On Sunday April 22nd, the AUB group narrowly
escaped a religious disaster of catastrophic proportions. At the end of what had been by most accounts
a very spiritual Sacrament meeting, The conducting brother had an inadvertent lapse of judgment
by calling on a woman to say the closing prayer! Thankfully, council member, Mark Jessop,
was on hand to quickly put a stop to what could have been a very embarrassing moment.
Even though the situation could have been disastrous,
Brother Mark was able to turn the incident into a powerful teaching moment by
reminding the congregation of the recent policy that gratefully put an end to the progressive
practice of women praying in public. The episode was a much needed reminder
to every woman in attendance of where they belong. Mark's timely reprimand was also a reminder to the husbands and fathers in the group regarding their responsibility to protect their women from demeaning situations like praying in public as well as
other potentially degrading activities like driving, voting, and getting out of
the kitchen.
9 comments:
BTW...the LDS church policy used to be that you had to be a priesthood holder in order to say a prayer in public meetings. I have no defense for that past policy and am simply glad it is no longer the case.
That happened a couple of years before Brother Lamoine died down here in Salt Lake. That is not a new policy. Same thing happened a woman was called on to say the opening prayer and a council member got up and said I am sorry I mean will brother so and so come up. And the lady had to quietly return to her seat. Les should be severely reprimanded because that had been in the books for some time now. We will give him a little leeway though because he only became active again after Lynn was called and he isn't up to date on all the new doctrine yet. And that is one is of great doctrinal import you know!!!
The LDS church used to believe in a lot of things that I'm sure is so much nicer for you not to have to believe in any more.
I would imagine this is an attempt to draw closer to the literal meaning of the scriptures. 1 Cor 14:34 says let your women keep silence in the churches...
I would imagine that a man should also bake the bread used in the Sacrament...
I would imagine that since D&C 25 says that the song of the righteous is a prayer unto
the Lord that at very least a man should be leading the singing...
I would imagine that a Consecration and Stewardship is a very sacred thing...oops the rain just awakened me from my slumber....
The Joseph Smith translation says, let not a woman preside in meetings not pray or stay silent. And what about woman teaching Temple prep?
http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=56026380&itype=CMSID
For Mormons yearning to see women take on more visible roles in their religion, their prayers have been answered:
The Salt Lake Tribune has learned that LDS women are scheduled, as of now, to offer invocations or benedictions at next month's General Conference — an apparent first in the faith's 183-year history.
This has nothing to do with gender equality. It is perfectly appropriate that a meeting in which a priesthood ordinance is administered by those holding the priesthood should be opened and closed with prayer by someone holding that same priesthood.
It's also appropriate that an Elder conducts a meeting as he is guided and directed by the Holy Spirit.
I have no doubt there may be times when that direction will conflict with tradition, whether it be a long held Church, AUB, or Priesthood one. The Spirit is lost and grieved when these situations are forcefully enforced. It's a form of unrighteous dominion.
As Mother's Day approaches, I'd like to thank all the wonderful women whom I have heard give opening and closing prayers in meetings over the years. I've never resented or felt they were inappropriate or out of line in any way.
I was once in a discussion with someone in the Valley about the fires of 2000. The man related to me how he had heard that the men had gathered in prayer and saved Pinesdale from the fires. My reply to him was "Actually, I think it was the prayers of the women." A true story.
So then Conference in September (as with GC in the Church) it would be ok?
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