Women praying in church

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_the road to hana
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Post by _the road to hana »

Ray A wrote:
the road to hana wrote:
beastie wrote:No one knows the answer to this???


Hi beastie--

Women couldn't pray in Sacrament Meeting at all (either opening or closing prayers) until the late 1970's. The First Presidency of the LDS Church sent out a letter to bishops and stake presidents in November 1978 making the change allowing women to pray in Sacrament Meeting. Following that, most wards followed an unwritten rule to continue to have the opening prayer said by a Priesthood holder, and allowed women only to say the closing. Some wards eventually allowed women to say either, but the change allowed for both.


This is correct, except that the ban was only put in place in 1967, and lifted in 1978. I do remember that when it was lifted there was an unwritten "protocol" that women only gave closing prayers, but that quickly changed as well.


Ray is correct. I meant to add that in the church initally, women could pray in Sacrament Meeting. There was a ban on this for several years, lifted in 1978. Many people in the church are probably unaware of this, particularly if they were born after 1978 or a convert since that time. But for those of us whose formative years in the church included those years, it was a fact of life.
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_beastie
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Post by _beastie »

Why in the world would they institute this in 1967?

When I left the church in 1993-94, women were still not allowed to say the opening prayer in my ward.
We hate to seem like we don’t trust every nut with a story, but there’s evidence we can point to, and dance while shouting taunting phrases.

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_the road to hana
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Post by _the road to hana »

beastie wrote:Why in the world would they institute this in 1967?

When I left the church in 1993-94, women were still not allowed to say the opening prayer in my ward.


This might help:

http://www.signaturebooks.com/firstpresidency.htm
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_Sethbag
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Post by _Sethbag »

Is that the book that DCP and others reviewed, where they basically all but said that one of the authors had to be gay, and invoked Davis Bitton on why that was necessary to know (in order to help judge the motivation and intent of the authors)? Or am I thinking of a different compilation of statements of the First Presidency?
Mormonism ceased being a compelling topic for me when I finally came to terms with its transformation from a personality cult into a combination of a real estate company, a SuperPac, and Westboro Baptist Church. - Kishkumen
_beastie
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Post by _beastie »

Yeah, seth, I've read insinuations that GARY JAMES BERGERA, one of the compilers, is gay. I think he's also the sunstone editor or something?

I don't think I'm curious enough to buy the book, though. It just occurred to me when my bf and I were watching BYU channel, some random ward, and a woman was saying the prayer.
We hate to seem like we don’t trust every nut with a story, but there’s evidence we can point to, and dance while shouting taunting phrases.

Penn & Teller

http://www.mormonmesoamerica.com
_moksha
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Post by _moksha »

For a while, women were less valiant in the Pre-Existance, but then this changed obviously.
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_the road to hana
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Post by _the road to hana »

moksha wrote:For a while, women were less valiant in the Pre-Existance, but then this changed obviously.


If God didn't create woman until the Creation/Garden of Eden, how could they have been less valiant? (Come to think of it, he didn't create man until then either.)
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_skippy the dead
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Post by _skippy the dead »

Here's an interesting blog post from a woman who tried to trace down this "custom", which apparently has no doctrinal or other actual basis:

http://www.mormonmomma.com/index.php/2007/prayer-thing/
I may be going to hell in a bucket, babe / But at least I'm enjoying the ride.
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_Sethbag
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Post by _Sethbag »

beastie wrote:Yeah, seth, I've read insinuations that GARY JAMES BERGERA, one of the compilers, is gay. I think he's also the sunstone editor or something?

I don't think I'm curious enough to buy the book, though. It just occurred to me when my bf and I were watching BYU channel, some random ward, and a woman was saying the prayer.

You and your boyfriend sit around watching the BYU channel? Oh my God. I think I would rather watch paint dry.
Mormonism ceased being a compelling topic for me when I finally came to terms with its transformation from a personality cult into a combination of a real estate company, a SuperPac, and Westboro Baptist Church. - Kishkumen
_ludwigm
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Post by _ludwigm »

Unwritten rules and/or protocols can not be terminated.
You know, they don't exist... ( "are not doctrinals" "we don't teach it" )
- Whenever a poet or preacher, chief or wizard spouts gibberish, the human race spends centuries deciphering the message. - Umberto Eco
- To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin. - Cardinal Bellarmine at the trial of Galilei
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