SALON

Thursday, Mar 21, 2013 3:59 PM UTC

Mormon women may lead prayer for first time at LDS General Conference

A campaign calling on church leaders to "let women pray" may have moved the church to action

By

Topics: Mormonism, The Mormon Church, Women's Rights, Feminism, feminist mormons, ,

Mormon women may lead prayer for first time at LDS General Conference (Credit: Bryan Mills)

A campaign to allow women to give the opening or closing prayer at the Mormon Church’s General Conference may just have made history.

According to a report from the Salt Lake Tribune, women are currently scheduled to offer invocations or benedictions at the church’s April conference — a first for the faith.

The activists behind “Let Women Pray in General Conference” called on LDS members to write letters to six high-ranking church officials, asking them to remember former church president Spencer Kimball’s edict that “there is no scriptural prohibition against sisters offering prayers” and it is “permissible for sisters to offer prayers in any meetings they attend” when scheduling the opening and closing speakers for the General Conference.

Women have been regularly asked to speak at the conference over the last two decades, but there is no record in the church’s history of a woman leading the opening or closing prayers. Church spokesman Scott Trotter wouldn’t confirm the speaker lineup, but told the Tribune that “decisions on speakers and prayers at General Conference were made many weeks ago.”

Jana Riess at the Religious News Service believes that, if true, women leading prayer at the General Conference is part of a trend toward greater equality unfolding in the church. Noting an LDS-sponsored side event at the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women, “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer’s recent admission that she considers herself a feminist and reports that local wards are allowing young women to act as ushers in sacrament meetings, Riess says the church is having a moment of “heightened visibility for women.”

Riess went on to say that, while progress may seem slow to the faithful, “every time young women see the generation above them in leadership, it matters.”

The semi-annual meeting is expected to draw thousands of Mormons to Salt Lake City in April.

Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com. More Katie Mcdonough.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 7 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Journalists file suit against Manning's trial secrecy: Plaintiffs including Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange demand press, public access to trial and documents
140 points141 points | comment
vote
Report: Nearly a quarter of Americans struggle to afford food
121 points122 points | 12 comments
vote
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship - The 18-year-old rejected a deal that would have labeled her a sex offender and placed her under house arrest
109 points110 points | 84 comments
vote
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship - The 18-year-old rejected a deal that would have labeled her a sex offender and placed her under house arrest
101 points102 points | 28 comments
vote
Ted Cruz against the world - How the Junior Senator is igniting the GOP civil war
77 points78 points | 19 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations