Several years ago I started to notice some changes about how the church referred to and allowed women in the church to participate. Here’s a list of some of the things that I noticed that changed:
- Women praying in sacrament meeting.
- Several prominent talks discussing how women do use priesthood power in their callings on a highly regular basis[1].
- More focus on the ward- and stake-level council meetings that include women and men. Instead of Priesthood Executive Council being the main coordination meeting at the ward level, Ward Council is the main coordination meeting now. The shift occurred between 2010 and 2015.
- Auxiliary organizations renamed to ward organizations and their leaders all called President[2], which started occurring in General Conference in 2018.
- The spouses of general authorities have for as long as I have known, had the option to travel with their spouses if they would like to and speak with them whenever they do travel. Recently spouses of some General Authorities have been “headline” speakers with them, however, on youth Q&A firesides or possibly other meetings. This also shifted around 2018 with Sister Nelson, Oaks, Bednar and Cook seeming to be more visible than others.
Calling Sisters President and Other Honorifics
The use of President / Elder is inconsistent through the ranks of our leadership callings. It has been for some time. Bishop, Stake President, Mission President, EQ President, Presidency of Seventy, Quorum of Twelve, First Presidency all hold keys. Some noteworthy inconsistencies:
- High Priest Group Leader (now deprecated) held borrowed keys but didn’t get called by an office title.
- 1st and 2nd counselors in Stake Presidencies do not hold keys but are called president.
- Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy are called Elder but only use borrowed keys.
Why are Seventies and Stake Presidency Counselors called by the honorific? The only similar office held by a woman would be at the General level. They are now called President if they lead the entire organization as are the women who lead organizations at the ward level. Counselors at the General level are called Sister, not President. Yet a Stake President’s counselors are called President.
Changing the titles for the women in callings was good. Further standardization seems to be in order. There seem to be two solutions.
| Expanding use of an Honorific | Contracting use of an Honorific |
| General Presidency members called President. | Stake Presidency Counselors called Brother |
| Seventies should be called Elder | Seventies should be called brother |
The Seventies should be included in this change of Honorific usage because they do not hold keys. Any office or calling that is receiving an honorific title should be considered in making sure there is equal usage of the honorific between men and women, because we have seen that the usage of the honorific is not based in whether the office holds Priesthood Keys. It never has been, even though it has been explained this way, because some offices are receiving the honorific even though they only use delegated keys.
Seventies use delegated keys all the time. Weekly or daily, even. They receive an honorific. Sisters use delegated keys all the time in their callings as well. Every time a Relief Society Presidency makes Ministering Sister assignments, they leverage Priesthood Keys for directing the saints for salvation that they are borrowing from the Bishop. We should call all of them President if we are serious about honoring where Priesthood Keys are used instead of where they are held.
Right now, sisters are receiving the shirt sleeves off of the proverbial vest. It is easy to extend the usage of the honorific of President to our Ward and General presidents who are women because nothing fundamental has changed – they don’t hold actual keys. The showcasing of the formality is still important, however, because it is noticed by church membership and the titles give a greater weight to their words in the minds of the general membership.
Other Ways the Church is Expanding the use of Women’s Influence
More Conference Talks by Women
The church has also expanded the presence of women in conference settings by having them speak more often. This has led to some great talks! The church could expand this even more.
Here are a few stats:
April 1990: 2 women speakers
April 2010: 1 woman speaker
April 2024: 6 women speakers
Oct 2024: 6 women speakers
Of note is in April 1990 and 2010 one of the sessions was the now defunct Priesthood Session where only men spoke and only men attended. How wonderful it would have been to have a sister speak in Priesthood session, though!
Having the women speak aids in many ways. Two easy to pick out ones are A) positive role models for women in the church being showcased and B) a different viewpoint being discussed with the church at large. From an anecdotal standpoint, Sister Tracy Y. Browning’s talk in October 2022, “Seeing More of Jesus Christ in Our Lives,” was one of the most anticipated lessons in our Elders Quorum discussion that conference season! The church wants to hear these messages and clearly is benefitting from them.
Educating and Reframing how Priesthood Power can be Used
I remember having this debate in High Priest’s quorum in the 2010’s and the brothers were very uncomfortable. I said, well since a sister is called by the Priesthood, then isn’t she using priesthood power in her calling? The brothers were very uncomfortable. I remember one in particular, a sagey old guy saying, “I wouldn’t go that far.” But then our Prophet DID go that far.[3] It’s a simple extension of logic that members of the church were free to make and understand before the announcement was even made. It was clearly true.
More Visible Appearances by Spouses of Apostles
Several appearances over the last few years of Apostles’ wives joining them in fireside settings have been happening. I do not know the context of why some spouses join and some do not. There are many possible reasons – the desire to participate possibly chief among them. Many people don’t WANT to be on display for the entire world.
The part of having a husband and wife do a fireside together that concerns me is that it comes off as a way of saying “See here: we DO allow women to be more visible and to teach us.” To be fair, I do not know the reasoning why some spouses have been invited to join their husband’s who serve as Apostles. They may be particularly and uniquely qualified for the position, and I don’t spend any time watching said firesides. They are often Q&A for youth. I would simply hope that the qualification process is more robust than whom you are married to. That seems like a denigration of women more than anything else to me: the method for qualification being which man you are connected with.
Other Ways the Church Could Expand Women’s use of Power in Church Settings
1) Have a woman visit a stake conference as the final and keynote speaker, but not as a visiting authority.[4]
Many of us get excited when there is a presiding authority of note coming to facilitate our Stake Conference. Why does the visitor have to be a male presiding authority? Could the visiting speaker be a sister?
What if the Church created an organization, perhaps the First Assembly of Women? Their role is to assist the Seventy in their mission. They can attend with an Elder from the Seventy or they can visit on their own and provide guidance, love and support to members of the Stake Presidency, hold sessions with the youth, adults and speak at a general session the next day. The Stake still presides at the meeting, but who wouldn’t welcome another helping hand at providing the saving doctrine of Christ from a new viewpoint – that of a woman?
2) Yes – Ordain Women to the Priesthood
This is a highly contested topic, but it could be done, and would result in having better questions being asked at all leadership levels of our church – Ward, Stake, Area, General levels all ask questions to counsel and to receive revelation. All of those areas are lead by men with the Priesthood. It is too large to discuss in this essay, but other essays may review this topic.
3) Secondary Option – Change the Leadership Councils of the Church
Ward Council is led by a Priesthood holder but has nearly equal members of both sexes. Bishoprics are all Priesthood holders. Stake Counsel and Presidencies are the same. General Church leadership counsels are diverse, yet the Quorum of the Twelve is not. The church could change the leadership structures of the governing groups to allow women on them without ordaining women to the Priesthood. Here’s one possible solution:
| Current Bishopric Setup | Amended Setup with Women Participation |
| Bishop (male) | Bishop (male) |
| 1st counselor (male) | 1st Counselor (male) |
| 2nd counselor (male) | Counseling Sister (Female) |
| Exec. Secretary (male) | Exec Secretary (male or female) |
| Ward Clerk (male) | Ward Clerk (male or female) |
Benefits:
- When calling sisters to positions, the Counseling Sister could issue the calling. The function of inviting to a calling should be fine to delegate to a sister.
- Increased diversity among the group.
- Less risk of conversations that often takes place behind closed doors that are demeaning towards women. (i.e. “Women are just so emotional”, etc.).[5]
- Expanded ranks for men to be called into leadership callings (the expanded EQ responsibilities, especially).
Risks:
- I believe the church has considered options like this before but is worried about coed situations. Yes, there will be coed meetings, discussions and friendships. The investment in the success of EVERY congregation of our church offsets that risk.
- Anger/Disappointment from men in the general population of the church.
- Slightly lower ranks to call sisters from to other leadership callings.
Similar changes could be made to Stake Presidencies and yes, even the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to ensure better representation (yes) but to ensure better questions and discussions occurring. Better questions being asked in prayer once the counsels have stopped and the presidencies are seeking guidance (women do not participate in that part). This type of change would strengthen the church significantly.
The church has made some excellent strides in expanding the ways that women are leading in our church. These have been good for our organization! More expansion is needed to continue to benefit from the expertise, wisdom and lived experience of the sisters in our congregations. I hope and pray that the Lord and our General Leadership will continue to hasten this part of the work and restoration of the Lord’s Kingdom.
[1] Spiritual Treasures, Russell M. Nelson, Oct 2019 Conference Report; The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood, Dallin H. Oaks, April 2014 Conference Report.
[2] What was taught for decades+ before is that only offices with PH keys received an honorific President, Bishop, Elder before their name.
[3] See the Church’s general guide on Women and Priesthood.
[4] This will requires us to either 1) admit that the closing speaker always being the presiding authority is an unnecessary tradition or 2) to have the presiding authority also conduct so they can stand to say a few words before the closing hymn and prayer.
[5] Please note: this DOES occur. I have watched it occur and tried to counter it in meetings I have been in. We must be honest with ourselves in acknowledging that poor attitudes like these do affect the revelatory process.
Mormon Means Change 