Women at Church
Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact by Neylan McBaine is a practical and faithful guide to improving the way men and women work together at church. Looking at current administrative and cultural practices, the author explains why some women struggle with the gendered divisions of labor. She then examines ample real-life examples that are currently happening in local settings around the country that expand and reimagine gendered practices. Readers will understand how to evaluate possible pain points in current practices and propose solutions that continue to uphold all mandated church policies. Readers will be equipped with the tools they need to have respectful, empathetic, and productive conversations about gendered practices in Church administration and culture.
Mormon Women Project founder Neylan McBaine draws on years of study and conversations as well as hundreds of interviews to offer real-world ideas that are happening now in wards and stakes.
All royalties from the book go to supporting the LDS Women Project.
“I believe we already have the tools to see, hear, and include women more fully in the operation and governance of our wards and stakes…. Male and female local leaders can stretch their organizational and spiritual imaginations even further to embrace innovative solutions for the inclusion of women.” - Neylan McBaine, from Women at Church
In the spirit of Women at Church, invited members to share how gender cooperation is working in their ward, stake, or mission. The purpose of publishing these stories is to draw attention to the many efforts to make Mormon women more visible and involved in their local communities. We hope that these stories will instill hope and confidence that much good is happening, and will give you specific ideas for how you can help magnify women’s impact at church.
If you have a story of how you or someone you know is cooperating with leaders to bring about more egalitarian governance or worship, please share it with us at editor@ldswomenproject.com.
Cooperative Change
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Reading List
Are you interested in reading more about women and the Church? Want to follow up on some of the references in Women at Church? The lists below include many of the books and articles Neylan McBaine refers to in her book, and they are augmented with additional resources of interest. This reading list offers a basic but solid foundation for discussions about women both in Church and in contemporary society.
Relevant Talks by LDS Leaders
- Quentin L. Cook, “Hearts Knit in Righteousness and Unity,” Ensign, November 2020.
- Eubank, Sharon, “By Unity of Feeling We Obtain Power With God,” Ensign, November 2020.
- Bonnie L. Oscarson, “Sisterhood: Oh, How We Need Each Other,” Ensign, April 2014.
- Linda K. Burton, “Strength from Grace: Faithful LDS Women,” BYU Women’s Conference, May 2, 2014.
- M. Russell Ballard, “Let Us Think Straight,” Brigham Young University Campus Education Week Devotional, August 20, 2013.
- Jeffrey R. Holland, “Like A Broken Vessel,” Ensign, October 2013.
- Dallin H. Oaks, “The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood,” Ensign, April 2014.
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Four Titles,” Ensign, April 2013.
- Patricia T. Holland, “A Woman’s Perspective on the Priesthood,” Ensign, July 1980.
- Patricia T. Holland, “’One Thing Needful’: Becoming Women of Greater Faith in Christ,” Ensign, October 1987.
Books & Articles about LDS Women
- Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings, Editors, Joanna Brooks, Rachel Hunt Steenblik and Hannah Wheelwright
- Joseph Smith, in Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, March 17, 1842, 4, josephsmithpapers.org.
- David L. Paulsen, Martin Pulido, “A Mother There: A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven,” BYU Studies 50, no. 1 (2011): 70–126.
- Jonathan A. Stapley and Kristine Wright. “Female Ritual Healing in Mormonism, Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 37, pp. 1-85, Winter 2011.
- Sheri L. Dew, Women and the Priesthood
- Beverly Campbell, Eve and the Choice Made in Eden
- Melinda Wheelwright Brown, Eve and Adam: Discovering the Beautiful Balance
- McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding, Girls Who Choose God
- McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding, Girls Who Choose God: Stories of Strong Women from the Book of Mormon
- Linda King Newell, The Historical Relationship of Mormon Women and Priesthood, Dialogue
- Melodie Moench Charles, Scriptural Precedents for Priesthood, Dialogue
- Meg Wheatley-Pesci, An Expanded Definition of Priesthood? Some Present and Future Consequences, Dialogue
- Valerie Hudson and Alma Don Sorenson, Women in Eternity, Women in Zion
- Jill Mulvay Derr, Janath Russell Cannon, and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society
- Maureen Ursenbach Beecher and Lavina Fielding Anderson, eds., Sisters in Spirit
- Claudia Bushman, Mormon Sisters: Women in Early Utah
- Claudia Bushman and Caroline Kline, eds., Mormon Women Have Their Say
- Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman, Women of Faith in the Latter Days
- M. Russell Ballard, Counseling With Our Councils (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012)
- Terrence Real, The New Rules of Marriage
- Marianne Williamson, A Women’s Worth
- Deborah Tannen, You Just Don’t Understand
- Stephanie Coontz, A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s
- Mary Beard, “The Public Voice of Women,” London Review of Books 36, no. 6 (March 20, 2014).
- Sabino Kornrich, Julie Brines, and Katrina Leupp, “Egalitarianism, Housework, and Sexual Frequency in Marriage,” American Sociological Review 78 (2012)
- Girl Scout Research Institute, Change It Up: What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership, 2008
- R. Marie Griffith, God’s Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission
- Steve Graves, Dave Blanchard, Josh Kwan, From Concept to Scale: Creating a Gospel-Minded Organization
- Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzer, Crucial Confrontations
- Vicki W. Kramer, Alison M. Konrad, and Sumru Erkut, “Critical Mass on Corporate Boards: Why Three or More Women Enhance Governance,” Wellesley Centers for Women, 2006
Key Blog Posts
- Andrea Radke-Moss, “Mormon Studies in the Classroom: Mormon Women, Patriarchy and Equality,” Juvenile Instructor.
- Fiona Givens, “A Society Meet for Male Priesthood,” Difficult Run, January 20, 2014
- Melissa Inouye, “How Conference Comes to Hong Kong,” Peculiar People, March 4, 2013
- Alison Moore Smith, “Do Titles Matter?” Times and Seasons, March 19, 2010
- Genevieve Kelley, “Part 2 of 3: Imaginary conversations with a conservative Mormon woman about feminism and the Church,” Loveliest Year, March 26, 2014
- Melissa Inouye, “If We Can’t Fix It, It Ain’t Broke“, A Peculiar People, November 2013
- Melissa Inouye, “Beyond Family: Women’s Leadership in the LDS Church,” A Peculiar People, October 2013
- Morgan Lyon Cotti, “Women Wearing Pants to Church: Putting the Current Wave of LDS Feminism into Historical Context“, Square Two
- Angela C., “Many are Chosen But Few Are Called,” By Common Consent
- Valerie Hudson, “Zion in Her Beauty Rises: Current Discourse on Women and the Priesthood by Ballard, Dew and Oaks,” Square Two.
Newspaper Articles
- Valerie M. Hudson, “What Sex Means for World Peace,” Foreign Policy, April 24, 2012
- Shira Telushkin, “The Facebook of Mormon,” The Atlantic, January 31, 2014
- Kirk Johnson, “Mormons on a Mission,” New York Times, August 20, 2010, New York edition, AR1
- Joseph Walker, “Will a Woman Pray at LDS General Conference?” Deseret News, March 19, 2013
- Jodi Kantor and Laurie Goodstein, “Missions Signal a Growing Role for Mormon Women,” New York Times, March 2, 2013, New York edition, A1
- Jodi Kantor and Laurie Goodstein, “From Mormon Women, a Flood of Requests and Questions on Their Role in the Church,” New York Times, March 6, 2014
- Peggy Fletcher Stack, “’Sister Missionaries’ Causing A Gender Shift in Mormonism, BYU Prof Says,” Salt Lake Tribune, March 27, 2014
- Tad Walch, “New Leadership Roles for Women Alters LDS Mission Culture, Hits at Deep, Long-Term Ramifications,” Deseret News, April 4, 2014