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Women’s Service and Leadership in the Church

“Women’s Service and Leadership in the Church,” Topics and Questions (2025)

Relief Society President in Mumbai India

Church and Gospel Questions

Women’s Service and Leadership in the Church

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Overview

All women are beloved daughters of God. Each has infinite worth and value to Him. In our Heavenly Father’s plan, all of His children have the potential to return to Him and receive the blessings of exaltation.

The purpose of God’s Church is to help His children come unto Christ, make covenants, and be strengthened in our efforts to live according to those covenants. When we do, we can ultimately, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, inherit all that our Father has. Scriptures and modern-day prophets teach that neither men nor women can be exalted without the other.

Women and men work and counsel together to bless God’s children. Women contribute to the Lord’s work as they testify of Jesus Christ, strengthen friends and families, share the gospel, contribute to communities, minister to those in need, and serve and lead in the Church.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, women and men serve together to help accomplish God’s work. Seeking to be “one in Christ,” all Church members can strive to improve their efforts to value all of God’s children, including His beloved daughters.

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Exploring Your Questions

How do women serve in their local congregations?

Women lead, teach, testify, and contribute to the work of the Lord. In worship services women instruct the congregation about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They expound scripture, preach doctrine, and testify of the Savior. Women prepare and teach lessons, offer prayers, and provide sacred music.

All women 18 years of age and older in the Church belong to the Relief Society. In the Relief Society, women serve as presidents, counselors, secretaries, ministering sisters, and teachers. Relief Society and elders quorum presidencies together lead efforts in sharing the gospel, temple and family history work, and ministering to those in need. The Relief Society presidency works with the bishopric and other ward leaders to identify and assist with spiritual and temporal needs within their wards and communities. Relief Society sisters also organize humanitarian efforts to bring the relief offered by Jesus Christ to people around the world.

Women also serve in local Young Women and Primary organizations as presidents, counselors, secretaries, advisers, and teachers. In the temple, endowed women serve as temple leaders and ordinance workers and act as witnesses for sealings and baptisms.

In their teenage years, young women serve in class presidencies, teach gospel lessons, speak and pray during worship services, and receive ministering assignments to care for and uplift those in their local area. Young women also worship in the temple and serve as witnesses at baptisms.

At age 19, women are eligible to serve missions throughout the world. Thousands of women are called as missionaries each year to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and testify of Him. They make a profound influence on God’s children as they help bring others closer to the Savior.

How do women participate in leadership of the worldwide Church?

Members of the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary General Presidencies serve together with members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other General Authorities to serve God and His children. Women serve on many of the highest governing councils and committees in the Church. These include the Priesthood and Family Executive Council, the Missionary Executive Council, the Temple and Family History Executive Council, the Church Communication Committee, the Church Board of Education Executive Committee, and the Correlation Executive Committee, which oversee many significant aspects of the Church’s global work. The Relief Society General Presidency also serves with the Presiding Bishopric of the Church on the Welfare and Self-Reliance Executive Committee to address humanitarian needs around the world.

The Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary General Presidencies travel, teach, and minister to Church members and others around the world. They meet with government leaders and humanitarian organizations. The presidencies also speak to the global Church in general conference and address Church leaders in general conference leadership meetings. In addition, the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary General Presidencies have advisory councils made up of women who help serve, instruct, and watch over their respective organizations worldwide.

Women throughout the world also serve as area organization advisers. These advisers collaborate with other Church leaders to orient and instruct new stake Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary presidencies in their area.

How can Church members help ensure that women’s voices and perspectives are valued and respected?

President Russell M. Nelson taught the women of the Church that their voices and perspectives are essential: “We … need your strength, your conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom, and your voices. The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who make sacred covenants and then keep them, women who can speak with the power and authority of God.”

All Church members should be intentional and vigilant in valuing and respecting women’s voices and perspectives. This includes seeking their insights in Church meetings, councils, and classes; listening to and learning from their messages in local congregations; and valuing the inspiration they receive in their callings. Members are blessed as they heed the counsel given by women in general conference, study their messages, and apply their teachings to their lives.

An important way the Church seeks to elevate women’s voices is through leadership councils, including those that lead local congregations. In these councils, women and men help resolve issues through discussion, inspiration, and revelation. Elder David A. Bednar taught: “Revelation is scattered among the various members of a council. As an issue comes forward for consideration, we need, invite, and hear counsel from everyone.” When counseling together, leaders ask questions and seek ideas from all members of the council. Clear, open communication is essential in councils, and council members should strive to ensure that every comment is heard and respectfully considered.

You can learn more about ward councils in the General Handbook, 29.2.5.

How do women exercise priesthood authority?

Priesthood authority is the authorization to represent God and act in His name. Under the direction of leaders who hold priesthood keys, all Church members can exercise delegated priesthood authority when they are set apart or assigned to help accomplish God’s work. President Dallin H. Oaks taught: “When a woman—young or old—is set apart to preach the gospel as a full-time missionary, she is given priesthood authority to perform a priesthood function. The same is true when a woman is set apart to function as an officer or teacher in a Church organization under the direction of one who holds the keys of the priesthood. Whoever functions in an office or calling received from one who holds priesthood keys exercises priesthood authority in performing her or his assigned duties.” Women set apart as temple ordinance workers also exercise delegated priesthood authority when officiating in temple ordinances.

As women and men faithfully exercise delegated authority in their Church callings and assignments, they grow through their service and help to build up the kingdom of God. In addition, they can qualify to receive revelation to help them fulfill their callings and assignments.

Learn more at Topics and Questions, “Priesthood.”

How do women access God’s priesthood power in their lives?

Priesthood power is God’s power. President Nelson explained that priesthood ordinances and covenants provide access to God’s power: “Every man and every woman who participates in priesthood ordinances and who makes and keeps covenants with God has direct access to the power of God.”

When serving as First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, Sister Lisa L. Harkness taught: “As we enter into any sacred covenant, from baptism to sealing in temples, we do so by God’s priesthood authority, which allows our covenants to be binding on earth and in heaven. When we faithfully keep these priesthood covenants, God bestows upon us His promised power and blessings, including the highest blessings of salvation and exaltation.”

Sister Harkness continued, “Our understanding of God’s priesthood power can be expanded as we ponder the blessings we have received from each covenant we have made with God, what we have been empowered to do because of those covenants, and how we can share those covenant blessings with others.”

For example, one way we can access God’s power is by living the covenant we make at baptism and renew during the sacrament. We live this covenant by taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ, always remembering Him, and keeping His commandments. The Lord then fulfills His promise to bless us with the constant companionship of His Spirit, which brings His power into our lives. We can also experience God’s power by receiving priesthood blessings of healing, comfort, and counsel.

Learn more at Topics and Questions, “Priesthood.”

I’ve heard that Relief Society presidents were once ordained. Is that true?

In the early Church, leaders used the term ordain when calling Relief Society presidents and their counselors to their positions. Members in the 19th century did not understand this terminology to mean that these sisters had been ordained to priesthood office or had the priesthood conferred upon them. For instance, in 1842 Joseph Smith instructed John Taylor to ordain officers in the newly founded Relief Society. President Taylor later clarified that “the ordination then given [to Emma and her counselors] did not mean the conferring of the Priesthood upon those sisters.” In later years, the term ordain was more precisely defined to refer only to a priesthood office. The term set apart is now used when authorizing women and men to act in callings. When women are set apart to serve in Church callings, they exercise delegated “priesthood authority in performing [their] assigned duties.”

How have women’s responsibilities in the Church changed over time?

Women’s roles, responsibilities, and opportunities have changed since the early years of the Church. When the Church was founded in 1830, there were no formal roles for women. Like other Christians in their day, Latter-day Saints in the early years of the Church reserved public preaching and leadership for men. Meanwhile, women actively participated in many ways. They ratified decisions by voting in conferences; they worshipped alongside men in meetings and choirs; they shared the gospel with relatives and neighbors; they hosted meetings in their homes; and they bore testimony in private and in public.

In 1842, Joseph Smith organized the Relief Society through divine revelation after the pattern of the priesthood. This gave women authority, sacred responsibilities, and official positions within the structure of the Church. It also fulfilled a revelation given in 1830 that Emma was to “expound scriptures, and to exhort the church.” The revelation of temple ordinances in Nauvoo opened additional opportunities for women’s participation in the Church.

The ways in which women have participated in the Church have continued to change since that time. For example, women sometimes prepared the sacrament table and gave blessings to heal the sick in the name of Jesus Christ but without invoking priesthood authority. Today, women preach the gospel as full-time missionaries; act as witnesses to gospel ordinances; speak and pray regularly in sacrament meetings, stake conferences, and general conferences; serve as chaplains; and participate in leadership councils on the local and general levels of the worldwide Church.

How has the administration of the Relief Society changed over time?

The Relief Society’s divinely appointed mission to relieve those in need and save souls has not changed since its founding in 1842. But the way that mission is carried out and administered has changed substantially over time.

Throughout its history, the Relief Society has started and led many important initiatives. These included medical education, promotion of women’s suffrage, grain storage and distribution, the creation and operation of hospitals, initiatives to improve maternal and child health, establishment of Church-sponsored social services, and the production of temple clothing. The Relief Society has also spearheaded efforts in education and literacy worldwide.

Like other Church organizations, including the Young Men and Young Women organizations, Primary, and the Sunday School, the Relief Society once maintained its own programs, raised its own funds, and administered its own budget.

As the Church grew throughout the world in the 20th century, Church leaders received revelation that led in the 1960s and 1970s to greater coordination, standardization, and simplification of the Church’s programs. This process, known as Correlation, included bringing all Church organizations within general and local priesthood lines of authority. As part of this process, the Relief Society, Sunday School, and other Church organizations began to be supported by tithing donations rather than maintaining their own funds. This change alleviated the need for Relief Society sisters to apply for membership, raise funds, and pay regular dues in addition to their tithes and other offerings. This opened the door for all women in the Church to be part of the Relief Society.

Today, the Relief Society has grown to nearly 8 million members, making it one of the largest women’s organizations in the world. The organization continues to fulfill its divinely appointed mission to relieve suffering and save souls among God’s children. The Relief Society also leads the Church’s global initiative to improve the well-being of women and children by providing access to nutrition, immunizations, maternal and newborn care, and education.

“Charity never faileth” has long been the motto of the Relief Society. Its ongoing work is to minister as the Savior would. President Camille N. Johnson taught: “Jesus Christ is relief. … And because we love God and have covenanted to serve Him, we can partner with the Savior to help provide temporal and spiritual relief for those in need—and in the process find our own relief in Jesus Christ.”

What do Church leaders counsel about how to balance caring for families with employment and volunteer opportunities?

Church leaders counsel first and foremost that “the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.” Husbands and wives have a sacred duty to raise their children “in love and righteousness” and teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How Church members choose to balance caring for children and other family members with working to financially support them will vary according to individual circumstances.

In the mid to late 20th century, Church teachings encouraged women to forgo working outside the home, where possible, in order to care for their family. In recent years Church leaders have also emphasized that care for the family can include decisions about education, employment, and other personal issues. These should be a matter of prayer and revelation.

How should husbands and wives support one another in the home?

“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” declares that “marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God” and that fathers and mothers “are obligated to help one another as equal partners” in the home. Just as Adam and Eve worked together to care for and teach their family, husbands and wives should support each other as spouses and parents who teach their children “to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.”

The proclamation states that fathers preside over, provide for, and protect their families in love and righteousness and that mothers primarily nurture their children. The fulfillment of these responsibilities can be adapted to individual circumstances. Elder Ulisses Soares taught, “Nurturing and presiding are opportunities, not exclusive limitations.” They are “interrelated and overlapping responsibilities, which means that mothers and fathers … share a balanced leadership in their home.”

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