Women and priesthood

documented fact · past practice

Historians Jonathan Stapley and Kristine Wright document that Latter-day Saint women commonly anointed and blessed the sick in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a practice that ended as healing was formalized as a Melchizedek Priesthood rite.

Needs human verification

documented fact · current teaching

Church teaching assigns fathers to preside and provide and mothers primarily to nurture children; leaders now stress partnership, and past counsel for mothers not to work outside the home has softened.

Needs human verification

documented fact · current teaching

The October 2026 General Handbook added a Chaplains section (38.9) saying endorsed Latter-day Saint chaplains, men and women, serve people of all faiths, do not hold priesthood keys, and may coordinate administering the sacrament with the local bishop's approval; endorsed chaplains may also perform civil marriages where the law allows.

Needs human verification

documented fact · current teaching

In the October 2026 General Handbook, Young Women classes became age-groups: young women become Builders of Faith in January of the year they turn 12, Messengers of Hope at 14, and Gatherers of Light at 16.

Needs human verification

documented fact · past practice

The temple endowment has changed over time; the First Presidency said in January 2019 that details of temple work have been adjusted periodically, and the 2019 changes were reported as more inclusive language and greater gender equity.

Needs human verification

documented fact · past practice

Until April 1990 the endowment included symbolic penalties, gestures representing violent death, made as a pledge to keep certain parts of the ceremony secret. That year the Church removed them, along with womens covenant to obey their husbands and the portrayal of a Protestant minister; the 1919 to 1927 revision had already softened the earlier graphic wording. The Church said only that the ceremonies are too sacred to discuss in detail.

Needs human verification

documented fact · current teaching

Only men are ordained to priesthood office in the Church; Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught in 2014 that women serving in callings act with priesthood authority delegated through keys.

Needs human verification

A Plea to My Sisters

Russell M. Nelson · General Conference · 2015-10

Event date discussed: 2015-10

Then-Elder Nelson called on Latter-day Saint women to speak up in councils, study the scriptures, and use their influence, describing their contributions as essential to the Church. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Adjustments to Temple Work (Church History Topics)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

This Church History topic says temple ordinances have been adjusted many times since Nauvoo, in length, presentation, language, and practice, while the Church holds that the covenants themselves are unchanged. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Emma Smith and Others, Statement, October 1, 1842 (First Fifty Years of Relief Society 1.6)

Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. · Church Historian's Press · 2016

Event date discussed: 1842-10-01

This documentary edition reproduces the October 1842 certificate signed by Emma Smith and eighteen other Relief Society women denying any marriage system beyond the Doctrine and Covenants, and its introduction explains the dilemma for women who knew of Joseph Smith's private plural marriages. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

First Presidency Statement on Temples

The First Presidency · Church Newsroom · 2019-01-02

Event date discussed: 2019-01-02

Announcing temple changes, the First Presidency said details of temple work have been adjusted over time, including language and methods, and that such adjustments will continue. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

General Handbook, 38.3: Civil Marriage

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 2026-10

Section 38.3 says serving mission, stake, and district presidents, bishops, and branch presidents may perform civil marriages where the law allows, only between a man and a woman and only when one partner is a member in their unit; endorsed Latter-day Saint chaplains may also perform civil marriages under local law. It covers marriages in Church buildings and the ceremony. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

General Handbook, 38.9: Chaplains

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 2026-10

Section 38.9, new in October 2026, describes endorsed Latter-day Saint chaplains (paid or volunteer, men and women) serving people of all faiths, endorsement and setting apart, responsibilities such as weddings and funerals, and limits: they do not hold priesthood keys, but endorsed male and female chaplains may coordinate administering the sacrament with the bishop's approval. It also covers proselytizing limits, serious sins, and privileged communications. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

General Handbook, Chapter 11: Young Women

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 2026-10

Chapter 11 describes the Young Women organization and its new age-groups: young women become Builders of Faith in January of the year they turn 12, Messengers of Hope at 14, and Gatherers of Light at 16, with flexibility to adapt to local needs. It covers Sunday meetings, activities, age-group presidencies, the adult Young Women presidency, and preparation for Relief Society. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

General Handbook, Chapter 2: Supporting Individuals and Families in God's Work of Salvation and Exaltation

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 2026-10

Chapter 2 describes the family's role in the plan of salvation, says the work of salvation is centered in the home and supported by the Church, and quotes the 1995 Family Proclamation that fathers preside in love and righteousness and provide and protect while mothers are primarily responsible for nurturing, with spouses as equal partners. It says the promise of eternal marriage and family applies to members who are not currently married. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

General Handbook, Chapter 3: Priesthood Principles

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 2026-10

Chapter 3 teaches that the priesthood is the authority and power of God, that the Church claims to be the only organization on earth with priesthood authority restored through Joseph Smith, and explains the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods and priesthood keys, says worthy male members receive priesthood authority by ordination to priesthood offices, and says all members, women and men, exercise delegated priesthood authority when set apart or assigned to callings. It says all covenant-keeping members, women, men, and children, receive priesthood power in their homes. Religious teaching, summarized, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

General Handbook, Chapter 9: Relief Society

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 2026-10

Chapter 9 describes Relief Society as a divinely instituted organization for all adult women, quotes Joseph Smith that its purpose is to save souls and relieve suffering, and covers Sunday Relief Society meetings, ministering, the Relief Society presidency, helping young women transition, and stake Relief Society leaders. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

General Handbook: Summary of Recent Updates (October 2026)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 2026-10

The handbook's Summary of Recent Updates for October 2026 lists changes across chapters 5 to 38: references to the United States and Canada changed to the United States because Canada now has its own area office; Young Women classes renamed age-groups; meeting guidance updated for the new Sunday schedule; children's devotionals added; support for members with disabilities added; temple reservations; children observing sibling sealings; and new Chaplains (38.9) and Military Relations (38.10) sections. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Joseph Smith's Teachings about Priesthood, Temple, and Women (Gospel Topics Essay)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 2015

The Church's essay notes only men are ordained to priesthood office and explains Joseph Smith's organization of the Relief Society and his teachings linking women to priesthood blessings in the temple. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Mother in Heaven (Gospel Topics Essay)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

This Gospel Topics essay says the doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished belief, traces it to Joseph Smith's era and Eliza R. Snow's hymn, and says little has been revealed about her, so members should not pray to her. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles · The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 1995

Event date discussed: 1995

The Family: A Proclamation to the World was issued in 1995 by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It teaches that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and describes gender as an essential characteristic of individual identity. This is religious teaching. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood

Dallin H. Oaks · General Conference · 2014-04

Event date discussed: 2014-04

Elder Oaks taught that women serving in callings act with priesthood authority delegated through keys, while ordination to office remains for men. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

The Latest Updates to the General Handbook: October 2026

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · 2026-10

Event date discussed: 2026-10-22

A Church Newsroom release dated October 22, 2026 says the handbook update added an option for children's devotionals, updated guidance for the new Sunday meeting schedule, renamed Young Women classes as age-groups named Builders of Faith, Messengers of Hope, and Gatherers of Light, clarified sealings of living siblings and parents, expanded guidance for members with disabilities, reflected the new Canada Area office, and split chaplains and military relations into separate sections. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

To the Mothers in Zion

Ezra Taft Benson · Fireside for Parents · 1987-02-22

Event date discussed: 1987-02-22

In a 1987 fireside, President Benson urged mothers to stay home with their children rather than work outside the home except in necessity, and gave practical counsel on spending time with children. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich · Alfred A. Knopf · 2017

A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian uses diaries and letters of early Latter-day Saint women to show how plural marriage was experienced, including both deep religious commitment and painful pressure, and how these women also became politically active. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Female Ritual Healing in Mormonism

Jonathan A. Stapley and Kristine Wright · Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 1 · 2011

Historians show that nineteenth-century Latter-day Saint healing was ritually varied and largely learned by example, that women regularly anointed and blessed the sick, and that as Church liturgy was formalized in the twentieth century healing became the priesthood anointing-and-sealing rite used today and female administration ended. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

LDS Church releases changes to temple ceremony

Peggy Fletcher Stack and David Noyce · The Salt Lake Tribune · 2019-01-02

Reports that the January 2019 endowment changes included more inclusive language and more gender equity, including a larger role for Eve, based on accounts from members who attended. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Independent journalism. Reports allegations and responses; not peer-reviewed scholarship and not a court finding.

Mormons Expel Founder of Group Seeking Priesthood for Women

Laurie Goodstein · The New York Times · 2014-06-24

The New York Times reported that Kate Kelly, founder of Ordain Women, was excommunicated in June 2014 by a disciplinary council in Virginia for apostasy after leading public campaigns for women's ordination. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Independent journalism. Reports events, allegations, and responses; not peer-reviewed scholarship and not a court finding.

Mormons Modify Temple Rites

Los Angeles Times · Los Angeles Times · 1990-05-05

Event date discussed: 1990-04

Reports that in April 1990 the Church quietly revised the temple endowment, removing symbolic penalties, the portrayal of a Protestant minister and the requirement that women covenant to obey their husbands, and that Church officials declined to discuss the details because the ceremonies are sacred. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Independent journalism. Reports events, allegations, and responses; not peer-reviewed scholarship and not a court finding.

Religious Landscape Study 2023-24: Latter-day Saints

Pew Research Center · 2025

Pew's large national survey reports the share of U.S. adults who identify as Latter-day Saints and their demographic, belief, and practice profile, along with retention of those raised in the faith. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism

Taylor G. Petrey · University of North Carolina Press · 2020

A historian traces how Church teachings on gender, sex differences, and homosexuality changed after World War II, arguing that ideas presented as eternal were often revised over time. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

The Development of the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony

David John Buerger · Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought · 1987

A history of the endowment from Kirtland and Nauvoo to the 1980s. Buerger traces the Masonic background of Nauvoo-era elements, the oath of vengeance and its exposure in the Smoot hearings, and the 1919 to 1927 revision committee under Heber J. Grant that removed it and softened other wording. He describes elements only at a historical level. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

The First Fifty Years of Relief Society

Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. · Church Historian's Press · 2016

A documentary edition of Relief Society records from 1842 to 1892, including the Nauvoo minutes, showing women's early roles such as giving healing blessings. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship

David John Buerger · Signature Books · 1994

Buerger traces how the endowment and other temple ordinances began in Nauvoo and changed over time, including their relationship to Freemasonry. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

The Power of Godliness: Mormon Liturgy and Cosmology

Jonathan A. Stapley · Oxford University Press · 2018

Stapley distinguishes a cosmological priesthood formed through temple sealings from an ecclesiastical priesthood of offices, and studies rituals such as healing by women and baby blessings. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

This World: The Mormon Candidate (incl. Jeffrey R. Holland interview)

John Sweeney · BBC · 2012-03-27

BBC documentary on Mitt Romney and the Church. In it Holland says "We do not have penalties in the temple," then "We used to" when pressed; says shunning "is not one of our practices"; and says of the Book of Abraham that he does not understand the "vehicle" of translation and knows no Egyptian.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Understanding the Gender Gap in Utah Higher Education: Qualitative Findings

Utah Women & Leadership Project · Utah State University · 2022

A Utah State University project reports interviews with Utah women, many Latter-day Saints, describing how expectations about marriage, motherhood, and family shaped their decisions about higher education, alongside Utah's gap in advanced degrees between women and men. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

CES Letter: Temples and Freemasonry

Jeremy Runnells · CES Letter

The temples section argues that Joseph Smith introduced the endowment about seven weeks after becoming a Freemason in 1842, that its signs and tokens resemble Masonic ritual, and that the ceremony has changed many times. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Critical advocacy. Argues against Church truth claims. Not peer-reviewed and not an official Church source.

Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?

Jerald and Sandra Tanner · Utah Lighthouse Ministry · 1987

The Tanners' largest work compiles documents on many disputed issues: changes in revelations and the Book of Mormon, First Vision accounts, Adam-God, blood atonement, the Book of Abraham papyri, temple changes, Mountain Meadows, and Church finances. It was an early and influential critical reference. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Critical advocacy from an evangelical Christian ministry. Argues against Church truth claims. Not peer-reviewed.

MormonThink: Mormon Temple

MormonThink · MormonThink

MormonThink's temple page discusses the origins of the endowment, its parallels with Freemasonry, removed elements such as penalty oaths, and changes to the ceremony over time. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Critical website. Presents critic and apologist views but is written to raise problems with Church claims. Not peer-reviewed.

Ordain Women

Ordain Women · Ordain Women

An advocacy group of Latter-day Saint women calling for women's ordination to the priesthood, with profiles and discussion materials. Its founder Kate Kelly was excommunicated in 2014. Summary, not a quotation.

Summary, not a quotation · needs human verification

Advocacy group seeking women's ordination.