Women and Mormonism
Encyclopedia
The status of women in Mormonism
has been a source of public debate since before the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1844. Various denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement have taken different paths on the subject of women and their role in the church and in society. Views range from the full equal status and ordination of women to the priesthood
as practiced by the Community of Christ
, to the Catholic
-like patriarchal system practiced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the ultra-patriarchal plural marriage
system practiced by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and other Mormon fundamentalist groups.
, lived in and abided by a male-centered world; most of the early founding events of Mormonism involved only men. However, a number of women had significant supporting roles; for example, Smith's wife Emma Hale Smith
served as a scribe in the translation of the Book of Mormon
, and later as head of the Relief Society
, originally a self-governing women's organization within the church, which is one of the oldest women's organizations in the world.
In addition, early Mormon doctrine was comparatively women-friendly. Notably, early Mormonism rejected the Augustinian
doctrine of original sin
, which held that humanity inherits the sin of Adam and Eve
in which they ate the forbidden fruit
. This sin was historically blamed on Eve, and was thought to be the source of women's submissive and dependent state. Mormonism
rejects the doctrine of original sin.
Other issues included the beginning of plural marriage
, the Gifts of the spirit as exercised by women, like prophecy and speaking in tongues, performing ordinances, "Priestesses" in the temple, and priesthood blessings of women by women (Hanks, 2002). For example, while en route to the Salt Lake Valley
, the diary of midwife Patty Bartlett Sessions
describes women giving each other blessings:
Women participated in the Anointed Quorum
and founded the Relief Society
, among other projects in the early Church.
. Despite the legal and cultural issues related to the LDS practice known as plural marriage
, 19th century women played a significant public leadership role in Latter-day Saint culture, politics, and even doctrine. Indeed, some critics view the role of women in the 19th century Church as the zenith of women's institutional and leadership participation in the church hierarchy. (Cornwall, 1994, at 239-264; Iannaccone & Miles, 1994, at 265-86; Jorgensen, 2000, at 105.)
In the mainstream of the church today, women continue to have a significant public role, mostly in non-ecclesiastical areas such as art and culture. Ecclesiastically, the church is firmly committed to patriarchy
and gender role
.
Women also have retained a certain degree of authority in some areas, including a number of leadership positions, which include authority over children or other women, although these women leaders are subject to supervision and guidance by priesthood-holding leaders. Women are "endowed
" with priesthood power, but are not ordained as clergy. Though not considered clergy, women play a significant part in the operation of local congregations. Women teach classes to adults, teenagers, and children. Women also organize social, educational, and humanitarian activities. Women may also serve as missionaries, and a select few may perform certain ordinance
s such as washing and anointing
on behalf of women in Latter-day Saint temples
. Unofficially, wives of male clergy also often play an indirect leadership role by influencing and counseling their husbands. (Hanks, 2002)
Within and outside the church mainstream, there is a minority of influential Latter-day Saint women who attempt to influence Church policy and doctrine. However, women who are viewed as publicly oppositional toward the church's patriarchal structure are often subject to ecclesiastical discipline, including excommunication
for apostasy
.
taught: "As I have often told my sisters in the Female Relief Societies, we have sisters here who, if they had the privilege of studying, would make just as good mathematicians or accountants as any man; and we think they ought to have the privilege to study these branches of knowledge that they may develop the powers with which they are endowed. We believe that women are useful not only to sweep houses, wash dishes, make beds, and raise babies, but that they should stand behind the counter, study law or physic [medicine], or become good book-keepers and be able to do the business in any counting house, and this to enlarge their sphere of usefulness for the benefit of society at large."
Along with the promotion of women's rights in the secular sphere, women in Utah, like renowned poet Eliza R. Snow, worked toward equality in sacred matters. This included the development of a Heavenly Mother
theology. Snow in particular spoke of equal rights:
Snow also spoke of the need for women to stick together. She counseled that women confide personal issues to the Relief Society president and her counselors, rather than the bishops. (Snow, 1884).
In the secular sphere, Utah was at the forefront of women's suffrage, becoming one of the first states in the Union to grant women the vote. Education and scholarship was also a primary concern for Mormon women.
The Relief Society was also a forum for women. Religious missions, like Bathsheba W. Smith
's mission to southern Utah to preach "woman's rights", were launched. The Woman's Exponent
publication (the R.S. official newspaper) published a 1920 editorial in favor of "Equal rights before the law, equal pay for equal work, equal political rights", stating that a women's place is not just "in the nursery" but "in the library, the laboratory, the observatory."
Relief Society president Emmeline B. Wells
(1875) said
.
Other developments during the presidency of Spencer W. Kimball
included having women granted their young women advancements in sacrament meeting, in 1978 the First Presidency and Twelve issued a policy allowing women to pray in Sacrament Meeting
In 1980 the general presidents of the Relief Society, Young Women and Primary were invited to sit on the stand during general conference and in 1984 women spoke in general conference for the first time since 1930. Since then women have spoken in every general conference. In 1978 a conference session specifically for women was added, initially two weeks before the October General Conference, and later one week beforehand.
Brigham Young University
, the LDS Church's flagship educational institution, has made several changes in its policy towards women. In 1975 the four-year, full tuition and boarding expenses presidential scholarship was changed from only being available to men to being available to an equal number of men and women. BYU established a Women's Research Institute in 1978. Among its directors over its 21 years of existence was Marie Cornwall
. At the end of 2009 BYU restructured its Women's Studies Programs, freeing more money for research on women's issues by ending an institute staff, placing the Women's Studies Minor in the Sociology Department and thus putting all the money that previously was split between research and staff directly into research expenditures.
, western Canada
and Mexico
. Mormon fundamentalists advocate a return to Mormon doctrines and practices which adherents believe the LDS Church has wrongly abandoned, such as plural marriage
, the Law of Consecration
, the Adam-God theory
, the Patriarchal Priesthood
, elements of the Mormon Endowment
ritual, and often the exclusion of Blacks
from the priesthood
.
Plural marriage is generally considered the most central and significant doctrine separating fundamentalists from the mainstream Latter Day Saint movement
. In Mormon fundamentalist groups, women are typically expected or encouraged to adhere to a strongly patriarchal perspective on women's roles and activities and, in many cases, participate in plural marriage
.
, who are a part of the Latter Day Saint movement
, but not commonly considered part of Mormonism
, now ordains women to the priesthood
.
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
has been a source of public debate since before the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1844. Various denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement have taken different paths on the subject of women and their role in the church and in society. Views range from the full equal status and ordination of women to the priesthood
Priesthood (Mormonism)
In the Latter Day Saint movement, priesthood is considered to be the power and authority of God, including the authority to act as a leader in the church and to perform ordinances, and the power to perform miracles. A body of priesthood holders is referred to as a quorum.Priesthood denotes elements...
as practiced by the Community of Christ
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
, to the Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
-like patriarchal system practiced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the ultra-patriarchal plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
system practiced by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and other Mormon fundamentalist groups.
Women in early Mormonism
For its time, early Mormonism had a relatively liberating stance toward women. Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movementLatter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
, lived in and abided by a male-centered world; most of the early founding events of Mormonism involved only men. However, a number of women had significant supporting roles; for example, Smith's wife Emma Hale Smith
Emma Hale Smith
Emma Hale Smith Bidamon was married to Joseph Smith, Jr., until his death in 1844, and was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, during Joseph Smith's lifetime and afterward as a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...
served as a scribe in the translation of the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
, and later as head of the Relief Society
Relief Society
The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization and an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA and has approximately 6 million members in over 170 countries and territories...
, originally a self-governing women's organization within the church, which is one of the oldest women's organizations in the world.
In addition, early Mormon doctrine was comparatively women-friendly. Notably, early Mormonism rejected the Augustinian
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
doctrine of original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
, which held that humanity inherits the sin of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
in which they ate the forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit is any object of desire whose appeal is a direct result of knowledge that cannot or should not be obtained or something that someone may want but is forbidden to have....
. This sin was historically blamed on Eve, and was thought to be the source of women's submissive and dependent state. Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
rejects the doctrine of original sin.
Other issues included the beginning of plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
, the Gifts of the spirit as exercised by women, like prophecy and speaking in tongues, performing ordinances, "Priestesses" in the temple, and priesthood blessings of women by women (Hanks, 2002). For example, while en route to the Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
, the diary of midwife Patty Bartlett Sessions
Patty Bartlett Sessions
Patty Bartlett Sessions was a Mormon midwife. She was one of the wives of Joseph Smith, Jr. while still married to her first husband, David Sessions. She was the mother of Perrigrine Sessions, founder of Bountiful, Utah...
describes women giving each other blessings:
"...we had a feast in the afternoon at sister Millers...there we blessed and got blessed & I blesed sister Christeen by laying my handsLaying on of handsThe laying on of hands is a religious ritual that accompanies certain religious practices, which are found throughout the world in varying forms....
upon her head and the Lord spoke through me to her great and marvelous things." (Sessions, 1996)
Women participated in the Anointed Quorum
Anointed Quorum
The Anointed Quorum, also known as the Quorum of the Anointed, or the Holy Order, was a select body of men and women who Joseph Smith, Jr. initiated into Mormon temple ordinances at Nauvoo, Illinois, which gave them special standing in the early Latter Day Saint movement...
and founded the Relief Society
Relief Society
The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization and an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA and has approximately 6 million members in over 170 countries and territories...
, among other projects in the early Church.
Women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The status of women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] has been a source of public debate beginning in the 19th century, when the church clashed with the federal government over its practice of polygamyPolygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
. Despite the legal and cultural issues related to the LDS practice known as plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
, 19th century women played a significant public leadership role in Latter-day Saint culture, politics, and even doctrine. Indeed, some critics view the role of women in the 19th century Church as the zenith of women's institutional and leadership participation in the church hierarchy. (Cornwall, 1994, at 239-264; Iannaccone & Miles, 1994, at 265-86; Jorgensen, 2000, at 105.)
In the mainstream of the church today, women continue to have a significant public role, mostly in non-ecclesiastical areas such as art and culture. Ecclesiastically, the church is firmly committed to patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
and gender role
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
.
Women also have retained a certain degree of authority in some areas, including a number of leadership positions, which include authority over children or other women, although these women leaders are subject to supervision and guidance by priesthood-holding leaders. Women are "endowed
Endowment (Mormonism)
In Mormonism, the endowment is an ordinance designed to prepare participants to become kings, queens, priests, and priestesses in the afterlife. As part of the ceremony, participants take part in a scripted reenactment of the Biblical creation and fall of Adam and Eve...
" with priesthood power, but are not ordained as clergy. Though not considered clergy, women play a significant part in the operation of local congregations. Women teach classes to adults, teenagers, and children. Women also organize social, educational, and humanitarian activities. Women may also serve as missionaries, and a select few may perform certain ordinance
Ordinance (Mormonism)
In Mormonism, an ordinance is a religious ritual of special significance, often involving the formation of a covenant with God. Ordinances are performed by the authority of the priesthood and in the name of Jesus Christ...
s such as washing and anointing
Washing and anointing
The washing and anointing is a temple ordinance of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that pertains to exaltation within the Celestial Kingdom. Combined, the two ordinances are known as the initiatory, which is performed for both the living and the dead.-History:Ritual anointings were...
on behalf of women in Latter-day Saint temples
Temple (LDS Church)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord, and they are considered by Church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time...
. Unofficially, wives of male clergy also often play an indirect leadership role by influencing and counseling their husbands. (Hanks, 2002)
Within and outside the church mainstream, there is a minority of influential Latter-day Saint women who attempt to influence Church policy and doctrine. However, women who are viewed as publicly oppositional toward the church's patriarchal structure are often subject to ecclesiastical discipline, including excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
for apostasy
Apostasy
Apostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
.
Frontier women in 19th century Utah
In common with a number of other frontier areas, women took a more prominent role than they would have in the East. President Brigham YoungBrigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
taught: "As I have often told my sisters in the Female Relief Societies, we have sisters here who, if they had the privilege of studying, would make just as good mathematicians or accountants as any man; and we think they ought to have the privilege to study these branches of knowledge that they may develop the powers with which they are endowed. We believe that women are useful not only to sweep houses, wash dishes, make beds, and raise babies, but that they should stand behind the counter, study law or physic [medicine], or become good book-keepers and be able to do the business in any counting house, and this to enlarge their sphere of usefulness for the benefit of society at large."
Along with the promotion of women's rights in the secular sphere, women in Utah, like renowned poet Eliza R. Snow, worked toward equality in sacred matters. This included the development of a Heavenly Mother
Heavenly Mother
In Mormonism, Heavenly Mother or the Mother in Heaven is the mother of human spirits and the wife of God the Father. Those who accept the Mother in Heaven doctrine trace its origins to Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. The doctrine was not widely known, however, until...
theology. Snow in particular spoke of equal rights:
"Is it necessary for sisters to be set apart to officiate in the sacred ordinances of washing, anointing, and laying on of hands in administering to the sick? It certainly is not. Any and all sisters who honor their holy endowments, not only have right, but should feel it a duty, whenever called upon to administer to our sisters in these ordinances, which God has graciously committed to His daughters as well as to His sons; and we testify that when administered and received in faith and humility they are accompanied with almighty power." (Snow, 1884)
Snow also spoke of the need for women to stick together. She counseled that women confide personal issues to the Relief Society president and her counselors, rather than the bishops. (Snow, 1884).
In the secular sphere, Utah was at the forefront of women's suffrage, becoming one of the first states in the Union to grant women the vote. Education and scholarship was also a primary concern for Mormon women.
The Relief Society was also a forum for women. Religious missions, like Bathsheba W. Smith
Bathsheba W. Smith
Bathsheba Wilson Bigler Smith was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement. She was the fourth general president of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a matron of the Salt Lake Temple, a member of the Board of Directors of Deseret Hospital, Salt Lake...
's mission to southern Utah to preach "woman's rights", were launched. The Woman's Exponent
Woman's Exponent
Woman's Exponent was a newspaper published from 1872 until 1914 in Salt Lake City. Its purposes were to uplift and strengthen women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to educate those not of the Mormon faith about the women of Mormonism...
publication (the R.S. official newspaper) published a 1920 editorial in favor of "Equal rights before the law, equal pay for equal work, equal political rights", stating that a women's place is not just "in the nursery" but "in the library, the laboratory, the observatory."
Relief Society president Emmeline B. Wells
Emmeline B. Wells
Emmeline Blanche Woodward Harris Whitney Wells was an American journalist, editor, poet, women's rights advocate and diarist...
(1875) said
"Let woman speak for herself; she has the right of freedom of speech. Women are too slow in moving forward, afraid of criticism, of being called unwomanly, of being thought masculine. What of it? If men are so much superior to women, the nearer we come up to the manly standard the higher we elevate ourselves."
Women in 20th and 21st Century Mormonism
In 1977 N. Eldon Tanner told the Church Coordinating Council that the Relief Society Presidency should be considered a partner with the Melchizedek PriesthoodMelchizedek priesthood
The Melchizedek priesthood is the greater of the two orders of priesthood recognized in Mormonism. The others are the Aaronic priesthood and the rarely recognized Patriarchal priesthood...
.
Other developments during the presidency of Spencer W. Kimball
Spencer W. Kimball
Spencer Woolley Kimball was the twelfth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1973 until his death in 1985.-Ancestry:...
included having women granted their young women advancements in sacrament meeting, in 1978 the First Presidency and Twelve issued a policy allowing women to pray in Sacrament Meeting
Sacrament meeting
Sacrament meeting is the weekly worship service held on Sunday in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .Sacrament meetings are held in individual wards or branches in the chapel of the meetinghouse. The bishop or branch president of the ward or branch presides, unless a higher authority...
In 1980 the general presidents of the Relief Society, Young Women and Primary were invited to sit on the stand during general conference and in 1984 women spoke in general conference for the first time since 1930. Since then women have spoken in every general conference. In 1978 a conference session specifically for women was added, initially two weeks before the October General Conference, and later one week beforehand.
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
, the LDS Church's flagship educational institution, has made several changes in its policy towards women. In 1975 the four-year, full tuition and boarding expenses presidential scholarship was changed from only being available to men to being available to an equal number of men and women. BYU established a Women's Research Institute in 1978. Among its directors over its 21 years of existence was Marie Cornwall
Marie Cornwall
Marie Cornwall is the editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, a professor of sociology and women's studies at Brigham Young University and a former director of BYU's Women's Research Institute.-Biography:...
. At the end of 2009 BYU restructured its Women's Studies Programs, freeing more money for research on women's issues by ending an institute staff, placing the Women's Studies Minor in the Sociology Department and thus putting all the money that previously was split between research and staff directly into research expenditures.
Women in 'Mormon Fundamentalist' groups
Mormon fundamentalists are groups or individuals who break from the dominant form of Mormonism practiced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since the mid-19th century, numerous fundamentalist sects have been established, many of which are located in small, cohesive, and isolated communities in areas of the Western United StatesWestern United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
, western Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Mormon fundamentalists advocate a return to Mormon doctrines and practices which adherents believe the LDS Church has wrongly abandoned, such as plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
, the Law of Consecration
Law of Consecration
In the Latter Day Saint movement , the term law of consecration was first used in 1831 by Joseph Smith, it was a doctrine of covenanted Christian communalism....
, the Adam-God theory
Adam-God theory
The Adam–God doctrine was the most prominent of several theological ideas taught within mid-19th century Mormonism, and is part of the modern theology of Mormon fundamentalism. Introduced by Brigham Young in the 1850s, the doctrine teaches that Adam is both the common ancestor and the father of...
, the Patriarchal Priesthood
Patriarchal Priesthood
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the patriarchal priesthood is sometimes understood as one of types or "orders" of priesthood. The two commonly known orders are the Aaronic priesthood and the Melchizedek priesthood. The patriarchal priesthood should not be confused with the...
, elements of the Mormon Endowment
Endowment (Mormonism)
In Mormonism, the endowment is an ordinance designed to prepare participants to become kings, queens, priests, and priestesses in the afterlife. As part of the ceremony, participants take part in a scripted reenactment of the Biblical creation and fall of Adam and Eve...
ritual, and often the exclusion of Blacks
Blacks and Mormonism
Early Mormonism had a range of policies and doctrines relating to race in regard to African-descended people. References to black people, their social condition during the 19th century, and their spiritual place in Western Christianity as well as Mormon scriptures were complicated, with varying...
from the priesthood
Priesthood (Mormonism)
In the Latter Day Saint movement, priesthood is considered to be the power and authority of God, including the authority to act as a leader in the church and to perform ordinances, and the power to perform miracles. A body of priesthood holders is referred to as a quorum.Priesthood denotes elements...
.
Plural marriage is generally considered the most central and significant doctrine separating fundamentalists from the mainstream Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
. In Mormon fundamentalist groups, women are typically expected or encouraged to adhere to a strongly patriarchal perspective on women's roles and activities and, in many cases, participate in plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
.
Women in the Community of Christ
The Community of ChristCommunity of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
, who are a part of the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
, but not commonly considered part of Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
, now ordains women to the priesthood
Priesthood (Mormonism)
In the Latter Day Saint movement, priesthood is considered to be the power and authority of God, including the authority to act as a leader in the church and to perform ordinances, and the power to perform miracles. A body of priesthood holders is referred to as a quorum.Priesthood denotes elements...
.