Cooperative Ministering

The Boston Stake Presidency and Stake Relief Society Presidency drafted a letter which was read last Sunday in RS and Priesthood meetings. The Stake President has stated that the “overarching purpose of all of this was to train our leaders on helping any abuse victims.” The first four paragraphs were agreed upon and signed by the members of the Stake Presidency and the Stake RS Presidency.

My stake Relief Society president has demonstrated the most inspired initiative and leadership on the issue of mental health. After consulting with mental health professionals and preparing resource packets, she proposed to the stake president that he invite all ward RS presidents to join the bishops for their regular training council.

Making waves may be a stretch, but maybe ripples. Our stake president has typically held a dinner in between stake conference sessions for different groups each time. Once it was high councilors and wives, once it was new converts, once it was bishops and wives. He asked for ideas of others. I immediately piped up that he should invite RS Presidents, YW Presidents and Primary Presidents and husbands. And let them be served instead of making the meals.

When I think back on my leadership experiences, the thing I regret the most is not taking advantage of the opportunity to build better relationships with other women auxiliary leaders. In my current calling as Stake Relief Society President, I have relied on my relationship with the Stake Primary and Young Women’s presidents. I am strengthened by their testimonies, and I have learned from watching their leadership.

I had served as the Primary President for about 6 months when a new Young Women’s President was called. She joined us in Ward Council where a a discussion took place about which priesthood quorum’s turn it was to walk the sisters from the assisted living facility next door to the church building. Our ward rotated this responsibility each month between the High Priests Group, Elder’s Quorum, and Young Men’s quorums. The next month, the Young Women were added to the rotation.

Last year, I enjoyed being a part of the Gospel Essentials class in our ward. Before I was called to be a teacher in the Primary, I attended this Sunday School class regularly. We met in a room with a long table around which we all could gather and discuss, as a group of about 10 or less. Men and women of all ages sat at that high council table, discussing the gospel topic of the day.

In our primary room the children see pictures of the Primary General Presidency underneath pictures of the 1st Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. The Relief Society and Young Women classrooms also have pictures on the walls of their respective auxiliary presidencies. It’s nice to see a few female faces on the walls at church. The children in primary ask about the women’s faces they see and we’ve had discussions about the ladies that plan Primary for all of the children in t

In my Sacrament Meeting this past Sunday, the High Councilor speaker started his talk by quoting Sister Carol F. McConkie’s talk from the October 2014 general conference. It dawned on me that one of the benefits of having our female general officers speak on doctrinal topics, as opposed to topics that are only applicable to the women and children under their specific organizations, is that all of us have more content from which to quote women in talks and lessons.

Are you hosting a discussion or book club about Women at Church? If so, feel free to use these questions to stimulate discussion. Also, add your own questions or responses in the comments section here for others to learn from and use.

I’m the Primary chorister in my ward. My 9 year old daughter had said to me “Mom, there aren’t a lot of girls in the scriptures are there?” I wanted her and other kids to be more aware of the wonderful women who are in there. The scriptures about Anna the prophetess lend themselves really easily to a verse ((they’re from Luke 2:36-38), so I used those scriptures as the source for a new verse in the popular Primary song, “Follow the Prophet."

As a young mother, still in my twenties, I was called as Family History Leader in my ward. In this capacity, I organized the other family history consultants (all men but one) to put together family history activities and home visits. I worked closely with the High Priest Group Leader, and was surprised when he invited me to join monthly in their High Priest Group leadership meetings.

When we were in our early thirties, my husband was called onto the high council of a university stake. We were asked to speak once a month together in the various wards of the stake. We were also asked to have our 4 children participate through songs and talks. The stake president said, “We want the women of our stake to be taught by the experience of the women and well as the men who are their leaders.”

Our two oldest children have both served missions, and my husband and I both noticed that all communication that comes from church headquarters or the mission president in regard to their mission activity is addressed directly to my husband. They happen to be my step-children, so I assumed it had something to do with that aspect of our family dynamic.

When I became bishop of my ward about three years ago, one of the thoughts that stuck in my mind was a quote of President Hinckley’s: “If the women of this Church will be united and speak with one voice, their strength will be incalculable.” (I can’t recall exactly where this came from, but I wrote it in my journal way back in 2004, so I think it must have come from one of those worldwide leadership training meetings. It may have come from General Conference though...

When “Daughters in My Kingdom” came out, my husband looked through it and said, “You know, I’d really like to teach this in the Elders’ Quorum.” He’s not currently called as an Elders’ Quorum teacher so he asked the Elders’ Quorum president for special permission to teach it as the 1st Sunday lesson each month for a year.

Within a few Sundays of receiving his call, the new Elders’ Quorum president in our ward asked if he could speak to the sisters during the regular Relief Society time on Sunday. He wanted the entire lesson time. We, as attending sisters, had no idea what was on his agenda. I’m assuming the Relief Society president knew what was planned.

One thing I love about our ward is that (at least during the 8 years we’ve lived here) men & women (not married couples) are called as Gospel Doctrine teachers who teach on alternate weeks. As a young mother who has been teaching Gospel Doctrine for the past few years, my current counterpart is a lovely older gentleman (several decades older than I). We bring differing perspectives, life experiences, and teaching approaches to our callings, and I love the balance this creates

When I taught the Laurels, the Young Women president told me when I was initially called that the bishop’s top priority for our girls was for them to understand the importance of attending college and developing their minds before marriage, rather than looking at marriage as the end-all, be-all for young women in the church.

It’s remarkable how answers come in the most unexpected ways, sometimes long after you’ve given up looking or hoping for them. I’ve struggled with eating disorders and seemingly intractable anxiety about my looks since I was 11 years old. Over decades, I’ve learned to sort of manage those feelings, but they’re never very far below the surface, and I’m particularly aware of them now as I try to guide my young teenaged daughter through those years that were so devastating for m

My wife and I just returned from [a major U.S. city] where we presided over the mission. Right from the beginning I determined that it would be our mission and that my wife would be included in as many ways as possible. She’s a very capable person who’s been an early morning seminary teacher, YW leader, etc and mother of six. She’s also a convert with a different perspective than me.