by Amy Watkins Jensen, creator of Women on the Stand.

When our daughter Lulu was born with Down Syndrome, my husband Andy and I instantly became her advocates in a way that wasn’t necessary for our other two children. Almost from the very first day of her life, we became aware that the world wasn’t designed for a child with a cognitive disability. For Lulu to have a successful and happy life, we needed to be strong, work tirelessly to meet her varied and individual health and developmental needs, speak for her when she couldn’t speak for herself, and learn to navigate the previously unknown institutional system of programs and services that would enable her to live the most dignified, rich, and fulfilling life possible. We didn’t know it then, but we were destined for a life of advocating for the needs of Lulu and others like her who are often marginalized, misunderstood, and forgotten by the greater community, and that advocacy would teach us more about our baptismal covenant than anything else in our lives.

It’s not surprising that the advocacy we have undertaken as parents of a beloved daughter of God has been so impactful and teaches us so much about our covenants; after all, one of the titles given to Christ is Advocate. In 1 John 2:1, we are called “little children” and reminded that “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” In modern-day scripture, we are instructed to “Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him.” Advocacy is sacred work; it is Christ’s work. “Advocate” comes from the Latin “ad vocare,” meaning “to speak for.” In John 2:1, the Greek “parakletos,” which connotes one who is at our side, is translated as “our helper.” Christ is at our side, He is our helper and defender; He speaks on our behalf.

And isn’t this the exact work we have promised to do for each other when we take upon ourselves Christ’s name? Luke 5:17-20 tells of a group who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus, hoping that Christ would heal him. When they couldn’t get to Jesus through the crowd, they took their friend to the roof and lowered him down to the Savior. In the absence of a standard path forward, they made a new way; they advocated for their friend. Christ, seeing their faith and their advocacy, both forgave the man of his sins and healed him. Like these long ago believers we are called to have faith and be not dismayed by the effort to lift each other up, or the strength required to bear each other’s burdens.

Advocacy is the sacred and divine work of Christ and is woven through the covenant we make to take upon ourselves His name by lifting and caring for each other. We don’t stay idle or still when stillness is not called for. Sometimes the work of mourning with, comforting, and bearing each other’s burdens moves us to action and to the effort required to bring others closer to Christ. This is why I find so disheartening and disturbing the narrative that advocacy work within the structures and systems of the Church is not acceptable to God.

It seems that in Latter-day Saint culture we have adopted a belief that change must only come from the highest levels of patriarchal power and never from those laboring in the fields at local levels. Somehow the idea that bottom-up advocacy is wrong has taken deep root in our cultural consciousness, making many Saints feel that voicing any concern is wholly against the rules and must inherently be spoken out of misguidance, anger, or malice. Unfortunately, this has resulted in dismissal, suspicion, and even silencing of many members’ faithful inquiry, expressions of concern, and honest sharing of lived experiences. Actions and feelings based on fear of offending hierarchy or fear of ideas that originate from outside positions of power don’t seem to be compatible with Christ’s teachings or informed by his mortal ministry. We have been reminded by modern-day prophets and leaders of the Church that, “the scriptures teach that fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time,” and “to remember that fear is not of the Lord, but faith and courage are.”

That being said, any cause or movement that disguises itself as advocacy but aims to tear down Christ’s Church and “undermine Christ’s doctrine” is cause for concern. I understand the institutional worry and anxiety directed towards those that proclaim “advocacy” but seek to destroy peace and derail discipleship. I share in the desire to weed out any contention set on destruction and am conscious of the need to warn members of any action by a person or group that breeds hate or aims to shatter or weaken the sturdy foundations of Zion. Nevertheless, the history of the Church, the Church’s own origin story, and our theology point to the importance of using our voices to ask questions, bear each other’s burdens, and advocate for change that removes barriers to full inclusion in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We can look to Joseph Smith’s own seeking for truth, Emma Smith’s questions and concerns that led to the revelation of the Word of Wisdom, and Lester Bush’s Dialogue article that preceded President Kimball’s lifting of the temple priesthood ban for evidence of Christ-focused advocacy and faithful inquiry that led to change in the Church–even to revelation.

Christ-like advocacy that seeks to strengthen doctrine, honor baptismal covenants, and to emulate Christ’s teachings should not be cause for concern. In fact, the opposite is true; we should seek to participate in Christ-focused advocacy that treats God’s children with dignity, bears witness to their suffering, lightens burdens, hears pleas and questions, meets people’s cries for more and better with curiosity and compassion, and works tirelessly to remove any barrier that keeps God’s children from coming unto Christ.

Members of the Church and the institution itself can readily recognize advocacy that is modeled after Christ’s advocacy for us; it is advocacy that takes action to comfort, bear burdens, and mourn with our brothers and sisters. It is the same advocacy we have covenanted to take part in and that we find reflected in the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to care for the one, the father who welcomes home the prodigal son, and Christ who speaks up for the woman taken in adultery. Advocacy modeled on the words and ministry of Christ seeks to build up, not tear down; its purpose is not contention, but peacemaking. Peacemaking confronts conflict constructively, is courageous, seeks to unify, and prioritizes love. You will know Christ-centered advocacy when you see it because with every action, word, and deed, it proclaims “all are alike unto God” and demonstrates an embrace of every soul, which is “great in the sight of God.”

I believe that it is this variety of advocacy that the Saints seeking greater equality and more equal partnership are taking part in. We can find evidence of this Christ-centered advocacy in the great majority of the 17,000 + comments on the Church’s instagram post from March 17th, the series of op-eds written by women and men of the Church that have appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune over the last several months*, the recent Faith Matters episode with Neylan McBaine and Bethany Spalding, the open letter to the General Women Presidents, and the thousands and thousands of Saints who are currently engaged in faithful inquiry and tireless efforts of inclusion in local wards and stakes.

Latter-day Saint theologian and chaplain in training Jenny Richards referred to this moment of advocacy for equal partnership and equality in the Church as a “movement of the human spirit”, and that feels like a perfect description of the public and private seeking and pleading so many Saints are engaged in. We are using our voices to “speak up” and “speak out” with the “wisdom and courage of Mother Eve” by sharing our lived experiences, asking questions about how we can better align our practices with doctrine, expressing pain caused by misalignments of truth and church culture, and pleading that our daughters, sisters, and mothers who “are endowed with priesthood power directly from God” be allowed to bring our full selves to the work of building Zion. We do not hope to undermine doctrine but to proclaim its expansive and glorious truth throughout our culture, practices, and traditions. Our advocacy is an expression of our testimony of the living gospel and our belief in the continuing work of the Restoration. It is a communal and active taking-upon ourselves of the Savior’s name, as we stand as witnesses of God, as we bear each other’s burdens, mourn, and comfort each other.

The institutional Church has nothing to fear from those of us seeking more equal partnership or our ideas on how to strengthen Zion, and everything to gain from our wisdom, strength, spiritual authority, and unique perspectives. A force of believers who want to bring their full selves to the Church should be embraced and loved, not rejected, dismissed, or disdained. Likewise, we should have nothing to fear from the institutional Church since we are aligned in purpose—to bring souls unto Christ. A movement of the human spirit that seeks better for the children of God and for His Church is inherently one guided by a yearning to commune with Heavenly Parents and to know Christ.

We are faithful Saints doing our best to shoulder those we love, to lift them, carry them with us, and do whatever it takes to bring them unto Christ. I imagine that the good men who lead this Church worry and pray over all Saints who feel lost, abandoned, or marginalized in any way. Systems, or perhaps culture and tradition, might suggest that we are at odds with those inspired men, but we will not allow that lie to thrive. We have all worked and labored too long in the vineyard in our own diverse and important ways to start a war with our brothers whose work is integral to the success of the harvest. The Church needs helping hands and hearts that know and feel in order to build local and global faith communities with the strength and flexibility necessary to meet the needs of an ever-growing and ever-changing worldwide Church.

We are not enemies, but friends whose elder Brother calls to us and beckons, “Come, follow me.”

So let us not be dismayed or dissuaded from our advocacy. Let us not be turned away from our righteous desires because of misunderstanding by individuals or institutions, or even past silencing and pain. An important truth I have learned in 17 years of advocacy work on behalf of Lulu is that institutions can only be influenced and changed by humans who participate actively in them and that institutional change often happens from the bottom up and then the top down. Through this same work I understand that change happens not at all, then slowly, then all at once. The work of advocacy is not easy, fast, or comfortable and it is often thankless and met with annoyance, dismissal, and sometimes even anger from those whose responsibility it is to accommodate the needs of those they serve. But part of advocacy is helping others know what they don’t yet know and see what they don’t yet see.

Advocating for Lulu and others like her has shaped me and deepened my understanding of Christ’s sacred work. Just as I have learned to navigate an unfamiliar world to support Lulu, I recognize the importance of using my voice to advocate for change and inclusion within the Church, aligning my efforts with the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. Advocating for my daughter has changed me for the better and reinforced in me the truth that we all need each other in this divine work. When we follow the Advocate’s example, when we stand by each other, bear each other’s burdens, and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, we fulfill our covenantal promises and strengthen the foundations of Zion.

*https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2023/12/19/opinion-former-bishop-i-support/ https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2024/05/17/opinion-latter-day-saint-men-we/ https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2024/04/03/opinion-womens-ideas-have-prompted/ https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2024/02/01/opinion-young-lds-women-need-see/ https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/29/opinion-christ-put-his-trust-women/ https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/14/opinion-ill-be-my-lds-church-this/ https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/13/opinion-lds-women-should-join-me/

Amy is a life long member of the Church, mother to three daughters, and humanities teacher in Oakland, CA. She can be found on Instagram @womeononthestand encouraging respectful conversations about visibility and inclusion for women in the Church.