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Relief Society
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Guest Post: A Way For It To Happen
by Judy Curtis
Reading through the suggestions to empower LDS women on a document entitled All Are Alike Unto God caused me to consider how women could be transitioned into functioning in a priesthood capacity in the Church without upsetting the system more than a lot of people could handle. Here are my ideas.
First, restore the Relief Society to quorum status as it was when Joseph organized the group. When the women in Nauvoo told Joseph they wanted to form a benevolent society similar to others of the day, he said he had something better for them.
"The Society should move according...
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Henry B. Eyring: Societies of Caregivers
President Eyring found an elegant solution to the potentially awkward task of being a man giving a sermon to women about their womanly duties: he began his talk by quoting a great female Mormon heroine and centered the rest of his talk around her admonitions.
“We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another, and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.” –Lucy Mack Smith
As an example of how pioneer women heeded Lucy Mack Smith’s counsel, he recounted the oft-told story of how Mormon pioneers rescued the Willie and Martin handcart companies, with...
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Carole M. Stephens: Wide Awake to Our Duties
The following post includes my notes and thoughts on President Stephens' first address for the General Relief Society meeting.
The theme for President Stephens' address was a quote taken from Zina D. H. Young:
"Sisters, it is for us to be wide awake to our duties."
It was an excellent way to start her talk as quotes from our early women leaders are used so sparingly and it is always thrilling to hear their powerful words. President Stephens shared that Sister Young's words and those she also quoted from the scriptural prophets Paul and Alma caused her to consider what being wide...
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Linda S. Reeves: You are Not Forgotten
I, along with three other bloggers, will be sharing our notes from various talks from the General Relief Society Broadcast tonight. Here are my notes and comments from the talk by Sister Linda S. Reeves, the new second counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency.
Reeves started with the story of Molly Lenthall, a single, sibling-less 70 year old woman in Australia. She said she felt distinctly the Spirit telling her that despite the fact that she lacks family, yet she is not alone.
She entreated, with the story of Christ's care for Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, that we remember the...
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Virtual Mormon Women’s Line Up
I am a biological anthropologist and one of my favorite classes to teach is about modern human variation. I ask my undergraduates to line up in front of the class according to their height. They have done this since kindergarten and so it is fairly easy and banal. Then I give them other categories (with the caveat that they are free to opt out at any time), such as: skin color, eye color, hairiness, weight, intelligence, gender, sexuality, and attractiveness. As the categories progress the line-ups get more difficult to make. Students start opting out and becoming very uncomfortable....
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How Do You Feel About the Relief Society Manuals?
I was recently reading a Mormon woman's oral history. This woman was in her seventies, and was nostalgic about the old Relief Society manuals, the ones from the 90s and before that were specifically tailored to women. They told women-centered stories, sometimes quoted from women, etc. This is in contrast to our current Teachings of the Presidents manual series which began around the year 2000. She described our current manuals as having gone through a "unisex sausage grinder."
That phrase caught my attention. If our manuals really had gone through a unisex sausage grinder (at lease what I consider a...
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Poll: Splitting Relief Society
Every once in a while, I find myself discussing the merits of splitting Relief Society into on group for older women and one for the younger ones, like the high priest group and the elders quorums are divided.
Do you like that the women all meet as one big group? Would discussions be better if we were split according to age? How would the dynamics chance? Vote below and put your thoughts in the comments section.
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Relief Society Lesson 19: Temporal and Spiritual Blessings from the Word...
When I was young, I was often frustrated that one of the only things my peers knew about our faith concerned the negative aspects of the Word of Wisdom. They had a good grasp of the things that we don't do, without having the same grasp of the positive things that we do do and believe.
Many years later, and many, many states away from my Oregon homeland, I found myself on the East Coast for grad school. I am still not certain if more people smoke and drink there, or if I was just more aware of it, but...
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A Call(ing) for Cooperative Leadership, Part I
It’s summer, which in my Boston-area ward means that on any given Sunday about a third of the ward is on vacation. The handful of families who were moving out have already left, and their replacements are trickling in. We don’t know yet how many new families we’ll have by September, but I’m betting on at least two young couples showing up unannounced over Labor Day weekend (hey, it’s a big college town). It’s an exciting time, the only period of transition we really get in my super-stable, super-active, super-smart congregation, and I’m relishing it.
I’m also scheming, because I’m...
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Poll: Tenure of the Relief Society President
In the early days of the church, the calling of General Relief Society President lasted until death, just like the calling of apostle. Emmeline B. Wells was the first Relief Society president to be released from this calling and she was hurt by the apparent snub. a
President Wells served 11 years. Since that time, there has been a lot of variation in term lengths for General Relief Society Presidents, with President Belle Smith Spafford serving the longest term at 29 years. The three most recently released General Relief Society Presidents all served for five years. b
I see pros and...
What is Exponent II?
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.”
For 50+ years, Exponent II has shared women’s voices in its quarterly magazine, and members of the community have convened at an annual retreat. Our reach has expanded as technology has advanced: the blog, founded in January 2006, has reached millions. As we look to the future, we are focused on growth and building a more inclusive community.
