I was in the room when Neylan McBaine spoke at the 2024 Restore Conference. I felt the discomfort in the audience, the holding of breath, the leaning back, and those leaning forward, as she candidly spoke about patriarchy being part of our ecclesiastical structure, and that acknowledging it is a necessary step toward understanding our individual and collective experiences within the Church.
This speech, inspired us to invited Latter-day Saint women to reflect on their their experiences living and worshiping within a patriarchal system. This month we published six essays that explore the breadth of women’s lived experiences with patriarchy, written by women who feel at home within the current structure, women who wrestle while choosing to stay, and women whose faith has been shaped in complex and deeply personal ways. These essays consider what it means to live, worship, and seek spiritual growth within a patriarchal institution, and how that reality touches faith, identity, relationships, and hope.
This series is not an effort to arrive at a single conclusion. It is an opportunity to speak truthfully, to listen deeply, and to honor the faithful complexity of women’s lives.