2012 General Relief Society Broadcast: Mormon Women to Hear From New Female Leaders

Mormon women are excited to participate in this year's General Relief Society Broadcast, September 29, 2012. A number of reasons make this LDS women's meeting particularly significant. Not only will the majority of female members in the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) hear, for the first time, from the newly-called General Relief Society presidency, but also, no doubt, due to the upcoming presidential election, including Ann Romney's influence, many American women, not of our faith, will also be interested in what these Mormon women leaders have to say to the women of the Church. 

Because of this wider interest in what Mormon women leaders will teach and counsel Mormon women, I think it's important to do what we can to share the broadcast information, wherever we can -- and prior to the conference. Personally, I've received numerous inquiries by women, not members of the Church, wanting to know more about Mormon women -- what we believe, and how we feel about our roles as women in the LDS Church.

I can't think of a better way to help those not of our faith understand the role of women, as taught in Mormonism, than to invite them to listen to our General Relief Society President, Linda K. Burton, and her two counselors, Carole M. Stephens and Linda S. Reeves -- LDS women who do represent, accurately, and officially, how faithful Mormon women feel about womanhood. And probably most important, how women in the Church are counseled, and encouraged, to come unto Christ -- and emulate Him in their lives.

As we lead up to this general Relief Society meeting, I've been thinking a lot about these three women, divinely called, and how they will speak to the women of the Church, especially considering the current political climate that has brought so much attention to Mormon women. Many of us have been concerned that faithful Mormon women have not been well represented in the media. Unfortunately, as I've recently wrote about, most mainstream media outlets are much more interested in broadcasting the fringe thoughts of a few LDS women, and what they advocate -- who do not speak for, or represent, the majority of women in the Church.  

In fact, Salt Lake Tribune reporter, Peggy Stack, recently published an article entitled: Mormon women seeking middle ground to greater equality -- wherein she interviewed a number of progressive Mormon women, hoping to use outside media pressure to result in, eventually, organizational changes within the Church. 

"In April, the Relief Society lost a strong, distinctive voice when its general president, Julie B. Beck, was released after just five years — a rotation that has become the norm for such positions. Beck’s replacement, Linda K. Burton, declined to be interviewed for this story. Right now, there are no official female spokeswomen for the church."

I don't know how this makes you feel, but I strongly disagree with Stack's assertion that we are currently without an "official female spokeswoman" simply because Sister Burton chose to not lend her voice alongside of those who were interviewed for this article -- with their advocacy that, in my opinion, is oppositional to the current Church system of councils -- to say the least. Anyway, that is how I see it.

Although many LDS women did not attend this year's BYU Women's Conference, Sister Burton and her counselors did speak -- giving beautiful counsel to those who attended. And we continue to have much instruction available to us, from former general Relief Society Presidents, on the role of women in the Church -- which I seriously doubt will be much different from what our new presidency will teach. 

What I look forward to, is the much needed encouragement, to the women of the Church, to plod on in remaining steadfast in the clear doctrines and principles that we have been given, regarding our role as women, as applied to our current challenges.

My personal testimony confirms to me, continually, that this Church, and its leaders, male and female, are directed and led by the Spirit. That direction does not cease because of any change in individual leadership callings – on any level throughout the Church. This is a Church that, without interruption, of any kind, will continue to press the work of the Lord forward, in these last days.

Here is the official invitation to the General Relief Society Meeting:

We invite you to prepare and join us for the general Relief Society meeting on Saturday, September 29, 2012. All women 18 years of age and older are invited to attend. Messages will be delivered by a member of the First Presidency and members of the Relief Society general presidency. The meeting will originate from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Those who live in areas where the meeting is broadcast live by satellite are encouraged to watch it together. Those who live in areas where the meeting is not broadcast live by satellite should meet to watch it when the rebroadcast or recording is available. The addresses given at the annual general Relief Society meeting are published as part of the general conference issue of the Church magazines. For information on audio and video streams, see the Broadcast event page.

Update 9/29 via LDSTech: LDS Relief Society Women’s Meeting (Thanks Larry!)

Live

During the meeting, you can watch live in 15 languages on conference.lds.org. More languages are available in audio only.

LDS.org will stream live audio in 64 languages. Users of the Mormon Channel mobile app can listen live in English and Spanish on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android, etc. as well as watch live on the Roku TV Mormon Channel.

Archives after the meeting

The live video cached stream of the event will be available right after the broadcast ends.
Audio in 70+ languages will be available on LDS.org and on the Mormon Channel in iTunes within 8 hours of the broadcast.

Video in 15 languages will start trickling in after that and will fill in completely within 24 hours of the broadcast at conference.lds.org, podcasts, iTunes, and YouTube.

Please share this information with family and friends.

Update: 2012 Highlights General Relief Society Broadcast

tDMg
Kathryn Skaggs


WBMW: New Relief Society President: Sad Good-bye and Happy Hello! 

One thing those of us who have been members of the Church, for many years, know, is that with every call there comes a release. Although such knowledge and acceptance does not always make it easy. Another thing I have learned is that God is in control, and it's now time to move foreward and welcome our new general Relief Society president, Linda Burton. She and her two counselors will need all of our prayers to sustain them in the great work they have been called to do.

LDS Newsroom: Relief Society Presidency

Mormon.org: What is the role of the husband and the wife in the family?

"Both mother and father have a necessary and important role in the lives of their children. Parents’ work in the home will be more effective if their first priorities are God, each other, and their children."