Jean B. Bingham

Relief Society General President

Having lived in several locations in the United States, Sister Jean B. Bingham appreciates how the gospel provides a stable influence during changes in environment.

Born in 1952 in Provo, Utah, USA, to Robert and Edith Joy Barrus, she grew up with six sisters and two brothers. She attended elementary school in Texas and Minnesota, USA, and finished high school in New Jersey. She and her siblings were the only LDS students in their schools until they moved to New Jersey, where she was delighted to discover a girl from her new ward in her class.

After she and Bruce Bingham married in the Provo Utah Temple on December 22, 1972, they moved to Illinois to continue his schooling.

Two children were born to Brother and Sister Bingham, and they claim as their own others whom they have fostered. She earned an associate degree in family living, and when their youngest child was in high school, she returned to school and earned a master’s degree in teaching.

Sister Bingham’s first calling in Relief Society came shortly after the birth of her first child. “I was called to teach the mother education lessons. It was a great opportunity to learn from the examples of other sisters as well as the manual.”

Sister Bingham traveled extensively during her service as a Primary general board member and as a counselor in the Primary General Presidency. She has seen the challenges and blessings of being a member of the Church in areas across the globe.

She hopes Relief Society sisters will recognize the goodness in one another. “It’s a temptation to compare ourselves with others, which is counterproductive and opposite of what Heavenly Father wants for us.” She says that Relief Society helps each sister develop an understanding of who she is in the eternal realm. “When we center our lives on Jesus Christ, we really know who we are,” she said.