Exponent II's Blog, page 39

Doctrine and Covenants Come Follow Me Lesson Plans: Spring 2025

In 2025, we’re studying Doctrine and Covenants for the Come Follow Me curriculum, and we’re here to help with our bloggers’ feminist and nuanced lesson plans! Exponent II is here for you as always with our longstanding strategy of teaching lessons with a feminist perspective, historical context and inclusive content and language.

Here are some nuanced lessons plans covering Doctrine and Covenants Come Follow Me that align with the February, March and April Come Follow Me curriculum. Is the lesson you need to teach not here yet? No worries! We’ll continue to post new lesson plans as the year goes on. Keep checking our Doctrine and Covenants Come Follow Me Lesson Plans collection to find the new lesson plans we’ll add throughout the year.

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 12–17; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–75 “Upon You My Fellow Servants”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 12–17; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–75 “Upon You My Fellow Servants”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 18 “The worth of souls is great”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 18 “The worth of souls is great”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 19: “Learn of Me”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 19: “Learn of Me”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 20–22 “The Rise of the Church of Christ”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 20–22 “The Rise of the Church of Christ”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 30–36 “Lift up your voices …to declare my gospel”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 30–36 “Lift up your voices …to declare my gospel”

Easter Come Follow Me lesson

Come Follow Me: Easter

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 37–40 “If Ye Are Not One Ye Are Not Mine”

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 37–40 “If Ye Are Not One Ye Are Not Mine”

Sacred Music Sunday: Faith in Every Footstep

The church released the third batch from the new hymnal last week, and it contains a mixture of hymns I’m familiar with and ones that are new to me. One distinctly Mormon addition is Faith in Every Footstep, which was written to commemorate the pioneers and their faith.

I grew up in California, where the pioneers arrived a year before they arrived in Utah, so we had our big sesquicentennial celebration in 1996, before the whole church-wide celebration in 1997. The stake youth did a big play that we rehearsed for months, and the grand finale was Faith in Every Footstep.

Although the hymn was written about people crossing the plains in wagons and handcarts, or sailing and landing in gold country before deciding whether to stay or proceed east to join the rest of the saints, there’s nothing explicitly pioneer about the words. Just as the pioneers exercised faith in their footsteps, we can exercise faith in ours, wherever those footsteps might take us.

A Love Poem to My Friends

[image error]Image is from Unsplash.com

(Dedicated to the friends who continue to love me as I grow, evolve, and change. I love you.)

To the friends who hear me—

Who have listened to my stories filled with anger, unfolding family dramas.

And stood by me as my faith diminished 

smaller than a mustard seed—

Who open their hearts and share their own losses and griefs,

It is Reciprocity 

In one word—

Holy. 

To all of us on the rollercoaster that is children-rearing. 

Oh, God, it’s all so hard… 

But to receive those texts of milestones is everything— 

When babies are latching, sleeping through the night, potty training and saying their first words, 

Watching our kids transform from little to big,

Some now in the teen years of crushes, bullies, and breakups,

Alongside acne and braces.

Conversations about our marriages and their seasons of plenty and famine, 

In-laws who suck and in-laws who rock.

Work, in the home and in the office— 

We always have more to do.

Supporting each other through Big Life Things—

Races, book deals, graduations,

TV stardom, podcasts, performances—

Therapy, medication, sickness, surgeries,

Divorces, diagnoses, and death.

Damn. 

Showing up—

To plays, funerals, book events, showers—

Time together.

Birthday wishes, hugs, treats and flowers,

Huddled on couches telling stories teary-eyed,

And Marco Polo replies on long car rides.

Screaming “F*(/< the patriarchy!” into the night sky,

Burning in fire what we must say farewell to, like

Purity culture,

Blind obedience,

Appeasing others.

And sharing what we will hold on to, like

Our wholeness,

Chasing dreams,

Creating magic. 

The girls’ trips away–

Tarot card readings, 

Late-night sex talks and musings,

Hot tubs with champagne, 

Bunco, dinners, and pickleballing.

Solving the world’s problems,

I’m convinced that we could…

Delusional? Perhaps. 

But my friends are pretty convincing.

I brag about them–

The talents my friends have make me more talented by association.

Published writings, art shows, decorated cookies, and sewing masterpieces,

Using their resources for good, always

Sending money for causes and tragedies, organizing meal trains, raising awareness.

Hospitals and communities and businesses are better because of what my friends do.

I am the luckiest.

Are they doing the same things as me when we are not together? 

Making lunches and dinners and tying shoes…

Making love and grocery shopping? 

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

We are mothers and daughters, wives and coworkers, PTA members and drivers and some church-goers,

All are connected in this web of life,

To live, laugh, love (ha!!), and rage with.

Mourning the Loss of a Compassionate Government

Like many Americans I am shocked by how quickly this second Trump Presidency is dismantling the Federal Government. 

I’m especially mourning the seeming loss of any compassion. Yes, the Federal Government could be clunky and bureaucratic, but at least it was trying to make people’s lives better. 

Several months ago I started working on a blog post with the working title, “I prayed to God for help, the help came from the government.” This was supposed to be a response to the rhetoric of “Letting God Prevail” in our lives. I had realized that many of the times I felt God prevailing in my life I was actually receiving the benefits of social programs.

For example, the first time my husband and I filed taxes after our twins were born we received a large tax refund mostly due to the Earned Income Tax Credit. That refund allowed us to pay off a car loan, buy some much needed items, and still put money into savings. We had been scrimping and saving to get by. That refund felt like a gift from God. Looking back it still feels like a gift from God, but I am also able to see that it was the result of progressive policies put in place by people who cared about low income families. 

I never finished writing that blog post, but in light of the way the current administration aiming to cut social programs I feel it is important to chronicle the many ways the federal government helped my young family. 

Before I had children I assumed that my husband and I would never need to rely on social programs. Our income would be high and/or our budgeting skills would be disciplined enough to keep us from needing any sort of “handouts.” That illusion was shattered rather quickly. My husband graduated from college into the economy of the Great Recession. This was at the same time my body decided to figure out fertility – without consulting me. We had four children in less than three years. (Twins, a baby 17 months later, and then another baby 17 months after that.)

My husband’s first choice for a career did not work out. He joined the military to support our family and to try to do the military version of his career choice. His time in the military was cut short due to some medical concerns. He went back to school for a second degree in a related field. Soon after graduating with that degree the pandemic started and sent him in yet another career direction. When he did make it into a decent paying job, inflation made it so that a higher income didn’t go as far as it had a few years earlier.  

Through all the changes I was grateful for the social programs that helped us keep our family afloat. WIC, Medicaid/CHIP, the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, Free School Lunch and Breakfast, these programs helped our young family over and over again. 

There were other ways the government helped my family. Here are a few of them:

I have children with learning disabilities who have benefited from 504 plans and IEPs at school. My children currently attend Title 1 schools that have additional para-professionals to help with things like reading intervention. When my husband left the military he was able to go back to school thanks to the Post 9/11 GI Bill. His tuition was paid for and we received a housing allowance each month. He was able to pick the school in whatever state he wanted and only pay resident tuition because of the Yellow Ribbon program. He has had health care available through the VA. When my husband was back in school and I was working nearly full time we needed to send our children to daycare when they were not in school. A government program paid for the majority of the daycare bill.A couple years ago my family qualified for a grant that covered education related expenses. We were able to purchase musical instruments for my two oldest children with that grant.When my husband was terminated from a job he was able to collect unemployment benefits until he found a new job. 

Occasionally we had help from our extended families or the church. But when I look back over the years since I became a parent I see that the bulk of the help our family received was from social programs administered by the state and federal government. 

I used to think that God was providing all these “blessings” as a reward for my husband and I being faithful in raising our children despite numerus obstacles. I would like to still believe that God was helping us financially. But now I see that we were being helped by social programs that had been put in place by caring individuals who lobbied, advocated, and worked to get these programs established.

I am saddened to see the programs that I relied on be threatened. My children are older so I am able to work more now. I expected our family to no longer qualify for certain programs soon. But I worry about the parents with children younger than mine. They are going to be raising children in a world that is less kind. Will Medicaid exist to cover the cost of filling a cavity? Will the Department of Education exist and protect things like IEP’s for children who need extra support at school? Will children from low income families have food at lunch time?

These are just the programs that have affected me. I know that there are other programs that have been threatened or already shuttered. Things like USAID, Social Security, Medicare, the list seems to grow every day.

I am mourning the loss of the compassion our government used to have. And in some ways I’m mourning the loss of a God I once believed in. Who will answer prayers for help? Will God find another way to help families if the government isn’t doing the job? I’d like to hope so, but I’m not sure.

Photo by nikko macaspac on Unsplash

Our Bloggers Recommend: ‘Sugarcane’… in regards to “The Indian Problem”

National Geographic has just come out with a new documentary that is worth your time.

Sugarcane

The documentary states that hundreds of thousands of children attended Indian schools across North America. There were 139 in Canada and 408 in the United States. The last one closed in 1997.

One of them was is Utah’s Brigham City, established in 1949 and closed in 1984.

This article shows a more positive side to the Utah school.

This was White North American’s attempt to “remove the Indian” from those who lived on the land first. This was colonization of the mind in the form of “missionary work.” This was what was considered, “the Indian problem.”

This documentary speaks about the rape and abuse done to the young girls and boys by the Priests and what they did with the babies from those acts of rape.

Sunstone’s Mormon History Podcast

You would also benefit to know how our Mormon ancestors contributed to the efforts to wipe out the Native population.

Wasters and Destroyers: Episode 112 (this one hit too close to home for me. Our Mormon ancestors participated in the genocide of the Timpanogos tribe. My Mormon ancestors settled all over on Timpanogos land.)

The Indian Slave Trade: Episode 124

The Walker War, Part 1: Episode 126

The Walker War, Part 2: Episode 127

Why deliberately watch/listen to something that will most definitely make you cry? Perhaps the collective knowledge will hopefully help us see where we can actively vote for people and policies that take all of this knowledge into consideration, and make a better world for those that it was taken from.

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 18 “The worth of souls is great”

“The worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”

Read the following scripture:

10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God

Doctrine and Covenants 18:10

What is a soul?Why are souls of great worth to God?How should knowing the worth of souls affect how we think about and treat others?How should knowing the worth of souls affect how we think about and treat ourselves?

Invite class members to silently reread Doctrine and Covenants 18:10, this time continuing on to also read versus 11 and 12. Instruct them to substitute their own name in place of the words “soul,” “souls,” and “all men.” (For children, ask for class members who would like to hear these scriptures with their own names included, and read it aloud for them.)

10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.

12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.

13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!

Doctrine and Covenants 18:10-13

How did personalizing this scripture affect you? What did it make you think and feel?How could these verses help someone who questions his or her worth? How does God show you that you are of great worth?

Activities for Children

Show children this image from Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 18.

How are some of these kids like you?How are some of these kids different from you?Why do we need lots of different people in the world? How does it help us when people who are different from each other work and play together?

Listen to the Primary song, “Every Star Is Different”

Children may enjoy filling out the I am of Great Worth coloring page while you discuss this concept. (Note: traditionally, many teachers use coloring as a way to fill time at the end of the lesson. However, you might consider letting kids color during the lesson, as a way to keep their hands busy.)

God relishes our potential.

Share and discuss these quotes from former General Primary President Rosemary M. Wixom. 

Looking out through a window, not just into a mirror, allows us to see ourselves as His. We naturally turn to Him in prayer, and we are eager to read His words and to do His will. We are able to take our validation vertically from Him, not horizontally from the world around us or from those on Facebook or Instagram.
–President Rosemary M Wixom

What does it mean to look “out through a window” instead of “into a mirror”? To take validation “vertically” instead of “horizontally”? How can we apply this counsel in our lives?

Because you are His child, He knows who you can become. He knows your fears and your dreams. He relishes your potential. He waits for you to come to Him in prayer. Because you are His child, you not only need Him, but He also needs you. Those sitting around you right now in this meeting need you. The world needs you, and your divine nature allows you to be His trusted disciple to all His children. Once we begin to see the divinity in ourselves, we can see it in others.-President Rosemary M Wixom

Why would God need us?  How is “relishing” your potential different than simply “knowing” your potential?The Lord rejoices when I repent.

As you read this scripture, consider how it relates to the worth of souls being great in the sight of God.

15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

Doctrine and Covenants18:15-16

How does this scripture relate to the worth of souls being great on the sight of God?How do these verses affect how you feel about repentance?Differentiating between Worth and Worthiness

As you discuss these quotes,  keep a running list on the whiteboard of clarifications between worth and worthiness.

Let me point out the need to differentiate between two critical words: worth and worthiness. They are not the same. Spiritual worth means to value ourselves the way Heavenly Father values us, not as the world values us. Our worth was determined before we ever came to this earth. “God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever.” (D. Todd Christofferson, 2016)

On the other hand, worthiness is achieved through obedience. If we sin, we are less worthy, but we are never worth less! We continue to repent and strive to be like Jesus with our worth intact. As President Brigham Young taught: “The least, the most inferior spirit now upon the earth … is worth worlds.” (Brigham Young, 1861) No matter what, we always have worth in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. -President Joy D. Jones

Our divine nature has nothing to do with our personal accomplishments, the status we achieve, the number of marathons we run, or our popularity and self-esteem. Our divine nature comes from God. It was established in an existence that preceded our birth and will continue on into eternity. –President Rosemary M Wixom

The worth of a soul is its capacity to become as God. -an LDS Elders Quorum President, as quoted by Thomas S. Monson

After the discussion, your list may look like this:

WorthWorthinessthe way God and Christ value us
not how the world values us
constant/does not change
great/infinite
unaffected by sins or accomplishments
equal to our potential to become like Godachieved with obedience
temporarily lessened with sin
returns with repentanceWhy do we need to distinguish between worth and worthiness?How does failing to differentiate affect the way we think about ourselves and others? How does it affect how we treat ourselves and others?“Build up my church.”

In Doctrine and Covenants 18, the Lord gave Oliver Cowdery instructions to help lay the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ. You might consider how this same counsel applies to you as you build up the church in your area and build your personal faith.

5 Wherefore, if you shall build up my church, upon the foundation of my gospel and my rock, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you.

Doctrine and Covenants18:5

How do you build your life on “the foundation of [the Savior’s] gospel and [His] rock”? How can you so your part to help the church build on “the foundation of [the Savior’s] gospel and [His] rock”?

18 Ask the Father in my name in faith, believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men.

19 And if you have not faith, hope, and charity, you can do nothing.

Doctrine and Covenants 18:18-19

How do these scriptures elaborate on how we can build up the church and our personal faith?

34 These words are not of men nor of man, but of me; wherefore, you shall testify they are of me and not of man;

35 For it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you, and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power you could not have them;

36 Wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words.

Doctrine and Covenants 18:34-36

How is reading the scriptures like hearing the Lord’s voice?Have you ever felt like the scriptures were speaking to you? What was that experience like?

Mormon Microfeminisms

Recently I came across a video of women sharing their favorite “microfeminism” online. Intrigued, I had to do more digging into this concept. A microfeminism is a small, everyday action that challenges gender bias and inequality. Coined online by TikTokers, these seemingly tiny actions can force others to confront their internal biases and preconceived notions. They can also break down stereotypes and sponsor better actions. As the scriptures say, “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6).

Some popular examples of microfeminism include:

•Holding the door open for men

•Not moving out of the way for men when walking

•Writing a woman’s name first on an invite

•Referring to animals as “she”

I absolutely love this concept! After learning the term, I realized microfeminisms are something I’ve been doing as I’ve deconstructed patriarchy over the years. The place I use them the most are in relation to Mormonism, unsurprisingly.

The LDS Church is the most sexist organization I’ve been a part of and the place where I confront inequality on a regular basis. It’s literally written into the covenants I made and built my life on. I can’t turn a blind eye or pretend that distinctly Mormon inequality doesn’t exist or affect me every day. I’ll never be able to rewire my brain from the trauma of a childhood absorbing the messages of sexism and misogyny in the name of a mediocre white man’s God.

But I can push back and make my future––and the future of my children––a much better and equitable place. Even as my own personal relationship with the church evolves, I truly believe that I will always be Mormon at the core of me, no matter what my faith status. And so as I approach church on my own terms, I dig more into actions that make clear where I stand. Microfeminisms are a subtle but powerful way I can do that in an organization that will not respond outright opposition. They are also a way to agitate and make people a little uncomfortable. Change doesn’t happen when there is no reason to rethink the status quo.

It’s been interesting to watch the reactions to my microfeminisms, especially by patriarchal men. It often throws them off, makes them flounder, or become highly defensive. I’ve thrown off entire Sunday school lessons with my honest comments. In the best scenarios, I’ve forced people to stop and rethink. I’ve received countless thank you’s from people who appreciated me saying the hard things out loud.

I’m under no delusions that microfeminisms alone can change the church. But they are a place to start! Especially for those who might be more timid about bold action or aren’t the heathen feminist blogger in their family (that’s meeeee). Pick a couple of small actions to take and see how they make you feel. Embrace your power and take up the space you deserve to fill! We all are on a different journey and choose to be part of (or not a part of) the Mormon community in different ways for a variety of reasons. But together, we can make an impact, even if that impact is only within ourselves to reclaim our personal authority and spirituality.

Are you willing to try it out? Here’s a list of ideas to get us started:

•Mention Heavenly Mother in prayers and testimonies (“I know She sent Her son to die for us…”)

•Call the Relief Society, Primary, and Young Women’s presidents, “President” instead of “Sister”

•Be upfront in conversation about callings and assignments and willing to say no without guilt

•Call couples “Sister and Brother X”

•Say “Good morning sisters and brothers” or “Good morning my friends/fellow worshippers”

•Refer to God as She or They

•Switch genders when reading scriptures out loud in class (“And it came to pass that she…”)

•Ask men if they need help with tasks that women don’t get asked to do

•Suggest or assign men to make treats, organize meal trains, or decorate

•Wear a tie to church

•Compliment other women you see in the halls

•Call out assumptions about women’s roles as wives and mothers

•Email/text dads instead of moms when you need to send information for primary or youth

•Let the bishopric know every time you hear them thank “the priesthood” for passing the sacrament

•Ask for new members’ and visitors’ pronouns

•Text the bishop every time there’s an all-male line up speaking in sacrament

•Put a copy of Exponent II magazine in the mother’s lounge

•Claim your space in ward council

•Only quote women when giving talks

•Pray out loud for the general Relief Society presidency instead of the prophet/Q12

•Call out sexist, racist, ableist comments in Sunday School

•Challenge the old guy mansplaining polygamy during Gospel Doctrine

•Remind other women that they are allowed to take up space and have their needs met

•Welcome and sit by LGBTQ+ members

What else would you add to this list?

Coming to the table with Wilda Gafney’s ‘Womanist Midrash’

To celebrate Juneteenth a few years ago, I bought a book I’d had my eye on for a while: “Womanist Midrash, Volume 1: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne,” by Dr. Wilda Gafney. It came highly recommended from a couple of scholars whose work I enjoy, and I was at a point in my life when I was looking at the Bible and realizing, “This is not working.”

It came at some point after seeing paintings and videos of scenes from the Bible and, embarrassingly late in life, realizing all of these people from ancient Southwest Asia should not be this white. And that all of the interpretations and teachings I got from the Bible came from white, mostly male, leaders. And that what I was being told was correct was increasingly at odds with what I was reading, what I was taking from the text and what I was finding through the practice of midrash.

The book is a game-changer. Dr. Gafney is a Black woman and a scholar of the Hebrew Bible who tears down and rebuilds the stories I’ve known my whole life from angles I’d never been taught and never considered. She gives life and voices to women—Black life and Black voices. The Bible explodes open through her visionary writing, which is meant, she says on page 2, for all of us—we are all welcome at her table:

“This text is written for those who read the Bible as a religious text, who look to it for teaching and preaching, inspiration and illumination; to offer religious readers an exegetical and hermeneutical resources that delves deeply into the canon(s) and draws on marginal and marginalized women as scriptural exemplars.”

First, some definitions

Womanism: Put simply, this is black feminism. Black American author Alice Walker introduced the term in “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens.” But womanism is more than black feminism. It embraces liberation theology, the idea that the gospel of Jesus Christ must have as its center the liberation of all people. It rejects the racism and centering of white women that often happens in American feminism and does not hold space for an either/or approach. Gafney calls it a “richer, deeper, liberative paradigm; a social, cultural, and political space and theological matrix with the experiences and multiple identities of black women at the center” (2, footnote).

Midrash: This is a spiritual practice that started millennia ago in Judaism; it aims to understand and interpret the Tanakh more fully by essentially filling in the blanks, of which there are many. In recent decades, feminist scholars in Christianity and Judaism have embraced midrash as a way to give stories and voices back to the women of the Hebrew Bible and Christian (New) Testament. I love this practice; I both read and write my own midrash, and through it I have experienced elation, grief, anger, love and understanding. I’ve read the same stories from different angles and considered what could have actually happened, what, if I strip away the words, interpretations, expectations and patriarchy, what our foremothers might be saying.

Why womanism matters

Broadly, the more voices and perspectives and interpretations we have from the Bible, the better. This is a collection of individual books or letters, written over several centuries, the earliest works passed down orally for generations before being written down. For most of history, they have been written, translated, interpreted, edited, revised by men with a specific purpose: to tell the story of the One True God who has always was and always will be, unchanging, all-powerful, male.

The reality of the Bible is way more complicated than that. In fact, the reality of the Bible is a bit of an oxymoron. There is no “correct” translation or “right” interpretation. We don’t know what was originally written down. We don’t know how far from the events in question the first stories were committed to paper. We don’t know how many times they were rewritten, revised, changed, both intentionally and not. But we know it was a lot, and we’ve all played the game of Telephone and seen what can happen to a simple message the further it gets from its source. We can’t rely on the One True Narrative because that does not and has never existed.

Narrowly, the Bible says what we each bring to it. And when for much of the last two millennia, the people allowed to read and interpret and preach from the Bible were bringing a lot of the same—they were white or of European descent, they were men, they were interested in keeping and maintaining power. They often wielded the words of the Bible to their own advantage. Did you know the words of Paul were used by preachers in the American South to justify slavery? And we all know how the words of Paul have been wielded against women. (Are those really the words of Paul? And is he actually saying that? Again, it’s complicated. But the church—both the Mormon church and the broad Christian church—has accepted them as the words of Paul and the leaders use them to their advantage. So.)

We need people with different experiences reading and interpreting the Bible—people who see and uplift the marginalized, who notice those whose stories go by without getting a name, who take different lessons from the stories we’ve all been taught since childhood has only one lesson. We need scholars who see characters in the Bible with different default skin colors. I am trying to do this, but after so long seeing white as the default, it is a struggle. It is important that I do it anyway.

And finally, it matters because there is not representation of women in color in Mormonism. There is not enough representation on The Exponent II. Nicole Sbitani wrote an excellent piece, “Making Mormon feminist spaces more inclusive,” that lays out ways that spaces like this are, both intentionally and unintentionally, unfriendly to women of color. We need to make sure—I need to make sure—that we, like the white male preachers of the last 2,000 years, are not upholding our experiences and interpretations and power as correct and God-given at the expense of others.

Gafney writes: “Womanists and feminists ask different questions of a text than do other readers and different questions from each other. And we also ask some of the same questions, and we arrive at similar and dissonant conclusions. Privileging the crossroads between our Afro-diasporic identity (embodiment and experience) and our gender (performance and identity), we ask questions about power, authority, voice, agency, hierarchy, inclusion, and exclusion. The readings enrich all readers from any perspective. The questions we ask enrich our own understanding and the understandings of those with whom we are in conversation” (7).

Hagar, an African mother who named God

Dr. Gafney gives the women of Genesis and the women of David’s kingdom a voice; you should read them all. Close your eyes when you finish her words and imagine these women in different settings, looking different than you may have imagined them or seen them in paintings before, but knowing they still belong in these stories—that they have grown and become more majestic as they encompass all of God’s children.

But there is one who bears special mention: Hagar. She is African. She is a slave. Her bodily autonomy is taken from her. She is abused. She is abandoned in the desert and retreats from her dying son, unwilling to watch his last breaths. She cries out in injustice. She also is the only person in the Bible given the honor of naming God (Gen. 16:13).

“The Hebrew text beginning with Genesis 16 makes it clear that Hagar has no say over her body being given to Abram or her child being given to Sarai. Hagar is on the underside of all of the power curves in operation at that time, as noted by Renita Weems, Delores Williams, and many, many others: she is female, foreign, enslaved. She has one source of power: she is fertile; but she lacks autonomy over her own fertility. Sarai is infertile, and the text suggests that, as a result, Hagar held Sarai ‘in low esteem.’ Hagar’s disposition towards Sarai is framed with the word q-l-l, ‘to curse’ or to ‘hold worthless,’ that is, ‘light,’ little,’ or ‘nothing.’ It may not be that Hagar views Sarai was nothing because Sarai is infertile and Hagar is fertile. Rather, it may be that Hagar regards Sarai as nothing and/or curses her because Sarai uses Hagar’s body for her own reproductive purposes. Why should a sex-slave, forced in gestating someone else’s child, think highly of her or bless her enslaver? Perhaps the text singles out Hagar’s feelings toward Sarai because Sarai is primarily responsible for Hagar’s sexual subjugation. Abram’s complicity is secondary. Sarai is free; she has some societal privilege as Abram’s woman and Hagar’s mistress. But she is still an infertile woman in a male-dominated world, both of which imperil her status; she seeks to attain/restore her status on and in Hagar’s body” (41).

Dr. Gafney notes that the verb describing the violence Sarai inflicts on Hagar in Gen. 16:6 is the same verb used in Exodus 1:1 to describe the violence Egypt inflicts on Israel. We’ve all seen “The Ten Commandments.” We have images in our minds about the severity, the cruelty, the inhumanity of that violence. Yet when it is inflicted on one marginalized African woman and her child, it is whitewashed.

This is not the story I grew up knowing, put as it was through the white Christian/Mormon telling of Sarai the faithful, patient, put-upon wife who was doing the best she could. And it’s possible that is largely true—she was faithful, she was struggling, she’d been promised something that did not appear to be coming. But that does not take away the other side of the story—Hagar’s story, who experienced this woman vastly differently. And who deserves to have a voice as much as Sarai did. Who deserves to be remembered as a mother of a great nation, a victim of abuse who survived and found her way home, a woman who stood face to face with God and spoke as an equal.

Find “Womanist Midrash” by Dr. Wilda Gafney on Bookshop.org. (I also discovered looking this up that Volume 2 has been published!) Both books are published by Westminster John Knox Press.

8 Ways to Make Church Less Boring

My main image is a photo of my son building hymnbook towers when he was younger. I let him do this and afterwards he told me it was the first time he’d ever had fun at church.

This was my middle daughter and two nieces, who made a facedown massage line to pass the time. I was so sad nobody invited me to join!

The other day I sat down and came up with eight easy ways to make church 100 times better, based on my own personal experience as a person who once loved church…but still needed so, so much more than I received.

My parents are both converts who came from families with mixed religious backgrounds. Because of this, I attended services other than LDS meetings as a child, including my two favorites: Methodist Bible Camp in North Carolina the week of my eighth birthday (coming home to Utah to be baptized in a boring mass stake baptism right after was such a letdown of an experience after my fun week there!), and “The Rock” church, a rock-‘n’-roll Christian meeting in the south that felt more like a fun concert than a stiff and formal church meeting.

As an adult, I proactively toured other local congregations in the mid 2010s during one of my husband’s military deployments. I attended Unitarian Universalist meetings, Community of Christ, the Episcopal Church, and Alpine Bible Church. All of them had different things to offer that my LDS services were lacking. Here are the things they did well that I think we could emulate to make our meetings much more enjoyable and spiritually fulfilling:

1. Hire a full-time religious leader for each ward.

This should be someone who attended divinity school to learn how to be an effective pastor. Rely on that person for the bulk of Sunday worship speaking, not the ward members. While I understand the benefits of letting youth and regular ward members practice preparing talks and speaking in front of everyone, couldn’t it just be a small part at the beginning instead of the whole meeting? For the main sermon we could turn the time over to someone who prepares for religious discourse as their full-time job.

I loved the pastor at the Unitarian Universalist Church. She gave such beautiful lessons and I hung on to her every word. After leaving, I’d think about her sermons and stories for weeks. She was incredible at public speaking because it was her job and she was professionally trained to do it. Why are we so afraid to hire a professional clergy member to give our Sunday sermons? Think of your absolutely very favorite teacher or speaker – what if that person was the pastor and taught you every single week from the pulpit? 

2 Make the music more lively!

Why does holy have to also be so boring and so slow? I understand a reverent hymn right before the Sacrament, but why must we remain boring after that? My first experience with a rock n’ roll church was so much fun. I left feeling invigorated and excited and full of joy and energy. Absolutely nothing about it being lively and loud took away from the messages they were teaching. In fact, I was riveted to every word and couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards! I was a teenager when I attended this meeting and it’s still locked into my memory as one of the most fun church experiences I’ve ever had.

I even remember the parking lot, because was enormous and packed with cars. If you didn’t get there early for the first meeting, you’d have to turn around and come back to get a seat at the afternoon one instead. People were going way out of their way to attend there – never out of duty or habit. It was fun!

3. Pay for professional childcare for the babies and toddlers, and hire professional youth ministry pastors to run the youth programs for kids and teenagers.

I cannot express what a difference that made for me as a young mom attending meetings solo when my husband was deployed. I normally sat in Sacrament Meetings stressed out and alone, trying to keep three bored kids quiet in one section of a pew for an hour without killing each other.

At other churches, I would drop off my baby with the professional nursery staff before the meeting began, then my older kids would leave with the youth group to meetings geared towards their interests. I would stay in the main assembly hall all by myself to listen to the sermon with no distraction, and I will tell you… It was heavenly. It felt like a break from my 24/7 childcare duties and I absorbed every second of it as opposed to dreading it and just trying to survive.

4. Solicit questions and topics from the members of the congregation so the (professional) pastor can address the topics most pressing to members of the ward.

Too often in LDS meetings we just hear one inexperienced speaker after another regurgitate a talk from the latest general conference. The talk may have absolutely nothing to do with them at that point in their life (like a teenage boy assigned a talk about eternal marriage). The talk may be irrelevant to the members of that particular ward (like a talk about keeping the Sabbath day more holy to a group of farmers who have to work on Sundays to care for their animals and crops).

If the pastor of the congregation knew what common questions and concerns the members were having, that person could study, pray and adjust their Sunday sermons to meet the local needs.

5. Let people clap!

Why on earth do we not applaud when people give a great musical performance? How is showing appreciation for their hard work not appropriate in a religious setting? And when the music is catchy (assuming we get more fun songs) why not clap along to the beat? It’s so much more engaging and energizing to be physically included in the music. 

6. Make our buildings less cookie cutter, cost effective and styled like the 1990s.

We spend so, so, so much money on temples. They are incredibly extravagant with furniture imported from around the world and high ceilings with stained glass and original artwork. Unfortunately, very few people see the inside of a temple on any given week, and certainly not any children or investigators or inactive members.

Why do we spare no expense for a very tiny portion of worshippers? They could do all of the temple ordinances just fine in a bland building, as long as it was dedicated for the work, but imagine if we had beautiful cathedrals for worship that everyone was invited into.

I once attended Catholic mass in Europe. I remember being mostly unimpressed with the service itself because it felt monotonous, but oh my… the building we worshipped in was extraordinary! Every window was a work of art. Statues and stained glass and paintings and a huge, cavernous ceiling that made you feel like you weren’t on earth anymore. It felt like heaven. And best of all, it was open to anyone, all the time. Even if the services alone didn’t appeal to me, just the beauty of the building alone made it a spiritual experience for me. 

Image from K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash.com

7. Have time set aside after services to meet, mingle and serve.

Instead of gathering my kids and immediately leaving at the end, at both the Episcopal and Unitarian Universalist churches we’d gather in a large room for drinks, food and friendship. I enjoyed talking to people and learning about them, and I loved that on certain weeks a group would leave and go to the local food bank to help sort and stock shelves.

I considered the service my ward was doing that week, which was a ward temple trip. We were carpooling to a very expensive and exclusive building to do what was often repeated work for people who were dead. I longed for a service that took us outside of our own religious community and into the general community, but we mostly served each other or dead people.

8. Finally, stop blaming the members of the church if they’re struggling to enjoy Sunday meetings.

When I was a young mom with a frequently absent military spouse, it was hard to survive Sunday meetings with small children. There are plenty of non-military wives who have the same experience because their husbands are in meetings all day and on the stand. I’d go desperately wanting to be spiritually fed but leave exhausted and sad. The only advice and help I received was to come better prepared and look for what I could do to serve others more. This didn’t help me. It shouldn’t be solely on the worn-out individual members to make church a better experience.

Members of the LDS church are highly dedicated to their religion and will continue to attend no matter how boring or bland the worship services are. But just because everyone puts up with it, doesn’t mean leaders don’t have a responsibility to improve the Sunday experience for everyone who attends.

We Must Not Pre-Comply with Authority

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in the summer of 2020, I started binge reading books on American history, politics, and sociology. In many courses I teach, students want to know what to do about sexism and racism in society once they understand its history and the many ways it shows up in every day life.

Ibram Kendi recommends supporting and voting for policies and candidates that are anti-racist and anti-sexist.

Heather McGhee reminds us that social forces often put pressure on us to see others who share our identities as our allies. Instead, we must learn to find solidarity and build bridges with people and groups who do not share our identities but with whom our interests are aligned.

Mikki Kendall offers a vision of an inclusive feminism that seeks the thriving of all in society by tackling poverty, food insecurity, housing, gun violence, and other issues not traditionally understood as feminist ones.

After the election in November 2024, I re-read Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny, which serves as an informed listicle of ways that we can resist the onslaught of racist, sexist, anti-immigration, anti-trans, ablest, and anti-democratic tide of executive orders and legislative bills at the state and national levels.

Snyder’s point that resonates with me the most is that we must resist pre-complying with unjust laws and policies. If we pre-promise that we are going to comply with rules that hurt other people, we will not be able to resist when our moment of truth comes.

This is especially important for us in the Mormon, fringe Mormon, and ExMo communities. Over and over again, I heard as a child, teen, and adult, that “Obedience is the first law of heaven,” a statement not supported by scripture. We were taught to pre-comply with authority and to acquiesce to the demands of leadership, regardless of the consequences to ourselves and others, in the name of faith and obedience.

A new state law in Utah, passed in 2024 (HB 261), requires professors at state universities and colleges to submit all course readings and lecture outlines for required courses to a publicly available database.

At my university, I see professors racing remove potentially controversial content from their courses in an effort to pre-comply with a legislature that is anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some feel that by doing so they will protect themselves from this new state surveillance system, but at the expense of student learning.

Pre-complying in this way makes it easier for the state to remove academic freedom and to police content taught at universities that is about inequality in our society, because such content is viewed as controversial from an extreme political point of view. We live in a world full of complex systems and we must continue to teach our students about these realities.

I am actively talking to colleagues about continuing to teach content that is socially relevant to our courses, our research, and the lives of our students. In this time of fear, we must not pre-comply.