The latter change, which came nearly a decade ago, opened the door for more young, single women to go on missions and gain leadership skills. She also praised the lowering of the missionary age requirement for women from 21 to 19. “The idea of gender in the church today is the defining issue for the rising generation, because this is the only place in my daughter’s lives where they are being told that they cannot do something because they are girls and women,” McBaine said.īut she singled out advances over the last decade, including the shift formally allowing women to be witnesses at baptisms and temple weddings - two key church rituals. Today, McBaine does not think progress on women's roles in the church is happening fast enough, especially for her three teenage daughters. Smith called the organization an order of priestesses, McBaine said, and “seemed to lay out a vision for a women’s priesthood structure that really, if not put them on par with the male authoritative hierarchy, at least carved out very specific roles and responsibilities." Smith also created the Relief Society, though he was killed before it truly hit its stride. McBaine, who wants “women in the room where decisions are being made,” pointed to the church’s history, noting that founder Joseph Smith's wife and mother were involved in the faith's formation. “We’ve made mistakes in our history and we’re still making mistakes, but the foundation is to try and always improve,” Eubank said. Eubank said the church’s model of governing by council is one that’s attuned to women’s voices, sometimes in a way that pushes boundaries in more conservative nations. In a change this year, for example, the church created a new position for women to advise regional leaders outside the U.S., a move that Eubank said amplifies women’s voices around the world. So you’re going to have these different roles, but nonetheless they are authoritative for women.”
Still, “this is not a structure that thinks in terms of equality as sameness. “Women have always had access to teaching authority and preaching authority in Mormonism,” Flake said.
Over the last 30 years, the church has been exploring how to give women more latitude to preach and teach while remaining consistent in its foundational doctrinal principles, Flake said. “Until that representation becomes a priority in the church, we are going to be losing the girls of this generation in droves,” McBaine said. Neylan McBaine, a lifelong Latter-day Saint and the author of the book “Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact,” said she wants to see more official church positions created for women, and she thinks parity can be achieved without women’s ordination, an issue that often surfaces in conversations about female roles in the church. It runs activities primarily for female members and plays an important role in the faith's charitable activities, reflecting the organization’s motto, "Charity Never Faileth." Instead, every adult woman in the faith is a member of the Relief Society, often referred to by church leaders as one of the oldest and largest women's organizations in the world. Nor do women serve in the top echelons of global leadership or lead congregations. Only men are in the church’s lay priesthood - ordination is off limits to female members of the Salt Lake City-based church. While women are not filling the leadership roles traditionally held by men, “women’s positions are being expanded” including more speaking time during the church’s worldwide conferences, said Kathleen Flake, an expert on the faith and religious studies professor at the University of Virginia.
This story is part of a series by The Associated Press and Religion News Service on women’s roles in male-led religions. Still, some want to see a faster pace for progress. Though she isn’t the first single or child-free woman to hold a prominent role in the church, Eubank’s example is encouraging to other members during a time of growth for women’s roles in the faith nearly a decade after a key change for young women in its iconic missionary force.
but I want my experience of not living with a husband and children right now to be recognized and accommodated.” “I think family is the building block of society. “We have to broaden out our approach and talk about family in a really inclusive way,” said Eubank, who is both first counselor of the Relief Society and president of Latter-day Saint Charities, the church’s humanitarian arm.