Ordain Women facts for kids
Ordain Women is a group that believes women should be allowed to become priesthood leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). This group was started on March 17, 2013, by Kate Kelly. She is a lawyer who works to protect human rights. When the group's website first launched, it showed 19 stories from people who wanted women to be ordained in the Mormon church. By May 2014, the website had more than 400 stories.
What Ordain Women Did
On April 6, 2013, Ordain Women held its first public meeting. This meeting happened in Salt Lake City at the same time as a special meeting for men in the LDS Church.
Later, on August 26, 2013, Ordain Women helped organize an event called "Equal in Faith: Women Fast for Gender Justice." People from many different faiths, including Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists, took part. About half of the people who joined were Mormon women.
The group asked for tickets to a special meeting for men during the church's conference in October 2013. The church said no. So, on October 5, 2013, about 150 Mormon women and men tried to attend the meeting anyway. They waited in line at the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. But they were told at the door that the meeting was only for men.
The church later sent a letter to its local leaders. It said that if women asked to enter a men's meeting in a local church building, leaders should tell them it's for men. But if the women insisted and might cause a problem, they should be allowed to enter.
On February 28, 2014, Ordain Women asked for 250 tickets for another men's meeting on April 5, 2014. The church again said no. They also asked the group not to protest during the conference. They told the group to stand in a special "free speech zone" if they wanted to demonstrate. On April 5, members of the group did protest outside the Tabernacle. They were still not allowed into the men's meeting.
In May 2014, Ordain Women started a project called "The Six Discussions." This project aimed to encourage talks about why women are not leaders in the church and if they could be. Each discussion had a different topic, like "See the Symptoms" or "Study the Scriptures." They provided materials with essays and questions for people to discuss.
In October 2014, some Ordain Women members joined men in local church buildings to watch a live broadcast of the men's meeting. This happened in many cities, including Logan, Ogden, and Provo in Utah, and San Francisco, California.
In 2015, Ordain Women created pictures showing Mormon women giving blessings to help the sick. This was to help people imagine what it would look like if women could be priesthood leaders.
Church's Response
On May 5, 2014, Kate Kelly was told by her local church leaders that she was in trouble. They said she was "openly, repeatedly and deliberately acting in public opposition to the church." On June 8, she was told she might be removed from the church.
Kate Kelly was removed from the church on June 23, even though she was not there. Her local leader, Bishop Mark Harrison, said that her "Six Discussions" project was trying to convince others to agree with her ideas about church teachings. He said this was part of why she was removed from the church.
The main church leaders have not publicly told local leaders to punish other people who support Ordain Women. When asked if people who had profiles on the Ordain Women website should worry about their temple recommend (a pass to enter sacred church buildings), a church spokesman said it was "a matter between members and local leaders." However, some men and women have lost their church duties and temple recommends because they were involved with Ordain Women.
Views on Women's Ordination
In October 2013, a group called Pew Research shared results from a 2011 survey. This survey suggested that most Latter-day Saints, including 90 percent of Mormon women, did not think women should be ordained to the priesthood.
However, some people have said this survey might not be fully accurate. They pointed out that the question asked was very simple, and there are many different views on women's ordination within the church. Also, some believe these results might be out of date now because there has been much more discussion about women becoming priesthood leaders.
See also
- Mormonism and women
- Sonia Johnson
