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| Gratuitous selfie using my new DSLR. Go on and hate if you must. |
I didn't notice if any women were wearing pants, but I did notice ...
-Women offering prayers, both to open and close meetings
-A recently-returned female missionary giving a beautiful sermon, with conviction, on being truly converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
-A woman masterfully playing the organ in sacrament meeting
-A woman playing a rather exuberant piano solo of "Joy to the World" (that was me, actually)
-Many women offering insightful, educated comments during class instruction -- women also made up the majority of contributions to the discussion
-A teenaged young woman conducting a meeting without assistance
-Another teenaged young woman providing the piano accompaniment for the hymn
-A woman teaching a lesson to the 12- and 13-year-old girls on the importance of discovering and developing talents (also me)
-Those 12- and 13-year-old girls contributing to the lesson discussion with thoughtful, intelligent comments
-A musically-gifted woman leading the choir during choir practice. She also organized a group of 10+ strings players (mostly girls) to accompany the opening hymn next week during our Christmas service.
-Another talented woman accompanying the choir on the piano
-Yet ANOTHER musically-talented woman playing an oboe solo with the choir for next week's Christmas program
-The introduction of new, empowering teaching curriculum for the youth which will involve them -- boys AND girls -- teaching portions of the lessons
-Several 18-year-old young women from my congregation attending a mission preparation class along with some young men from the stake (region)
-Men, women and children uniting their voices together in song to rejoice in the birth of the Savior during our stake Christmas choir festival
In what ways do YOU see women contributing to your church congregation's services?
Update: I'd also love it if everyone would read this profound article by Valerie Hudson Cassler, a self-proclaimed Mormon feminist. Some really deep doctrine in there, things I feel like my spirit has always known -- my brain was just a little slow getting it.
I sat behind a grandmother. She had with her several grandchildren. Each week she brings them, without a spouse, without their parents.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for her, but what greater service can she give to them?
Thank you for this. The pants thing was ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteLOVE!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this! Thanks for sharing. I saw some very similar things at church on Sunday as well, including a woman teaching Sunday school. Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteGreat article! And I love being a strong woman in this church!
ReplyDeleteAMAZING!!! Your post was amazing and the article you recommended was amazing. I love the gospel!
ReplyDeleteYes and YES!
ReplyDeleteI actually gave the opening prayer in sacrament meeting on Sunday. :) I had no idea that was such a sore spot for so many people. Our best Sunday School teacher is a woman and she is phenomenal. Our choir sang beautiful hymns of our Savior, and there were twice as many women as men. One man played a flute solo during sacrament meeting--I know it's not an example of what a woman did, but the flute is a stereotypically "girl's" instrument! I thought the pants thing was ridiculous. Love this post!
ReplyDeleteI am a very strong and independent woman, and am just as capable of mowing the lawn as my husband is at changing diapers (in fact, he probably changes more diapers than I do), but I have been sooooo turned off by the Mormon feminist movement. I feel like so often they want to be equals by becoming identicals, take offense from innocent mistakes, and see one dominant male in a leadership role as a face for the whole church. When I saw the grand total of ONE woman wearing pants to church, I was amused because if she would have done it a week earlier, I wouldn't have thought a thing of it. She looked very classy. The whole movement elicited nothing more than an eye roll from me. So when you posted that link to the article, I was wary. I opened it with my guard up, ready to spew arguments back at the computer screen. And then I read it. It was enlightening. And exactly how I feel about women. Not the same, not intended to be the same, but just as important and just as powerful. Different jobs, different roles, equally as valuable. And so eloquently stated! That was perfect. If that is what a Mormon feminist is, I'm on board.
ReplyDeleteThis is so great and I'm SO grateful for the reference to Valerie's post. I've been trying SO hard to try and understand this because of the singer Mindy Gledhill and apparently her Bishop (by wearing a purple tie) who supported this movement. I was so disappointed to hear that influential people in the church participated. Every time I read article after article and here reasons as to why some participated, it keeps ringing so incredibly wrong in my heart. How can these women who claim they are faithful and love the Gospel, believe in such liberal minded fallacies? Satan sure is working hard. Thank you! Alway love reading your blog.
ReplyDeletePS, would you mind if I referenced you in a post I plan on writing on my blog?
-Heather
Yes, Heather! Feel free to reference me. :)
DeleteThank you. :)
DeleteMan, I am so out of the loop with this whole feminist thing. But i have to say, when I heard about it, it just made me feel uneasy inside, And when something is right and true, I NEVER feel uneasy. Thank you thank you for always saying what needs to be said. I am so proud to be a female member of the LDS church. And that article is AMAZING! As in, I will print it out and read it for FHE once a year or so. Amazing doctrine that I never was able to piece together to form that same conclusion.
ReplyDelete