Blog Tag: #hearLDSwomen priesthood leader overreach
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#hearLDSwomen: I Was Sustained to a New Calling Without My Knowledge...
I was asked to serve as a stake young women leader at a very stressful time of my life; the calling completely took me off guard. When I asked if I could think about it, the counselor told me they wanted to sustain me in a meeting that started in 30 minutes, but okay, think about it. Within 10 minutes, they called on the phone saying, "Never mind, we decided to ask somebody else."
- Christy C.
I went to Sacrament Meeting as a newlywed and was shocked when I was called over the pulpit to be a visiting teaching supervisor....
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#hearLDSwomen: My Special Needs Son Isn’t Allowed on Scout Camp Outs
Once I was a Den leader and had 13 boys. At the time we didn’t ever have 2 deep leadership, so it was me all alone. The Cub handbook said Dens should never be more than 7-8. I kept begging the bishop to call another Den leader and he just laughed and said I could HANDLE IT. So I did. I sent a letter to all the parents that the Den was being divided into 2 Dens, and a new Den leader would be called. I put the bishop's son in the Den with no leader. Bishop was pretty...
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#hearLDSwomen: My Priesthood Leaders Identify With My Husband, Not Me
When I lived in a large city where leadership was hard to find, my ex and I both had stake callings - I was the stake Primary President and he was on the high council. After some marriage problems where my stake president actually told me to put my ex’s bags on the porch (because he regularly came home from work around 4 am), the stake president thought we maybe were too busy and needed a change.
So he released me. Not my ex. Me.- Anonymous
I told my bishop "I'm having a hard time going to church, or even leaving...
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#hearLDSwomen: As Relief Society President, I Was Kept Out of the...
As Relief Society president, I asked the bishop if I could attend some of the PEC meetings. My request was ignored. I asked again and received the reply that nothing was discussed in there that would involve me. Our ward membership was over 50% female.
I’m happy that the next RS President had better luck.
- Debbie
I was once the Relief Society president in a ward with many single mothers and widows. Most of the ward was women or families run by women. I did not attend PEC, which felt strange because it was hard to imagine most any ward issue...
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#hearLDSwomen: Modesty Is Prioritized Over Safety and Practicality
At one of my mutual activities, all the young women were required to wear a t-shirt over their suits--regardless if it was a one-piece--while all the boys were, of course, shirtless. Any push back and we were not allowed to attend.
- Sarah A.
My daughter went to her adviser's home for a Young Women swimming activity in a tankini that was quite modest but did technically have two pieces. She was asked to go home and change or wear a tee shirt over her suit because the leader's husband was there. Same thing with girls' camp and shorts, men may...
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#hearLDSwomen: My Stake President Micromanages Women
BYU Women’s Conference is an annual 2-day conference sponsored by the Relief Society and BYU. It’s promoted Church-wide, but there is a cost to attend (similar to Education Week). A committee organizes the conference, selecting the theme, speakers, and topics. Speakers include general authorities and auxiliary leaders as well as topic experts and lay people. I was asked to be part of the BYU/Relief Society Women’s Conference committee. The invitation was extended by the president of BYU and the Relief Society general presidency. I found it a very rewarding and insightful experience. The eye-rolling part: my stake president was...
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#hearLDSwomen: My Bishop Did Not Let Me Receive My Endowment
Despite my worthiness (and even my husband’s willingness), my bishop would not let me receive my endowment right before I married my non-member husband as he wanted me to wait for my husband to join the church.
- Alison A.
I received my endowment just before I got married. I wanted to go through the temple before my dad (who is not LDS) got to town so that it wouldn’t be yet another part of my wedding he was there for but couldn’t go to. I was graduating college three weeks before the wedding and had a day picked out that...
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#hearLDSwomen: I Suffered Ecclesiastical Abuse at the Hands of My Bishop
We had recently moved into a new ward. I had five children under the age of eight, three in diapers, and was homeschooling the older ones. My husband was between jobs, but we were trying to get by on our meager savings until he could find another. The stress took its toll on my health and sanity as I tried to still bring all my young children to church and hold a calling. I was desperately eager to please.
My bishop invited me to a meeting, telling me only that he’d like to chat. I, ever obedient, did not question...
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#hearLDSwomen: Glaring Inequality Between Young Women and Young Men
The angriest I have ever seen our former Young Women president was after Ward Council one week. The previous year the Young Women & Young Men agreed to pool funds to buy nice camping gear with the express understanding that nothing Young Men or Scouting related would be scheduled during Girls’ Camp since that’s the only time the young women would need the equipment. As soon as she found out the Girls’ Camp dates from the stake, she brought that information to the Young Men president. "Oh, Girls’ Camp is that week? Man, I wish I had known. We...
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#hearLDSwomen: I Was Sustained for a Calling Without My Consent
I was once asked if I would accept a calling, and said I'd think about it. Two days later, they called me to it in Sacrament Meeting. I actually raised my own hand in opposition, I was so stunned they would do that. They never set me apart and said they'd correct it. They then treated me as if I had this calling, phoning repeatedly, and other ward members phoning repeatedly to ask me to do my job. I would patiently explain each time that it was not my calling, it had been a mistake, and I was not...
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Exponent II provides Mormon feminist forums for women and gender minorities across the Mormon spectrum to share their diverse life experiences in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. Through these exchanges, we strive to create a community to better understand and support each other.
Exponent II was founded in 1974 by a group of Mormon women in Cambridge, Massachusetts. These women were inspired by the original periodical, “The Woman’s Exponent,” to create a forum “posed on the dual platforms of Mormonism and Feminism.”
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