"Saturday night’s session of Stake Conference (7pm) will be a unique experience / opportunity. As a Stake Presidency, we have felt impressed to hold a “Question / Answer” session. Potential questions might revolve around a myriad of things including the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Prophet Joseph Smith, priesthood keys, the fascinating history of the Church, the current role of the Church in society today, the gathering of Israel, ordinances and covenants, discipleship, the doctrine of the family, the Second Coming, etc. There are so many things we could potentially discuss that would be edifying and faith promoting."
I have to admit, this email from the Stake President got me interested in attending the Saturday night session. Would it actually be anything like this? I sent them two questions... one involving women and patriarchy and one regarding Prophets, Seers and Revelators. I told them I was biting and would attend. No I didn't expect them to answer my questions.
Disappointed that the first two questions involved preparing our young men for missions (and that it is their duty) and strengthening marriages and took up the bulk of the time. And then this question went up on the screen. "With the ongoing restoration of the Gospel, how can we amplify women's voices?" And the response was to listen to sisters in ward councils. BUT one sister in the congregation pushed back, and asked a follow-up question "is it doctrine or just because it has always been this way that there are no women answering these questions tonight... only men?" They did step back and say that there was no doctrine preventing that, to which she said, "but there are no women doing it tonight." Bravo! And they quickly went to the next question.
My wife has correctly described what happens at Church as mostly "Charlie Brown's teacher blah, blah, blah and blah." Nothing new or exciting. While I was disappointed in the questions they addressed (other than this one), I hope the Stake Presidency takes the time to really ponder the 100+ questions they said they received... and I hope some of them were the meat of what we should be discussing.
"Saturday night’s session of Stake Conference (7pm) will be a unique experience / opportunity. As a Stake Presidency, we have felt impressed to hold a “Question / Answer” session. Potential questions might revolve around a myriad of things including the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Prophet Joseph Smith, priesthood keys, the fascinating history of the Church, the current role of the Church in society today, the gathering of Israel, ordinances and covenants, discipleship, the doctrine of the family, the Second Coming, etc. There are so many things we could potentially discuss that would be edifying and faith promoting."
I have to admit, this email from the Stake President got me interested in attending the Saturday night session. Would it actually be anything like this? I sent them two questions... one involving women and patriarchy and one regarding Prophets, Seers and Revelators. I told them I was biting and would attend. No I didn't expect them to answer my questions.
Disappointed that the first two questions involved preparing our young men for missions (and that it is their duty) and strengthening marriages and took up the bulk of the time. And then this question went up on the screen. "With the ongoing restoration of the Gospel, how can we amplify women's voices?" And the response was to listen to sisters in ward councils. BUT one sister in the congregation pushed back, and asked a follow-up question "is it doctrine or just because it has always been this way that there are no women answering these questions tonight... only men?" They did step back and say that there was no doctrine preventing that, to which she said, "but there are no women doing it tonight." Bravo! And they quickly went to the next question.
My wife has correctly described what happens at Church as mostly "Charlie Brown's teacher blah, blah, blah and blah." Nothing new or exciting. While I was disappointed in the questions they addressed (other than this one), I hope the Stake Presidency takes the time to really ponder the 100+ questions they said they received... and I hope some of them were the meat of what we should be discussing.
Oh wow! Fascinating, Scott. Bravo to that woman who pushed back. We need 1000 more public conversations like that. Thanks for the report!
Such a great season! Thanks for bringing us all this wonderful wisdom and such a fulfilling community ❤️
Thanks for being part of it, Brooke!