Every year, my church holds 2 worldwide conferences for all members, once in April and the other in October. This year's General Conference (as we call it) was historic as we just sustained a new prophet, and more significantly, our new prophet announced a few new changes to some programs of the Church. (Unrelated to this post, but also historic to this year's conference was the calling of the first TWO non-white apostles! Granted Elder Gong grew up in Utah, so I'm not sure how "non-white" he is, but I think he will still provide a different perspective.)
It's hard to explain to non-members on a blog post what these changes are, but you can read about them HERE and HERE. To put it simply, meetings that only involve men have either been simplified (e.g. combining of High Priest and Elders Quorum), or eliminated (e.g. Priesthood Executive Committee Meeting). It is clear that top Church leaders are taking steps to involve the women in the decision making process, and are also focusing more efforts on "ministering", as opposed to "ticking off a To-Do list."
As a LDS feminist, I am thrilled with these changes. I've always wondered why we needed to have both Ward Council and PEC because I bet my money many PEC meetings are really extended Ward Council meetings, just without the women. And I think the standardization of Relief Society and Elders Quorum meetings, and involvement of 14-year-old men and women in ministering efforts is a step forward in helping women feel like they aren't just an "appendage" to the Church or just another "auxiliary" secondary to the primary "priesthood."
Then I received a message today from my Primary President, whom I now serve to as a second counselor. (FYI: My church's organization for the children 2 to 12 is called Primary.) The message I received came from my local leaders, and read "Good morning Ward Council members, in accordance with instructions from the First Presidency, a Ward and Stake Council Leadership Meeting will replace the Priesthood Leadership Meeting that will be held this Saturday afternoon...
Those invited to attend the...meeting has been expanded so that it now includes the entire ward council, ward Relief Society Presidencies, ward Young Women Presidencies, ward Primary Presidencies..."
MORE MEETINGS! 😓😠What used to be a male-only, extra meeting for them has now been expanded to include women.
Oh the downside of gender equality.
At least my Primary President was more optimistic and had a better attitude than me, as she said "I think this is going to be good! *Insert smiley face emoji with heart-eyes*" I know, I need to learn from her. It's just a struggle for me as I'm very protective of my weekends now that I've started working. Going to an extra meeting, however beneficial it will be, just doesn't make me excited.
I'm excited for the new changes, but dang it! Talk about turning the tables on us. The price to pay for more standardization of programs across the Church.
Lesson to self: every policy always has its positive and negative sides. Let us examine and think through all sides of the issue before voicing out changes.
