This archive Sunday post by blogger emeritus ECS, originally appeared on fMh on June 18, 2007. You can read the original post and comments here.
Our bishop gave an excellent Fathers’ Day talk last Sunday. He spent a good portion of his talk asking fathers to choose career paths that would allow them to be home and to spend time with their children. He emphasized the importance of the father as a nurturer, and said nothing about presiding.
Our bishop’s talk started me thinking about things bishops had done in the past to allow more women to participate in the administration of the Church outside the traditional auxiliary callings. Here are some things I came up with.
1. Priesthood Executive Committee (PEC) and Ward Council meetings: invite the Relief Society president (or a Relief Society counselor) to participate in all PEC meetings. The Relief Society president could function like a third counselor to the bishop, with her primary focus being on the welfare and needs of the women in the ward, but not necessarily limited to this. The Relief Society president (or a counselor) would take turns with the Bishop’s 1st and 2nd counselors in conducting the Ward Council meetings. For example, the Relief Society president could conduct the monthly welfare meeting.
2. Combined Enrichment/Elders Quorum activities: create inclusive, family-focused activities, instead of segregating Church-sponsored activities by gender. These activities would focus on building practical skills like family financial planning, home ownership, and also provide educational and spiritual messages on a variety of topics for both men and women. The weekly basketball games and craft nights would continue, but the Church-sponsored activities would be open to both men and women. (Our current ward has done this).
3. Create positions for women outside positions in the traditionally women-dominated auxillaries. For example, the bishop could create a “Liturgy Committee” and call a woman to chair the committee to propose topics and assignments for Sacrament Meetings (subject to the approval of the bishop). In a previous ward, the bishop called women as a “Ward Statistician” (to assist the Ward Clerk) and as a “Scheduling Coordinator” (to assist the Executive Secretary). These women attended PEC and Ward Council meetings, and added more womens’ perspective and voices to these important meetings.
4. Primary and Nursery: Use best efforts to ensure men and women are equally respresented in Primary and Nursery callings.
5. YW and YM curriculum: equalize YM/YW budgets and the public recognition for advancement within the YM/YW programs. Ensure that the YM are being taught equal responsibility for nurturing their children, and encourage them to consider family-friendly careers.
Given the way the Church operates today, how else could a (closet) feminist bishop include women’s talents and experiences to improve the administration of the Church on a local level? Do you think bishops should do this? Why or why not?