As Latter-day Saint women, our callings sit at the center of our church experience. Where, when, and how we are asked to serve can impact everything from our family’s daily schedule to our personal health, spiritual wellbeing or self esteem. It’s no wonder our feelings about callings run deep. In this discussion, Cynthia and Susan share their own and listeners’ experiences—exploring some of the ways women serve in the church, and imagining other ways we might.
Notes:
The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood,
Elder Dallin H. Oaks, April 2014
Sarah Brenner Jones
I relate to just about everything you guys discuss in this episode. I did want to share with you something that happened to my daughter recently. She’s 25, unmarried and works in finance. She recently moved into a new singles ward in Houston, where there are a lot of young professionals. She spoke with the membership clerk and with a young sister who was a clerk “of sorts” over callings, which my daughter thought was cool. Except this female clerk over callings couldn’t actually enter callings into the computer because women are not given those credentials in LDS.org. In order to put callings in, she had to be signed in with a man’s LDS username. WHERE IS THE PRIESTHOOD IN USING THE COMPUTER? My daughter who has always been quite devout and served a mission said, “If I didn’t have a history with and love the Church, I would never be a part of this! Why would I want to be a part of an organization that doesn’t trust women on their network?” I have no comfort to offer because I am similarly dismayed. How long are these young professionals going to turn a blind eye to treatment that would literally be illegal in the work place?
HeidiSG
Binge-listening to your excellent podcasts. I have a simple answer to many head-scratching questions raised in this episode…. the Brethren hold deep anxiety about adult men and women serving closely together in leadership callings. Heaven forbid that a female finance clerk and a male membership clerk sit in the same office while doing data entry on Sundays. Even though men and women labor side-by-side in the modern workplace, the temptations would be too great if they served too closely in church callings! Think back to the 50s/60s/70s to how the leadership of the church were VERY stressed about the men in the church “falling victim” to the unmarried/married women entering the workplace.