I’m a returned missionary, wife, mother of two and an active Mormon. I’m a graduate student studying Marriage and Family Therapy and Theology. In my spare time, I like to read, run and take day trips.
My entire life I have felt a strong pull toward ministry. As I’ve searched the scriptures for examples of faithful women in leadership positions, I’ve been drawn to the stories of Miriam, Esther, Deborah, the Marys in Jesus’ life, Junia, Phoebe, and more. Even looking back in LDS history to the bold and autonomous spirituality of Emmeline B. Wells and Eliza R. Snow makes me realize that the reduced and stunted role of women in the modern church is a far cry from what God is willing to give us if we would only open our hearts to receive it.
I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ — a gospel of transformation and radical love. At its core, the gospel is about taking the unique gifts God has given us and turning them over to Christ in an act of consecration and love. When we do, God’s grace works in us so that our gifts flourish and grow, and the entire church is strengthened as we contribute those gifts freely to the body of believers.
When we give women narrowly prescribed roles, or reduce the opportunities for them to serve and contribute, we are weaker for it. Zion is stunted. The kingdom’s progression through the world is slowed. As a people, we live below our privileges.
Mormonism is as much a part of me as my heart, my gut, my arms, my legs, my mind, my soul. I could no sooner remove it from the core of who I am than I could cut off my own head and expect to live. I feel the stirring of gifts I long to develop and contribute to the Body of Christ, to build Zion and to fulfill my covenants, yet I have no place and no way to do them as the Church is currently constituted. This fills me with tremendous grief, not only for me, but for other women who have gifts they haven’t developed or may not even know they possess due to social pressures and prescriptions—and perhaps most importantly, for the Body of Christ that atrophies due to neglect.
My name is Katie and I believe women should be ordained.