LDS Minority

Ordain Women initiative spurs reaction from supporters, Church

Emi Tano
Writer 

On April 5^th, the commencement of the 184^th Semi-Annual General Conference of the LDS Church also marked the second attempt by Ordain Women to gain access into the male-only priesthood session.
 Despite being turned away at the Church’s Tabernacle in Salt Lake City after waiting in line for tickets to the session, OW’s movement to push priesthood ordination for Mormon women has gained both positive ground in numbers and censure from the Church on the other end of the spectrum.
 While the LDS Church’s official statement following the April 5^th attempt expressed disappointment in the group’s “divisive actions,” the vigilance of OW supporters continues to make a showing with a 20 percent increase in Facebook followers and the near doubling of profiles created.
 OW founder Kate Kelly expressed excitement in the recent social media boost but also reiterate OW’s overarching goal of equality and opportunity for all.
 “Ordain Women envisions a religious community that better reflects the depth, breadth, and inclusiveness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of gender. We call for the ordination of women and their full integration into the governance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Kelly said.
 Kelly, a Washington D.C. based lawyer, also led the group of 510 in a march from City Creek to Temple Square where they stood in line on that rainy Saturday as they waited to be admitted into the priesthood meeting, only to be turned away by ushers.
 “I am intimately familiar with that pain. You can see it on my face in the photo of me asking for admittance to the priesthood session. You can see that I am miserable at having to actually ask for physical inclusion into a space from which I have been barred because I look like a woman,” said OW executive board member Hannah Wheelright, a student at Brigham Young University in Provo.
 According to Wheelright and photos posted to the OW Facebook page, the Tabernacle that accommodated overflow access to the session was nearly vacant.
 “We were told initially that the session wasn’t going to be broadcasted in the Tabernacle, but we could clearly hear the session going on from outside.  Eventually we were told there weren’t any seats left, which was completely untrue after we looked inside. It was practically empty,” Wheelright said.
 “Women have every right to watch and listen to priesthood session. It’s not the goal of the church to exclude, in fact our doctrine teaches us to reach out to everyone. This means the LDS and non-LDS alike. We want all of them to hear our message. Attendance at the conference itself is reserved for men only as an opportunity for men to embrace their own special roles, just as women have theirs,” said stake President J. Alan Walker of Logan.
 The church’s official statement following the October 2013 attempt by OW cites that male-only attendance to priesthood sessions “is designed to strengthen men and boys as thy receive specific instruction about their roles and responsibilities.”
 “I’ts not just about getting into priesthood session for us, it’s definitely about what it means as a whole. We want to be able to contribute on an equal level with the men,” Didi Monjar sad, a sophomore at USU.
 Not only did the incident incur the disfavor of other observing LDS members, Quorum of the Twelve apostle Elder Dallin H. Oaks addressed men in favor of female ordination in the priesthood session.
 “Whoever exercises priesthood authority should forget about their rights and concentrate on their responsibilities. That is a principle needed in society at large,” Oaks said. Oaks also quoted Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who commented on responsibilities in society. “It is time … to defend not so much human rights as human obligations. ”Latter-day Saints surely recognize that qualifying for exaltation is not a matter of asserting rights but a matter of fulfilling responsibilities.” OW does not plan on making any new attempts to enter the priesthood session “in the near future,” according to Kelly.

LDS Church introduces new Easter campaign

Emi Tano

Writer

With Easter and the Lenten season both set to culminate this Sunday, Christian believers around the world prepare to begin anew after a spiritual undertaking to reaffirm their faith.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-saints recently released an unprecedented social media campaign, ‘Because of Him,’ in hopes of perpetuating the “spirit of Christ” amongst LDS and non-LDS alike.

“As followers of Jesus Christ, we seek to do as He has instructed: ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” said missionary department director Elder David F. Evans in a press release, quoting biblical scripture from the book of Mark.

The centerpiece of the ‘Because of Him’ campaign is a two and a half minute video released April 13th depicts the life and sacrifice of Christ in comparison with other significant historical events such as the invention of the printing press and man’s first walk on the moon.

“We anticipate being able to reach 100 million people, and The Easter holiday is the ideal time for us to help people remember all that is possible because of Christ, “ Evans said about the video that utilizes dramatic reproductions of Christ’s life and visuals of our modern day, paired with music and text.

The video so far has reached a little over 750 thousand views on YouTube, but has experienced success through individual and group Facebook sharing by other sites belonging to other Christian groups such as familyshare and over 10,000 posts under the tag ‘#BecauseofHim.

“I love that that I can share this people without looking too preachy. I think it’s a good message for everyone, even if you aren’t Mormon,” said LDS member and USU junior T’aira Satterwaite.

Satterwaite said that her re-post of the ‘Because of Him’ video garnered 23 ‘likes,’ including some from her non-LDS friends.

“The overarching purpose of the video is understand and feel exactly what it suggests: because of Him people can have hope, second chances, regret will become relief and grief will turn into peace. Because of Him we can start over, and over again,” said stake president and USU professor Dee Child.

Ordain Women to proceed despite LDS Church's official statement

Emi Tano
Writer

For the second year in a row since its launch in October 2013, female supporters of Ordain Women will be in line at Temple Square in Salt Lake City awaiting to be admitted into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ male-only Priesthood Session of the church’s semi-annual conference.  

The Mormon Church has disallowed female member attendance at its Priesthood Session in the Conference Center alongside their LDS male counterparts since the church’s establishment in 1830. This year’s push to gain entry on April 5^th encountered a set back with the church’s official statement in the wake of OW’s anticipated “demonstration.”

“The church’s request for us to leave Temple Square and use the free speech zone alongside the other protestors is extremely disappointing and saddening. It's like being told our struggle and our problems don’t matter,” said OW spokeswoman and executive board member Debra Jenson.

The official statement made by Jessica Moody on behalf of the LDS church on March 17 in response to OW’s request for Priesthood Session tickets cites fears that OW’s agenda will “detract from the sacred environment at Temple Square.”

Perhaps the most reprehensive of the declarations in the official statement is the description of OW’s beliefs as being “contrary to the Lord’s,” and the relegation of OW’s activities to the area reserved for those with ‘differing viewpoints.’

Brigham Young University student and self-described ‘Mormon liberal’ Jacob Newman alleges that the Mormon Church’s doctrine supports OW’s fundamental tenets and motivation in seeking ordination.

“We read in the Book of Mormon that ‘[Jesus Christ] inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female…’ I believe that OW is seeking further light and knowledge about a matter that is dear to their hearts: the role of women in the Church,” Newman said.

The official OW website ordainwomen.org also references the same verse in the Book of Mormon, stating that the church’s reverence of equality is emulated in OW’s mission statement and efforts to create a discussion on gender inequality issues.

“There’s this huge misconception or this caricature of what a member of OW is like, but 72 percent of our surveyed women attend church two to three times a week. We are members with testimony, whose beliefs align with the doctrine,” Jenson said.

When Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes interviewed then president and prophet of the LDS church Gordon B. Hinckley on April 7, 1996, Hinckley addressed questions and growing concerns surrounding female involvement stating that each gender has its own sanctioned role.

“’Only men’ do not run the Church. Men have their place in the Church. Men hold the priesthood offices of the Church. But women have a tremendous place in this Church. Women have a very prominent place in the Church,” said President Hinckley.

Local ecclesiastical leaders in Cache Valley have also echoed these same sentiments set forth by church’s apostles in The Family: A Proclamation to the World that these gender roles are divinely appointed by God.

“The church isn’t saying women can’t be ordained just for the sake of saying it. We have roles that are sacred and given to us by revelation through the proper line and authority. The most important thing is that these doctrines and principles come from a prophet who is authorized to receive revelation of this clime for the entire world,” said Craig Bailey, a bishop of a young single adult ward in Logan.

Another bishop who requested not to be named said he has noticed an influx in queries regarding female ordination in the church.

“A lot of people ask if it is okay to believe that women should be ordained and I have to advise them that one of the questions determining worthiness to enter the temple is if they support and sustain the living prophet. This means they sustain his teachings and acknowledge that the revelation he receives is true, and that anything contrary to this revelation is not in harmony with the church,” he said.

Other leaders have also suggested that questioning minds should seek counsel from the source of all knowledge and truth: God.

“I always ask anyone who accuses me of being rogue and questions my motives if they have prayed and pondered about it because that is what I have done and why I feel the way about it today,” said Jenson.

Newman also pointed out that the LDS church was founded on the basis of a simple question through sincere prayer.

“In our own history, the quest for truth began with the Joseph Smith’s humble question about the religions of his day,” he said.

Another issue in question set forth by the official statement of the church is in OW’s lack of support and numbers, citing that “women in the church, by a very large majority, do not share your advocacy for priesthood ordination for women…”

“We’ve seen our numbers grow a lot within the last year with our RSVP count to the Priesthood Session more than double from last year’s session. We now have almost 2,500 followers on our Facebook page. Even if we don’t succeed in getting women ordained now or in the near future, we hope to at least open the dialogue and awareness in the church,” Jenson said.

Ordain Women’s Facebook page has 300 profiles of LDS women and men whose experiences and testimonies ascertain a wide range of reasons to ordain women that range from fathers wanting their daughters to experience the joys of priesthood service to young women who would like to be more involved in church service through holding the priesthood.

“I think that it just makes sense, and has always made sense to me, that women should have the priesthood, especially because priesthood is only meant to serve and build up the kingdom of God—if that power was extended to women, what more wonderful things could we as women contribute and we as a church accomplish?” said a BYU student identified as ‘Hannah’ in her OW profile.

Jenson said that gaining more numbers is one of the first steps to a broader goal of female ordination.

“More numbers means more people talking about it. I can’t say that numbers will totally tip the scale in our favor, but it is a benchmark that needs to be met for our cause to be recognized by church leaders as a real issue and conversation members can have,” she said.