Two weeks ago I was asked to give the Monthly Relief Society Lesson on the Leadership Training Broadcast on the Priesthood in the home and then the Relief Society President also asked me to add in how the sisters can come to value Relief Society more, and feel the power and the potential that we have as sisters. The following lesson is what I gave on Sunday and it was amazing. I have a testimony how powerful the Relief Society can be, and how we need to find our place as equals to the Priesthood Quorums- not identical, but equal.
• Frame how history is often more clear, as we get further away because our tools are better, and we find better source material thanks to archiving and cataloging.
• The church is really working on employing the best historical techniques available. It has an amazing history of archiving and keeping documents. In the late 1970s- 1980s they began to systematically archive and organize the documents. And now the church history dept. wins historical awards for how well they not only preserve and study data but the way in which they open those documents up to scholars, members and non members a like. I really emphasized how great the church history department is and how we should be very excited about the work that is going on in Mormon history.
• The fascinating thing is that we often teach history in the form of timelines, but they are not flat, filled with dates, there is are layers and layers of human complexity, – line drawing
• “Don’t confuse the power of the priesthood with the keys and offices of the priesthood,” Sister Beck said. “The power is limitless and is shared with those who make and keep covenants. Too much is said and misunderstood about what brothers have and sister’s don’t. …Our responsibility, Sister Beck said, is to make sure that our homes are blessed with priesthood power, as the Primary song says, “every hour” (Children’s Songbook, 190). “It isn’t just when Dad is there. It isn’t just when Mom is there. It isn’t just when a priesthood ordination or blessing is being performed. It’s every hour as covenants are made and kept.”
• One thing that becomes apparent when I look at history and especially the scriptures his how God is always calling us to be better as a society and individually than we currently are living bellow our privileges- Elder Uchtdorf
• Even in places where it now appears looking back at how poorly women were treated there is the constant when compared to the surrounding culture- a call from God to treat women better than the surrounding society and sometimes they succeeded and sometimes they failed, sometimes they did it for a while and sometimes they really had hardened their hearts.
• But God is always calling us to find and live up to our privileges. And as Sister Beck said this starts when we know the history of the Women in this dispensation and I would add those women how are our spiritual for bearers.
• History of Women in the OT and NT holding valuable leadership positions. Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene and told her to tell his apostles about his resurrection. She has thus been called “apostle to the apostles”
More concretely, Paul mentions women who held Church leadership offices.
Deborah- how we often tell her story incompletely.
We discussed what a Prophetess was
Jesus used “daughter of Abraham” Luke 13:16
Romans 16:7
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
• The Joseph Smith Papers Project- and the RS minutes and how it changed quotes about what we thought JS said regarding the Sisters purpose.
• Joseph Smith fully intended the RS to be a quorum of women who had power and influence equal to the PH quorums- not the same but truly equal
• In these foundational sermons, Joseph Smith instructed women regarding “the order of the priesthood.” including the keys, offices, ordinances, gifts, and blessings of the priesthood. He thereby prepared them to participate in the sacred ordinances to be administered in the Nauvoo Temple at its completion. He also encouraged the sisters in their important charitable work and expounded at length upon the broader meaning of charity.
• He announced, “the Society should move according to the ancient Priesthood.” This, he declared, required “a select Society separate from all the evils of the world, choice, virtuous and holy.”[15] This was the beginning of the Society’s understanding of his repeated references to the “ancient Priesthood.”
BM- Alma 32:23
23 And now, he imparted his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned. I love how this verse teaches that God ministers unto all of us.
• Spiritual Gifts are available to all
• Talked about how the budget changes were hard but give us the opportunity to really serve and not worry about money. We talked about the loss of autonomy the RS faced and how that made some of the sisters who lived through it sad. I though this was great.
• So how do we as women live up to our privileges, how do we claim the blessings that God is wishing to bestow on us personally and as a RS? How do we become what God has asked us to become? How do we move past labeling who is married, how has kids, who is _____. How do we get YW excited to come to RS. We also talked about how YW are leaving the church faster than the Boys (see shield of faith) and how we need to think of ways to correct that.
This was an amazing lesson. I was so happy that we could talk about the history of the Relief Society and discuss how we can become what God wants us to become. I really do think that too often when we talk about the Priesthood we talk about supporting men. But I firmly believe that God intended RS to be something extraordinary, something that will change the world. And we support the priesthood by being proactive in doing the work of God.
Jessica Finnigan
Jessica is a Master's Student at King's College London, where she studies religion in the contemporary world. She recently completed an advanced Diploma in Religious Studies at the University of Cambridge. She earned a Bachelors from BYU in Marriage, Family, and Human Development. She is married to her best friend, and they have 4 daughters.
All posts by Jessica Finnigan
Jessica – you offer some wonderful insight here – thank you! You know, personally, not having the Priesthood has never felt “less than” to me. In fact, as women continue to gain in education, salary, and leadership positions in our society, I feel the Church is the last bastion of male dominance, which I understand in my soul is a positive thing. I want my granddaughter to marry a man who is a trained leader, who knows the difference in male and female roles – equal in importance, but different in focus. Our culture is emasculating our boys! Maybe it has been easier for me to sit back and observe my whole life because of my successful career that fulfilled any need I had to “take charge”. I made 3 to 4 times the salary of my husband and probably some of the men in my ward. I was never necessarily impressed with any man’s priesthood – only grateful for what it could do for those I love.
Bonnie – I’m glad you feel that way since after all we have been taught by Heber C. Kimball the truth when he said “Women were never placed to lead. Did you ever see a ship rigged for sailing to England, or to any other port in the world, without a helm, and rudder, and a man who knew the points of the compass and how to receive instructions for guiding that ship. And then you will sometimes see a number of boats lashed with cables to a large ships and they are all led by that ship, and that is guided by the power and intelligence on board of it; Women are made to be led, and counselled, and directed. If they are not led, and do not make their cables fast to the power and authority they are connected with, they will be damned. Instead of cutting those little fibres that pertain to those cables which connect them with the ship, they ought to be adding other strands to to the cables, that they may stand when the sea becomes boisterous. . . .Women are to be led. If I should undertake to drive a woman, I should have to drive her before me; and then she becomes my leader the moment I do that. I should lead her; and she should be led by me, if I am a good man; and if I am not a good man, I have no just right in this Church to a wife or wives, or to the power to propagate my species. What, then, should. be done with me? Make a eunuch of me, and stop my propagation.”
Sheesh the male patriarchy has been with us since the beginning and continues….. what’s hard to understand is now it’s not only men who are saying it… ironic isn’t it.
Bonnie – I appreciate your satire 🙂
I guess this just brought our the feisty part of me so I aplogize if I offended anyone with my afterthought to Heber’s quote.
I understand and can respect the women who basically are saying “look I’m not sure why women don’t have the priesthood but I believe that the prophet/apostles are speaking for God and so I sustain them.”
It’s when I start hearing the “what I find to be” illogical arguments/justifications/rationals for why women don’t/can’t hold the priesthood you lose me. The whole equal but not the same, motherhood is our special calling, men need this additional assistance/authority/power from God due to…., etc, etc, etc….. that I just want to scream. In any other setting other than church if an organization/association/company/group was structured in a way that the majority of ALL decision making excluded women you would never hear these types of things. For some reason since it’s the church…. we’re supposed to just look for the good in this and accept it’s from God and of course must have valid reasoning.
To me it’s a carry over from cultural norms dating way back to when the church began with opinions just like Heber C. Kimball’s coming from the top. This has just continued on through the years…. after all (just like black/priesthood) there must be some reason for it (although to be honest we aren’t sure how it began or why and we will just have to wait years… before we feel it might be appropriate to change it because you know really it might make the members look on our previous leaders poorly and therefore question).
Ugh is all I can say.
I would have loved to hear this lesson. I’ve never gotten around any breathing human saying these things out loud in church. Sad, because it is all true.
Last night, I read Luke 1. I sat up as I read about Elizabeth’s inheritance. v. 5-There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest named aZacharias, of the course of bAbia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and aordinances of the Lord blameless.
What is entailed in being one of the daughters of Aaron? I don’t know. I love this article. It points out that we’re not even aware of the power that we have. I treasure my faith, my intuition, and the power that I feel inside of me as a woman of faith.
I would like to see more of a recognition of this power. I would like to hear more discussions of our God given gifts as women. The doctrines are there. The precedence is there. The problem lies in the culture, not the gospel.