah. Despite numerous personal attacks in her ward and in the press by Mormons, who opposed her stance on equal rights, she was an active Mormon to the end.
My mother, Elva Marchant Barnes, served side by side with my grandmother in the fight for female equality. However, my mother had ended her active participation in the Church on a day in the mid-1960s, after a particularly contentious interview with our bishop. He saw my mother’s stand for women’s rights as a stand against the church. I still feel the hurt and anger, which flowed from my mother as we left church early and silently rode home on that Sunday so long ago.
African Linage and the Priesthood
In the early 1970s, my uncle, Byron Marchant, was a young returned missionary from France, who was starting his new family with my aunt Gladys in an old red brick home on 500 East, across the street from Liberty Park. Byron had been the tennis pro at the park, and he loved the neighborhood. He was called to be the Liberty Ward scoutmaster. Unlike most wards along the Wasatch Front, the population living within the geographical boundaries of Liberty Ward was poor and heavily minority. Byron had encouraged both member and nonmember boys, alike, to join the Liberty Ward scouting program. His troop’s senior patrol and assistant senior patrol leaders were both of African decent.
The Church announced a new policy with regard to the Boy Scouts. Ward deacon quorum presidencies were also to occupy the scout troop leadership positions. This meant that the top two leaders in his troop would be banned from holding any leadership positions in the troop. Convinced that this new policy simply overlooked the unusual demographics of the Liberty Ward, Byron began to climb the ladder of the Church hierarchy looking for a sympathetic ear. He was convinced that if they listened, they would make an exception for his troop. From bishop to the First Presidency, there were no sympathetic ears. Rather there were rejections and strong warnings that his pleas could result in his excommunication.
These warnings were prophetic. In October of 1977, Byron raised his voice from the balcony of the Tabernacle during a conference session. He voted no, and declared that he could no longer sustain the Brethren. Shortly after, he was excommunicated. Eight months latter, President Kimball announced to the world that the Lord had spoken. Male members of African ancestry could now hold the priesthood. The announcement came on a day in June 1978, when I was in the Language Training Mission (now the MTC), preparing to leave on my mission to Japan. Despite all of the prior church opposition to black ordination, when the announcement came, new missionaries, myself included, were running through the halls, shouting and celebrating this glorious revelation.
Looking back on the sacrifices of my grandmother, mother and uncle, it has been a great blessing to be surrounded by people who were willing to do what is right in the face of great opposition and personal sacrifice.
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
To me the fight for equality is a fight for the true heart of Christianity. Matthew relates the following story in Chapter 22, versus 34 – 40.
But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
The second commandment is a statement of the Golden Rule. Treat others like you would like to be treated. It is a commandment like unto the first commandment. In other words, we show our love for God by treating others like we would like to be treated. In this one short sentence, Jesus laid out the great law of equality, and on this law “hangs all of the Law and the Prophets.” This is our standard of morality against which we should judge all other policies, rules or commandments in the Church.
The Future
I am a father and a grandfather. I have three sons and one daughter. I also have three grandsons and one granddaughter. God works both inside and outside the Church. My daughter is very bright and committed. She is currently working on a doctorate in psychology. Her inclination is to act for a better world. She was in Haiti after the earthquake. She was in Joplin, after the tornado. She has volunteered in orphanages in Mexico, Central America and Kenya. She raised money for poor children in India, who could not afford glasses, and every Pioneer Day in Salt Lake City, she organizes an event to feed the homeless. My daughter is a natural leader and an active Mormon. The ordination of women will ensure that my daughter’s talents, and the talents of millions of other women in the Church, are not wasted. As a priesthood holder, my daughter will be able to use all of her skills for the building up of the Kingdom. Without ordination, I fear that someday may daughter, like my mother, will come face to face with her second-class status, and decide that her best option will simply be to leave the Church behind.
The Heartbreak and Triumph of Delusional Optimism
Listening to Doug Peterson as he said, “this session is actually for men only.”
My heart is full, but it is also broken.
I suppose I didn’t realize until I was at the door and physically barred from entering the Tabernacle just how hopeful I was that we would indeed get in. I told the man who blocked us from entering, “I understand that all men, even men who are not members of the church and have no investment in Mormonism are permitted to attend. I am a returned missionary and a faithful Mormon woman and I would like to listen to the prophet in person.”
He simply said, “this session is actually for men only.”
My heart broke.
In the lead up to the event I didn’t know just how deeply hurtful that experience of literally being cast out and left out in the cold while men and young boys passed us by would be. It felt like I was reaching out a hand of friendship, trust and hope to someone who callously slapped that hand away, smiling all the while.
Months ago when we first started planning to attend the Priesthood session some called me “delusional” to think that hundreds of women would show up to support us. I had faith in women, and that faith was well-rewarded as our sisters lined up the length of an entire city block to join us and knock at the doors of the Tabernacle. That overwhelming and wonderful support buoyed me up as we walked that long block down North Temple street to Temple Square. What a miracle it was to see all of these strong, determined and powerful women by my side. Women flew in from all corners of our country and around the world to stand with us. What a blessing it was to bear witness to our collective courage.
Some who walked with us doubted the church’s potential to respond to us in a positive way and include us in the meeting.
But in that moment at the door, facing that man, I realized I did not. I had no doubt in my mind that we would be let in. I walked to the Tabernacle filled with hope, faith and (perhaps delusional) optimism. I truly thought if they could see our sincerity and our tears and our pain, in person, they would respond to our faithful pleas with equal measures of love.
In a conversation after being turned away, church spokeswoman Ruth Todd she said to me, somewhat incredulously, “you didn’t really think you would get in, did you?” I said to her, “in all sincerity I did. After Elder Uchtdorf’s talk today I was filled with hope that if there was room for us in the church there would be room for us in the Conference Center.” Ruth Todd replied, “but just think of how wonderful it is that the session is now broadcast and how many people did not have access to it before.”
But, somehow, after my hopes were dashed in such a visceral and personal way, listening to the session in the park on a cell phone in the cold did not seem like much of a consolation in that moment.
I am still processing yesterday’s events, but I know that this mix of sweetest joy and abject sorrow will carry us to the next stage in our journey as women seeking ordination. After yesterday’s events, one thing remains certain: as instructed in the scriptures, we will continue to ask and seek and knock. Our hearts will mend, and we will continue with the hope and faith that the hearts of our leaders will be softened.
Keeping My Covenants By Supporting Ordain Women
[Ed. This blog post was originally published on Edward’s blog. It is reposted here with his permission.]
I was blessed last night to participate in the General Relief Society Meeting while sitting in the balcony of the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square. I was particularly moved to hear each member of the Relief Society General Presidency speak about the importance of keeping covenants. They emphasized that we are entitled to inspiration from the Holy Spirit to know how to keep covenants in our individual lives, that we should act on the promptings we receive. Listening to these sisters, I felt great peace and confirmation that supporting Ordain Women is the right way for me to keep my covenants with our Heavenly Parents.
Recognizing Inequality: Mourning With Those Who Mourn
Sister Carole M. Stephens quoted Alma’s teaching that baptism involves a commitment to “mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.” (Mosiah 18:9)
I have listened to and read the words of my sisters in the gospel about the pain that comes from exclusion from the priesthood: the lessons taught not with words but with actions that men are more important than women; that God interacts more with men, trusts them more, and develops their potential more; that without the priesthood, women are excluded from opportunities to bless others’ lives.
Priesthood As The Power To Bless
In teaching her grandson about baptismal covenants, Sister Stephens told him, “As you keep the covenant you made when you were baptized, you will be prepared to be ordained to the priesthood. This additional covenant will give you more opportunities to bless and serve others and help you to prepare for the covenants you will make in the temple.”
As I listened to these words, I was thankful that I had chosen to be ordained to the priesthood as a young man. I reflected on the opportunities to bless and serve others that came into my life because of the priesthood. I was again moved to help my sisters in Christ obtain the same opportunities to bless and serve.
Sister Linda S. Reeves spoke of a priest in her ward whose mother had carefully prepared him to bless the sacrament by reviewing the significance of covenants. As I listened to the talks of the Relief Society General Presidency, I understood that by emphasizing covenants they are preparing sisters for the responsibility of the priesthood.
Suddenly, We Could See
The Lord has said that He reveals “line upon line, precept upon precept.” (2 Ne. 28:30) We therefore cannot be content with the status quo but must continue to seek blessings, even if we cannot see immediately what they are. To this effect, Sister Reeves quoted D&C 58:3, “Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.”
Sister Reeves related how the devastation of a fire in the Provo Tabernacle turned to joy when President Monson announced it would become a temple. Noting an audible gasp in the Conference Center at the announcement, she said, “Suddenly, we could see what the Lord had always known.”
Ordination for women will be disruptive—not to the church, but to our ingrained ideas of what priesthood is. As with the 1978 revelation allowing ordination for all worthy men, the Lord is tearing down our limited understanding of priesthood to make way for much greater blessings.
Claiming Our Blessings
Sister Reeves encouraged sisters to “claim your blessings” in the temple. I am greatly moved by the courage of my sisters in Ordain Women who are claiming their blessings in the priesthood. I know this will bring amazing blessings not only to them but to everyone they serve and to the whole church and the world.
The Spirit has borne witness to my spirit that by supporting women’s ordination I am fulfilling my covenants to stand as a witness of Christ—who invites all people, female and male, to work in His vineyard—and to build up the kingdom of God on earth.
A Reason to Stay
I will not be at the Priesthood session on October 5th. I live in Dallas and after much searching for plane tickets, I reluctantly decided it was too expensive for me to attend. I would love to be there, to stand in solidarity with my sisters and to inspire our church leaders with our desire to fully participate in the Lord’s work. I am more excited about the gospel than ever before and I still wanted to share in this visible action of faith in our living church so I set out to find a “proxy” to take my place at Priesthood session. I thought of several old roommates who were living in Utah and I considered asking a few aunts but ultimately I felt prompted to ask my little sister Natalie.
Natalie’s testimony started to unravel in High School. The inequality she saw between men and women was stark and the intolerance she saw toward gays was inexcusable. When her best friend (he was literally the boy next door since she was 5) came out of the closet during her senior year, she became even more sensitive to the Church’s treatment of gays. I remember assuring her that the church was true even if there were a lot of things that didn’t make sense to us. After all, the church was a work in progress and we believed in continuing revelation. Surely everything would be sorted out eventually.
I encouraged Natalie to apply to BYU even though she didn’t feel it was a good fit considering her misgivings with the church. I promised her she’d meet so many amazing people and she’d see there was a place for her in the church. That was the experience I had at BYU. I found a niche of liberal, cheese-loving, International-Cinema-going friends that strengthened my testimony and reassured me that I belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Natalie acquiesced and went to BYU and I prayed that she’d have a good experience. She didn’t. Instead, everywhere she looked she saw reminders of the inequality that bothered her. As the church got involved with proposition 8, I saw Natalie’s fragile testimony disintegrate. It was an incredibly painful time for her to be at BYU and she constantly thought of transferring. I tried to come up with reasons for her to stay at BYU, hoping it would buy time for her to find her testimony. “It’s so cheap” I’d say, “you’ll have to take out loans if you leave – or worse, live with our parents” or in my more desperate moments “your religion credits won’t transfer you know, can you really let all those credits go down the drain?” I successfully persuaded Natalie to stay and she admits it wasn’t all bad. She taught Sunday School and enjoyed visiting teaching, but when she graduated from BYU, she effectively left the church.
It has been a year since Natalie graduated from BYU and I have accepted her decision. I realized I was straining our relationship by treating her like I was disappointed. She is happier now and has a stronger relationship with God than she did while she was at BYU. I think the inequality she saw in the church made it hard for her to find God there. It was too distracting and upsetting. Natalie has been blessed with a powerful testimony of equality and unfortunately that testimony came in conflict with her faith in the church. It doesn’t have to. Equality can be reflected and reinforced by the church. We are a church that believes in continuing revelation. The catalyst for the restoration of Christ’s church was the prayer of a 14-year-old boy who asked for wisdom. We must ask for direction from God.
When I asked Natalie to stand in for me at Priesthood session I worried she might think I was trying to lure her back to church and be offended. And maybe I am. Okay I am. I do respect her decisions. I do trust she is doing what is best to protect her relationship with God but my testimony of the church is a light in my life and I still want to give that to her. When I asked Natalie, she immediately said yes with no question of my motives. Today she emailed me saying: “I support the movement for you and for my nieces. The issue is important to me because I want them to grow up in a more egalitarian church where they can know and pursue their full Divine potential as daughters of God that their Heavenly Parents want for them. Their little personalities and characters are already so distinct and bursting…and I want them to grow up assuming the roles intended for them, the roles and empowerment that you and I had to search for and unravel. The issue is important to me, regardless of my own beliefs about the church now, because of my fellow sisters around the world who have so much to offer their communities. And for the members (mothers, children, etc) who do not have access to a worthy male priesthood holder in the home, but who could benefit from a worthy woman.” I was moved to tears by her loving support and generosity. I was humbled that when I realized what Natalie was trying to give my daughters and me.
Recently I posted Christy Clegg’s letter to Elder Ballard on Facebook and an old friend commented, “Anyone willing to challenge an apostle of the Lord is just looking for a reason to leave the church and will soon be on their way out.” It is disheartening when concerns about something as serious and essential as equality are so easily dismissed with an attack on motives. Christy is a close friend of mine and I know the sincerity of her heart. I know the sincerity of my own heart. I have been blessed to have a clear personal witness that the church is true and it sustains my testimony despite the inequality I see but I do not judge those who have left. I know the sincerity of Natalie’s heart. She wasn’t looking for a reason to leave; she was looking, desperately, for a reason to stay. I am still trying to give her one.
This is not precipitous: we’ve been talking about ordination for over 30 years
I am Ordain Women’s answer to the question, “Isn’t a call for women’s ordination precipitous?” For nearly 40 years, a number of us have written and spoken about this issue and thought seriously about what constitutes appropriate religious, as opposed to political, action. A quick glance at the Resource page at OrdainWomen.org, the archived publications on the Mormon Women’s Forum website, or some of the chapter’s in Women and Authority, punctuates the fact that Ordain Women is not an idiosyncratic blip in Mormon feminist history, but the logical next step in a long-established movement.
Privately, I began considering the possibility of women’s ordination in the late 1970s and talking about it more openly in the 1980s. Pivotal to the public discussion at this time were essays like Nadine Hansen’s “Women and Priesthood,” which appeared in Dialogue in 1981, and Margaret Toscano’s “The Missing Rib: The Forgotten Place of Queens and Priestesses in the Establishment of Zion,” which was given at the Sunstone Symposium in 1984 and later published in the magazine. My first public presentation referencing women and priesthood was part of a Sunstone panel in 1985 titled, “Since Sonia: New Directions for Women and the Church.” I suggested that if the church didn’t grapple with feminist issues, including the ordination of women, a future Symposium panel might be titled, “Since Sonia: Divergent Directions for Women and the Church.” Pivotal to my thinking at the time were not only discussions with and by Mormon women but books like Rosemary Radford Ruether’s Sexism and Godtalk and Gerda Lerner’s The Creation of Patriarchy. The latter in particular helped me see that our assumptions about the fundamental ordering of our lives and institutions are not always, well, fundamental. If historically they can be shown to have had a creation in time and context, by implication they can be altered or replaced if they are found to be inadequately equitable. By the time I wrote “Power Hungry” in 2004, I’d been committed to advancing women’s ordination for over two decades.
Last year, understandably frustrated by the lack of movement on this issue despite the groundwork laid by so many, I decided that the idea of women’s ordination had to enter the realm of the thinkable and the familiar before it could enter the realm of the possible. Among those reading this blog post, no doubt, are many who rolled their eyes—perhaps still do—at my regular and insistent references to women’s ordination. I also worked with the women who did the online response to Julie Beck’s “Mothers Who Know” to prepare All Are Alike unto God, a document calling on Church leaders to thoughtfully consider and earnestly pray about the question of women’s ordination and the integration of women into the decision-making structure of the Church.
When Kate Kelly and I were introduced at the beginning of the year, we were logical allies despite the nearly 30-year difference in our ages. Though relatively new to organized, online Mormon feminism, Kate was anxious for action. We both had seen too many of our friends leave the Church over gender inequity—as one told Kate, “I became irrelevant to the Church, and so the Church became irrelevant to me.”
Like the women at WAVE, we at Ordain Women believe that what we conceptualize and call for as Mormon feminists has to be clear and specific and actionable. How can we expect church leaders to respond to a nebulous desire for a more equitable church? Interim steps, like those detailed in the All Are Alike unto God document and Neylan McBaine’s ultimately unsatisfying “To Do the Business of the Church: A Cooperative Paradigm for Examining Gendered Participation within Church Organizational Structure” are not unimportant, but the structural gender inequity in the Church is such that anything less than ordination is insufficient.
We believe the extension of priesthood to women is not only supported by Mormonism’s most compelling beliefs, but the logical next step in the history of extending priesthood to all worthy adult members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Continuing revelation is fundamental to Mormonism. Throughout our history, members have played a vital role in this process by articulating the need for further light and knowledge. It is time—past time, really—for the Church to seriously consider and earnestly pray about the ordination of women.
Ordain Women Submits Ticket Request to the Priesthood Session
cc flickr/Dougtone
I have always loved walking around Temple Square. When I was a teenager I looked forward to the mutual activity when we would all go see the lights at Christmas (I pretended I was walking around with my future husband, New Kid on the Block Joe McIntyre, just after his baptism.). It was all very romantic… but I digress. As I grew older, I attended every Sunday morning session of General Conference: I loved to sit on the lawn outside the Tabernacle, rain or shine, and listen to the talks over the speakers. I remember being so excited when I was able to stand outside and watch from the doorway as President Howard W. Hunter spoke. It still gives me butterflies to think of the Spirit I felt. I was married in the Salt Lake Temple and have countless photos of my new husband around Temple Square. I have taken multiple trips with my children to this sacred place, and even my Girl Scout troop.
Today, as an adult, I visited Temple Square, once more. This time I carried three envelopes in my hand and walked with purpose to the Joseph Smith Building, the LDS Temple Square Events Office and the Ticket Office at the Conference Center. Each envelope contained a letter addressed to the Events Director, requesting 150 tickets for the Priesthood Session of General Conference on October 5, 2013. These tickets are for the nearly 200 women who have signed up to attend the session—an act that will be taken by some to be disrespectful, but is meant only to demonstrate our love of the priesthood and honest desire for ordination.
The walk was quiet and lovely. The sun was shining and the grounds were immaculate. Not surprisingly, at each destination I encountered friendly, smiling faces. LDS Church employees and missionaries were helpful and happy to answer my questions. When the person I was seeking was not available, they cheerfully took the letter with a promise to deliver it to the right person. As I felt the power of this place I was once again reminded of why I love the gospel and its people. The true love of Christ and spirit of service permeated. And I was happy.
Now, though, I am full of excitement as we await the reply. I selfishly used my own address, so I will be the first to know if we do indeed get the tickets. I am anxious to know if the leaders of our church will welcome my sisters and I in our aspiration to serve and attend the session. I am praying that they will, and I look forward to the session.
Here is a PDF of the ticket request letters.
Mormons Who Advocate for Women’s Ordination
**Cross-posted at feminismandreligion.com**
A couple of months ago, I came across the “Ordain a Lady” video by the Catholic Women’s Ordination Conference. Even though it was lighthearted, clever, and fun, it made me cry. Why? Because as a Mormon feminist, I had never seen such confident assertions on video for the need for women’s ordination:
“Woman priest is my call
Women preaching for all
Don’t listen to St. Paul
‘Cuz I can lead the way”
I felt chills run up my spine as I watched these women asserting their strength, their vision, and their truth. Amen, I said to myself. Indeed, “Justice doesn’t look like only male priests.” As this video circulated among various Mormon feminist email lists, several other women mentioned that this video brought them to tears too.
I think this video was so striking to us because few Mormon feminists, let alone Mormon women, publicly articulate their desire for priesthood. There are many reasons for this, but I’ll mention a few: 1) Since the Mormon priesthood is conferred on all males age 12 and older, priesthood is nearly synonymous with maleness. In a Mormon context, to say one wants priesthood is seen by many Mormons as saying one wants to be a man. 2) In the 1990s, LDS Church leaders cracked down on a handful of Mormon feminists, who were either disfellowshipped, excommunicated or threatened with such discipline. While Church leaders today would be unlikely to discipline people for expressing a desire for women’s ordination, fear of ostracism and rejection by fellow Mormons runs deep. 3) Questioning the all-male priesthood is considered by many Mormons to attack the notion of an inspired prophet, an idea which lies at the heart of Mormonism. Thus advocating for women’s ordination is seen as a step toward apostasy and is linked with a loss of credibility in Mormon circles. 4) Arguing for women’s ordination is considered divisive, and Mormons deeply treasure ideals of community and unity. 5) It’s one thing to criticize the gender roles of male as provider/presider and female as nurturer –lots of Mormon feminists do that. But it’s an entirely different scale of critique to advocate for large-scale structural change.
All this adds up to very little agitation from practicing Mormons for women’s ordination.* Until ten days ago.
On March 17, 2013, a new website emerged: Ordain Women. It showcases 28 Mormons, most practicing, discussing their belief in the need for women’s ordination. Self-consciously mirroring the LDS Church sponsored “I’m a Mormon” campaign, these Mormons attached pictures of themselves to their statements, a brave move away from anonymity. One woman, an international human rights attorney, even provided a video of herself speaking about why she supports the ordination of women and why she became involved with this project. She states, “This is about self-respect. I want to be able to say what I believe … and to stand up for what I think is right.”
This website is meant to desensitize Mormons to the idea of women’s ordination. It is meant to show that scores of practicing Mormons support it. In addition to asserting their support for an inclusive priesthood, the Mormons featured in these profiles are asserting that there should be space in this tradition for them to articulate their support for women’s ordination. They are beginning the conversation. They are planting the seeds of possibility in people’s minds. As the website states, “In many ways, our greatest obstacle to women’s ordination is a failure of imagination. As Mormon women, we can’t imagine moving beyond the space we’ve been assigned–and when that space is a much-touted pedestal, it is limiting. Women’s ordination will only enter the realm of the possible if the idea of it becomes familiar.”
A few weeks ago I gathered my courage and submitted my own profile to the website. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done as a Mormon feminist. It felt like crossing an invisible boundary, like stepping over a point of no return. I did it in faith that one day I would look back on this day and feel glad that I took the risk to publicly stand behind what I believe. After all, that’s one thing my Mormon upbringing has taught me. As a famous Mormon hymn states, “Do what is right; let the consequence follow.”
*One notable exception to this is the recent Catholic/Mormon Dialogues on Women’s Ordination and the work done by Lorie Winder.
It is better to speak.
I am encouraged to receive the photos and profiles of brave men and women coming out in support of women’s ordination. A high school student. A women currently serving in her Relief Society presidency. A Melchizedek priesthood holder.
I am so thrilled to see that Ordain Women has sparked a wide array of conversations across this world wide web of ours.
One impression I have been struck by as I read the emails rolling into our site and the comments posted online is that this issue is a very fraught one for many Mormons. Fraught with fear. Even people who are generally supportive of female ordination are scared.
Many are afraid of the repercussions in their families, social circles and wards. Some are scared of the opportunities that would be available to us if we are ordained. Most fear that their words will not be understood or that their actions will be misinterpreted. They fear they will be brutally rebuffed, despite sincere and faithful intentions.
If I am honest, I will admit that, at times, I am afraid too. These days I vacillate between being petrified and ecstatic. I don’t think that anyone with “skin in the game” would not be afraid. As faithful Mormon women who love our community and church we have a lot to lose if our message is rejected, and we along with it are also rejected.
I have to constantly weigh the many things I have to lose against the incredible spiritual blessings I stand to gain. I take courage in the words of Caribbean-American writer and civil rights activist, Audre Lorde. I repeat her words as a mantra, and press forward with faith reaching out to quell my fears.
It is better to speak.
Organizing the women after the manner of the priesthood
Organization of the Relief Society, by Nadine B. Barton © 1985 IRI.
Today, Sunday, 17 March 2013, is the 171st anniversary of the establishment of the first Relief Society. In the Relief Society minutes, we read that Joseph Smith said that the Relief Society would be a “Kingdom of Priests.” He also literally ordained its first female leaders. In the same minutes, Emma Smith is described as being set apart but not ordained, with an explanation by Joseph Smith that Emma had already been ordained and therefore did not need to be ordained again, but merely set apart for this particular calling. Joseph Smith described the Relief Society as one that would be analogous to the male priesthood organization.
We wish to mark this significant day in history with our own act, and the founding of another women’s organization: Ordain Women.
As a Mormon missionary I experienced intimately, and in such a powerful way, the capacity of women to serve one another and to administer to one another in time of need.
Compassionate service as a sister missionary
I also saw the complications of excluding 50 percent of the population from leadership roles in areas where faithful Mormon men were few and far between. New women converts were often confused about the strict gender roles in the church that were not part of the missionary discussions, but that they learned of only after being baptized.
Serving as a sister missionary in Barcelona, Spain
As a servant of the Lord for those 18 months, I began to get a glimpse of the importance and sacred power the priesthood represents. I came to know that women can call on God and witness miracles. I also began to wonder why, as a daughter of God, I was excluded from the blessings and responsibilities of holding that power.
In the years since my return, I have been able to see that the priesthood is not the same as being male. It is the power of God, separate and apart from gender.
In a church that cherishes the value of restoration, we hope to encourage our leaders to restore women to their rightful place as leaders and priesthood holders. Ordain Women is committed to making our faith a place where we can live up to our full divine potential, and we believe that the only way women will be able to have genuine equality and live up to this potential is by being able to be ordained to the priesthood.
Like our foremothers, we are women of faith and action. We ask the brethren to bring to fruition our beloved prophet Joseph Smith’s original vision for the Relief Society sisters to over 7 million female members of the church today. We ask that women be ordained and participate fully in all levels of service within the church. We know the church will be blessed by fully utilizing the service of all worthy members, regardless of gender.
Join us, as equality missionaries, in making our plea heard.