As long as I can remember, I’ve yearned for a greater female presence within the church. I used to ask questions about it as a child and the answers were always the same, men had the priesthood and women had motherhood. As a young mother of three, I love motherhood, but it has never felt like an appropriate counterpart to being ordained into the priesthood. I’ve been watching Ordain Women from the sidelines since they launched and it’s taken me this long to find the courage to tell my story. My ancestors gave up everything and crossed the plains for their faith and convictions and I can’t to continue feeling like a coward because I’m too afraid to say, “I believe women should be ordained.”
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I think women should be able to participate in the fullest capacity. The idea of female ordination was hard for me to envision until I physically saw how beautiful it could be. I attended a non LDS congregation not too long ago with a female Pastor leading the people. She blessed and passed the Sacrament and it was an extremely sacred experience for me. I believe if more people could realize the divine potential that women have to serve now the debate over female ordination would vanish and ordinations would start happening. The church would flourish and the borders would widen. It would be beautiful.
It is because I understand the gospel that I think women should be ordained. I have a very real relationship with my Mother in Heaven, the female Divine. In the temple, I’ve been promised that I will one day be like her, with all the powers she possesses. I do believe she has a power that I, as a Mormon woman, am not able to participate in. I want that opportunity for myself and for I want it for my daughters. Turning 12 should be just as important for them as it is for my son.
I believe that a righteous desire to serve God’s people through the priesthood is not an act of apostasy, but an act of faith. I believe that with faith all things are possible and I believe God is preparing the people of the church for a beautiful shift and a more mature understanding of His plan.
My name is Brittany and I believe women should be ordained.