In celebration of Ordain Women’s fifth anniversary, we sponsored a panel at the 2018 Sunstone Symposium in Salt Lake City titled “Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Many Voices of Ordain Women.” As we look to the future and a new organizational structure that emphasizes both individual and collective, local and global activism on women’s ordination and gender equality in the Church, the panel not only drew on the past to inform a discussion of our initiatives going forward but also featured the thoughts and experiences of a number of OW executive board members and supporters who share the common vision of a more equitable religious community. The following was presented by OW executive board chair, Bryndis Roberts.
Good evening. First, let me thank you for coming to the Ordain Women session. Second, let me express my apologies for not being able to be with you in person. Please know that I would much prefer to be there with you.
I want to begin with these words from L.R.Knost.
“And just when the darkness
became too much to bear
and the struggle too hard,
the light broke through
and the caterpillar emerged
a butterfly
delicate but unbroken,
wild and gentle,
finally free to spread its lovely wings
and fly away on the wind.”
― L.R. Knost
Earlier this year, we celebrated the 5th anniversary of the founding of Ordain Women. In the lead up to that celebration, the Executive Board of Ordain Women spent a lot of time in thought and prayer about Ordain Women—our past, our present, and our future. We acknowledged that the joy and excitement that many of us had experienced when Ordain Women was launched or when Ordain Women held the first and second priesthood actions had been followed by a period of darkness and sorrow filled with excommunications, exclusionary policies, and talk of counterfeit relationships. Our commitment to the struggle for equality in faith was tested even more by the pain and sorrow of our siblings who bravely stepped forward and said #MeToo as they shared their heart-wrenching stories of sexual abuse at the hands of Church leaders.
It has been a long and difficult road and the woods that separate us from attaining equality in faith, while indeed dark and deep, have not been lovely. Yet, we have persevered as an organization and as individuals. We believe that while we have not yet attained the full victory, we have emerged from the struggle with renewed strength and determination.
As Chair of the Executive Board of Ordain Women, I would like to share with you two things. One relates to my individual journey on this quest for equality in faith. The other relates to the collective journey of Ordain Women.
With respect to my individual journey, I would like to share a portion of a letter that I wrote to the First Presidency:
As a 60-year-old Black woman who grew up in South Georgia and who has lived in Georgia all my life, I have experienced far too many instances of being treated as a second-class citizen and being denied the opportunity to utilize of all my skills, talents, and gifts simply because I am a Black woman. The pain of those experiences has affected and continues to affect every part of my life.
Our scriptures teach us that “all are alike unto God,” and in the face of those teachings, I find it difficult to accept or reconcile when my sisters and I are treated as less important than our brothers or denied the opportunity to fully participate in the work of building of the Kingdom simply because we are women. There is so much work to be done. Just imagine how much more productive and fruitful our efforts would be if all of the children of our Heavenly Parents – female and male – were allowed to function as full and equal partners in the work.
I have spent many hours in prayer on this subject and I do not believe that it is divine will that, simply by virtue of our gender, all women are limited in the roles we can fulfill in the Church and, ultimately, in the roles we can fulfill in building the Kingdom. As important as the work is, I cannot believe that it is the divine will that so many workers are not allowed to participate, fully and equally.
My prayer that women be ordained does not arise from any desire for prestige or recognition or from any envy of the men in the Church. I rejoice every time one of my brothers is ordained as a priest. However, I also ache for all women in the Church and for the Church. I ache because my wonderful, talented sisters have skills, training, and experience that could greatly benefit the Church. I ache because, in many parts of the world, there are wards and branches that are in desperate need of more “leaders” and more priesthood holders, and by automatically excluding women from consideration, the Church is doing itself a disservice. I ache because so much Kingdom building work is not being done because there are not enough priesthood holders to do the work. In 2014, those feelings and those experiences propelled me to stand with other courageous women and men and voice my prayer, my desire, my wish for women’s ordination in the Church.
There have been a number of changes since I initially expressed my prayer that women in the Church should be ordained. Some of those changes – being released from my calling and being deprived of my Temple recommend – have sorely tested my relationship with the LDS Church as an institution. However, my belief in the LDS Church as part of the body of Christ and my commitment to my baptismal covenants remain unchanged, as does my belief in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and in the teachings that “all are alike unto God.” As a beloved daughter of our Heavenly Parents and as your sister, those beliefs propel me to come to you, in your ordained roles as prophets, seers, and revelators to express my fervent prayer, abiding hope, and sincere wish that women in the LDS Church be ordained.
With respect to the journey of Ordain Women, I would like to share our vision of a new organizational structure. In response to the changing needs and wishes of those who support and/or are part of the Ordain Women Movement, the Board has decided to expand the reach of Ordain Women by providing for the establishment of a community-based network of local affiliates.
We believe this new structure will help propel us into being a truly worldwide movement and allow more space for local autonomy and creativity. Local affiliates will have the opportunity to plan and execute actions that best reflect the values and concerns within their community.
Affiliates will be asked to commit to honoring the values and mission of Ordain Women, engaging in faith-affirming strategic action, and foregoing unauthorized or rogue ordinations.
This commitment will be made through a registration process which will provide access to the use of the Ordain Women® name and logo.
As we continue to seek for equality in the church, we hope that this structural change will more
fully reflect Ordain Women’s commitment to intersectionality and faith-affirming strategic action.
You can listen to Bryndis’s recording of this message:
Stream here or download.
You can listen to the whole Sunstone presentation:
Stream here or download. For access to more of Sunstone’s 2018 Symposium, visit their website.