Review
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Title: Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact
Author: Neylan McBaine
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books
Genre: Women’s Studies
Year Published: 2014
Number of Pages: 189
Binding: quality paperback
ISBN: 978-18958-688-8
Price: $21.95
Reviewed by Laura Compton for the Association for Mormon Letters
“Come along, come along is the call that will win, to lead us to virtue” goes the LDS Hymn (“Come Along, Come Along,” *Hymns* No. 244), reminding us that “most [souls] can be led, but few can be driv’n” toward a worthy goal. In that same vein, Neylan McBaine sets forth her suggestions for making LDS women more visible and powerful within the LDS Church. *Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact,* strives to find that balance point between identifying a problem and finding a solution without appearing to be overbearing to, or critical of, those in power. It is not an easy balancing act.
By coaxing and asking and suggesting, McBaine hopes to reach those who perhaps don’t understand or care about the enormity or severity of women’s issues. She writes, “While collecting these stories, I have … noted how many ways we can say ‘I’ve never felt that way so I don’t care.’…The mental conversation seems to be, ‘This is such a small issue that people who are bothered by it don’t know what is really important, and the fault lies in them not being able to see the big picture….’”(28) This is an attitude that troubles her — one that she hopes to eradicate, in part because it is incongruous with how Saints should live their lives. If we are to be a “Zion people” with room for everyone, McBaine avers, we must not allow people to hurt so much that they desire to leave. We must answer the question, “What is it about certain practices that cause women so much pain that they walk away?” (29) and then we must follow up with solutions that are inclusive of all – as that is what Jesus would have us do, because “some extraordinary souls are being lost because we, the stewards of God’s kingdom on earth, fall short in embracing them.” (xiii)
*Women at Church* is, according to McBaine, for men and women, leaders and followers, those with concerns and those who know people with concerns about how women at church are treated and permitted to participate. But much of the book seems to address first those priesthood holders whose responsibilities include decision-making, perhaps rightly so. These local leaders are the most likely to be able to make a direct and immediate difference in the lives of their congregations, often with very small adjustments to traditional practices, and references to policy changes are regularly couched in terms which focus on their needs and understanding.
For all readers, but especially for local leaders in particular, McBaine urges careful – and prayerful – consideration of several important questions: Why should I be concerned? Why are some women in pain? and Are we practicing what we preach? The first sections of *Women at Church* are devoted to providing real-world examples of women and men who are asking and answering these questions. The final sixty percent of the book explores solutions for figuring out how to work together, whether by creating empathy, or voicing concerns with local leaders, or using gospel tools to find answers which will both relieve pain and move the work of the Church forward smoothly. Many of the solutions are those created by Mormons around the world and provide a myriad of examples of how local adaptation of general guidelines benefits branches, wards and stakes alike.
These real-world examples and life experiences illustrate answers to some of those first important questions. Two such scenarios point at the disconnect between lived experiences in and out of the Church, scenarios that most Mormons would not think twice about, but which could (and have) drastically affected anyone who notices the disparities. It is helpful, perhaps, to outline those experiences here in order to begin to grasp the pervasive and subtle ways women’s lives are (or are not) affected by everyday worship realities:
What would an investigator see in attending a ward meeting for the first time, McBaine asks “a visitor with far less understanding than I would be justified in suspecting women do not participate in the administration of the Church.” (126)
There are young men up front preparing the Sacrament table, perhaps a few more gathering those who will pass the Sacrament. An all-male bishopric gathers on the stand to prepare to lead the meeting. Ushers, who are also likely to be male priesthood holders, greet those coming into the room. There may be a female speaker of music person, but for the most part someone unaware of the behind-the-scenes work the women do could come away with the impression that there are few, if any, roles for women and girls in regular Sunday meetings.
“Challenge yourself to find parity in practices, activities and traditions: Why do Boy Scouts have a Blue & Gold Banquet and the Activity Days girls do not have an event of their own?…Why are individual priesthood leaders introduced and sustained at ward conferences when female leaders are not? If there is a father-and-son campout, is there also a father-and-daughter or mother-and-daughter campout?…These questions might make us feel uncomfortable, they might even feel wrong. But there’s a lesson there, an opportunity to stretch our empathetic stance by seeing the Church experience through the eyes of a woman who may feel invisible or underappreciated.” (72)
It is not easy to step out of our own shoes and experience life from another vantage point, but when developing empathy for, and understanding of, minority viewpoints, it is important to let go of our own vision and consider with new eyes how others might be seeing us. There is a gulf between LDS and non-LDS experience, and many women and girls must cross that gulf every time they come to Church. As McBaine notes, some are choosing to stop making that crossing at earlier and earlier ages. Why?
Consider the experience of a 21st-century teenage female, as outlined by McBaine. This young woman is online with social media, interacting with peers and adults and celebrities about her life. “She speaks for herself, and she surrounds herself with others who speak with her. She feels a connection….” (37) Now imagine that young woman’s experience within her local LDS ward: “[H]er Sunday pulpit is almost exclusively occupied by men, with the exception of a female speaker or two. She likely can name her stake president but may not know the name or face of the stake Young women president. Her ward Relief Society president is barely on her radar. The contrast is jarring: she doesn’t see her tribe represented in those who speak for her.” (38) Is there something adult leaders can do to make it easier for such a young woman to find role models within her own congregation? Is it even necessary to do so?
At this point McBaine points out, “This [lack of visible role models] may not be wrong, but it is hard.” But this statement cries out for another question: If it is not wrong, then how could it be correct? If a young man were to spend his time at Church with a similar “lack of visual representation,” would our congregations and their leaders make it a priority to provide stalwart, faithful examples for the young men – the future leaders of tomorrow? Young women are also future leaders. They will also be teaching and speaking and guiding and praying over others in the pews at some point. And if it is important for young men to see everyday examples of righteous men leading and teaching a congregation, is it not important for young women to see everyday examples of righteous women leading and teaching the congregation as well?
This is a question McBaine skirts around in *Women at Church.* She clearly identifies places where women and girls are not seen and heard, where they are not participating fully, where their services and talents are not being fully utilized and appreciated, but she takes great care never to explicitly question why we would allow such inequity of representation and opportunity to exist. This lack of confrontation, coupled with a concerted effort to hold her work up as suggestions rather than criticisms, may open doors to consideration of women’s roles and status at church which otherwise would have remained closed.
Many readers will find examples suggested and enacted by local leaders and members alike to be inspirational. Some suggestions may seem revolutionary, but knowing that other wards and branches have successfully enacted them is likely to empower men and women seeking new solutions to old problems. Solutions have included: assigning female stake auxiliary leaders and returned missionaries to accompany high council speakers; taking care to avoid assigning married couples to speak on the same Sunday; providing opportunities for mothers to participate in baby blessings; making women more visible on local stands (as they are now more visible during General Conference); providing equity in budgets; having women teach lessons in priesthood meetings; assigning young women to be ushers during Sacrament Meeting; and a host of other ideas.
*Women at Church* helpfully includes within its pages references to a number of historical and current documents and resources, both in print and online, which may be new to some readers. For those unfamiliar with LDS women’s history, many of the resources provided are good jumping-off points from which to begin a more in-depth study. McBaine notes that it is important to understand what Mormon women have done and how they have participated in Church in previous decades, and to let that understanding shape, guide and inspire current practice. As some of these living foremothers have noted, they “would trade giving prayers in General Conference in a heartbeat for a return to the real control over the Church auxiliary organizations that women traditionally ran.” (50) Some of these women remember lesson manuals written for women, by women; their own organizational magazine; control over finances and “direct access by the Relief Society general presidency to the First Presidency.” (51) “Our challenge today is to embrace the hope and comfort that comes from knowing our past, rather than being confused by it.”(52)
The roles of women in the LDS Church are growing and developing as the Church grows and as its members’ and leaders’ awareness and understanding grow. Women are finding their voices and expressing their desire to participate more fully and completely in all levels of Church governance. As McBaine notes, there is still a long way to go, and it will take time, patience, and perseverance. While change cannot come fast enough for thousands who have been working and waiting for decades, the avalanche of change is overwhelming to those who are just now waking up to the inequity and pain that exists.
“It seems that while we feel confident in our *doctrinal* belief that men and women have the same worth in the sight of God, we feel uncomfortable doing the cognitive leaps required to claim that men and women are equal in our *practice.* The questions seem to be: If we believe in equality, do we have an obligation to practice equality? And if we practice equality, what does that look like?” (52, emphasis original)
“Few practices change overnight….Revolutions, by definition, attempt to shift culture by disrupting it with force, replacing existing systems with new ones. Our process of cultural change is not revolutionary….So adapting practice within our culture often requires assessing, attempting, pausing, reassessing, reattempting, and building consensus, rather than just putting a lead foot down on the pedal….[B]ut the only effective way we shift practices is to create new practices, and that takes time.” (167)
Mormons have a legacy and a doctrinal goal. It will take time to find ways to weave together our legacy, our future and our present practices in ways that will welcome all women fully and completely into Church service, recognizing and honoring their strengths, not just as wives and mothers, but as spiritual and administrative guides fully capable of becoming the omniscient beings they are destined to become.
*Women at Church* is a helpful guide to those not yet aware of or just beginning to grapple with questions and concerns. Those readers will find helpful and inspiring suggestions for adjusting their points of view as well as practical suggestions for enacting change within the parameters outlined by current official Church policy manuals.