Posted by OrdainWomen on Jul 13, 2016 in Blog |

Bryndis Roberts is the Chair of Ordain Women’s Executive Board.

One of the strengths of Ordain Women is that each one of us has taken a different path to reach the point where we have come together.

Some of us reached this point as we watched the differences in the way our sons and daughters were taught, trained, and treated in the LDS Church and saw the adverse effects those differences were having on our sons and daughters.

Some of us reached this point as we saw work being left undone because there were not enough priesthood holders to do the work while at the same time the talents, gifts, skills, and abilities of so many stalwart women were being left untapped.

Others reached this point because their service in Relief Society served to awaken them to the realization that not only is Relief Society no longer the organization of yesteryear when it had its own budget and managed its own affairs, but the promises of priesthood authority for women made by Joseph Smith have not been allowed to come to fruition.

However, no matter what path we took to come together as Ordain Women, we are unified in our hopes, desires, and beliefs that all members of the LDS Church who have a divinely inspired call or desire to serve in positions and minister in ways that require priesthood authority or power must be ordained.

We draw strength from the fact that we are not alone and that many of our siblings in other faiths are advocating for the same goal in their particular faiths. We celebrate with them in their victories and triumphs and we mourn with them in their setbacks and defeats. We respect their decisions to leave their faith traditions and to forge new paths. We join with them in proclaiming that a change will come.

The work we do is not a matter of seeking personal recognition or power. Instead, it is a recognition that no organization or group, whether it is religious, political, charitable, etc., can reach its full potential when more than half of its members are denied the opportunity to be full and equal partners. It is a recognition that decisions made and actions taken without the full participation of over half of the members will, in many instances, not be the wisest and best decisions and actions.

There are many pressing questions and problems in the LDS Church. WE BELIEVE THAT EQUALITY IN FAITH IS THE ANSWER.