Following our worship activities this Sunday, there will be another opportunity for fellowship and education immediately after hosted by the Seekers Group (led by Shirley Smith and Kade Brown). Kade will be presenting on the topic, “Women in Leadership within the Latter-day Saint Movement” from Noon - 2 p.m. MST. If you are planning to join us, please plan to bring your own lunch.
Kade shares the following about his presentation:
This presentation was a research topic for a University Religious Studies class I took last semester at Mount Royal University. Explored here was the topic of Women holding offices of the Priesthood. Explored were three time periods of the movement; first was the Early Church, during Joseph Smith's lifetime. Looking at what his idea for a leadership model was? What was leadership in the restored Church to look like? What was the messaging regarding women holding positions of authority during this time? And ultimately, what were the Prophet's actions in this regard? Next, I explored the LDS Church's patriarchal stance on Priesthood; what is the LDS Church teaching and feeding to its members as divine and true? And then finally, this topic explored The RLDS or Community of Christ, Post-1985 when under the direction of Prophet-President Wallace B. Smith, Priesthood was extended to the Women of the Church. Looking at the RLDS Church in post-1985, I used the volumes titled: The Journey of a People, written by a former historian of Community of Christ, Mark Scherer. Which gave insight into the path forward in regards to women's leadership, but also reading these books gave me insight into some of the RLDS membership of whom were concerned by this change, overall these books aided in the bulk of my research and assisted me in creating the essay and presentation of this topic for which I am so pleased in. At the end of this assignment, to round off the topic, I attempted to answer the question of which side would the restorations founder Joseph Smith Jr. would recognize more if he were a part of the Church now. All of this will be given in detail as I share this presentation with all who wish to attend our Seekers group meeting this Sunday, January 29th, which will begin following the conclusion of our service.
You won’t want to miss this opportunity to support Kade while learning more about the critical role women have played- and continue to play- in the Latter-day Saint Movement.
