SALT LAKE CITY – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held several sessions of their semi-annual General Conference Saturday, and the group Ordain Women gathered nearby to advocate for their goal to see women ordained to the LDS Church’s priesthood.
Members of the group believe women should be able to be ordained to the priesthood in the LDS Church, and Saturday they engaged in artistic depictions of moments in Mormon history when women exercised spiritual authority.
The members of the group said ordaining women will allow them to better serve members of the LDS Church.
“It's a way to say, 'We're part of Ordain Women, we would like access to these keys, and to this ability to serve and love and take care of our fellow religionists,'” said Mary Ellen Robertson of Ordain Women regarding Saturday’s event.
Ordain Women was founded in March of 2013, and their aim is to create a space for discussion on what they perceive to be gender inequality within the LDS Church.
Saturday’s event differs from previous events Ordain Women have held in concert with General Conference, as the group had protested in the past and even sought admission into the historically male-only Priesthood Session of General Conference, which is traditionally held Saturday night.
While the previous protesters did not achieve their goal of entry, it was around that same time that the LDS Church began making a broadcast of the Priesthood Session of conference available online so anyone could watch from home, if not in person.
