The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often mistakenly referred to as the ”Mormon Church” by friends of other faiths) has a special organization for women called Relief Society. The purpose of the organization is to “increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and hep those in need.” This organization of women is the largest of its kind in the world. It was organized in 1842, in Nauvoo, Illinois, by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Relief Society is for all women ages 18 and above. The organization provides opportunities for friendship and service, but more importantly it gives its members the structure to be more effective disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Countless lives have been blessed by the organization of and the sisters in Relief Society. Though the society includes Mormon women, it is open to women of all faiths who want to participate and serve. Mormons serve side-by-side with Catholics, with Evangelicals, and with members of many denominations and organizations. All those who have strong family values and a desire to reach out to help the poor and needy and to care for others outside of their own immediate circles, as the Savior Jesus Christ did, are welcome. These Relief Society sisters in Christ have blessed the lives of so many people in myriad ways.

Additional Resources:

The Relief Society is an organization for Mormon Women. Learn more about the history and work of Relief Society at the official site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Mormon Women receive fellowship and unity from the Relief Society.

Learn more about the Relief Society at a local meetinghouse.

Melissa is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormon” woman).

Relief Society Organized for Mormon Women

Organized in 1842, and consisting of more than 6 million members, the Mormon Relief Society is the oldest and largest women’s organization in the world (Kimball, P. 2011. Examiner). Membership consists of female Latter-day Saints ages 18 and above. It is an organization within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed the “Mormon Church” by the media) dedicated to faith, charity, good works, and the uplifting of women through their divine roles of womanhood and motherhood.

When Joseph Smith, prophet and leader of the early church, organized the Relief Society—the Mormon global organization designed divinely to help serve the needs of the poor and to lift women spiritually—he stated that its purpose was to see to “the relief of the poor, the destitute, the widow and the orphan, and for the exercise of all benevolent purposes.” The accomplishment of this great purpose is dependent upon all the sisters within the Relief Society, and it is by the small deeds performed by each and every one of them on a daily basis that they are able to offer relief and aid those around them.

The welfare of Latter-day Saint women is looked after by pairs of sisters known as Visiting Teachers. I would like to share a personal experience I had with a visiting teacher:

I was immensely blessed by one of these sisters in particular when I was going through a very difficult time. I was pregnant, in a very unhealthy relationship, and had no income. She gave me rides to my appointments with the doctor and to the Bishop’s Storehouse—where I was able to receive food and necessities—and she was a wonderful support as I made the very important decision to put an end to my relationship in favor of safety for my child. Now, I am constantly strengthened by the sisters of the Relief Society and strive to do my best with my own Visiting Teaching, so that I may perhaps be that support and strength that another sister may need in a time of hardship.

Relief Society goes far beyond Sunday meetings, where members are taught about many important principles of the gospel and the history of the Church and its organization. If a Mormon woman’s mission began and ended only within the Relief Society room each Sunday, she would never accomplish what this organization is meant to help her accomplish.

All women are given opportunities to improve their talents, learn from one another, and grow in their capabilities as wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters. Each of them has a unique background and can apply themselves in individualized ways. Each has something to offer one another. Sisters of Relief Society are known for visiting the sick in hospitals and in their homes, providing meals for those in need, performing small acts of kindness and service like helping with housework, groceries, babysitting, etc., and for always striving to improve themselves through hard work, charity, and compassion.

I am honored to be a member of this great organization and only hope that my contributions will have a positive impact on others’ lives so that they might come to know the Savior through me and recognize His hand in all things. Through the sisters of Relief Society, the work of Christ continues on the earth, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or “Mormons”) strive to make the world a better place by bettering themselves and devoting their time and talents to service.

Additional Resources:

Learn more about the history and work of Relief Society.

Mormon Women receive fellowship and unity from the Relief Society.

Learn more about the Relief Society at a local meetinghouse.

Emily Spencer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormon woman”), freelance writer, concert artist, sacred choral music arranger, and mother of four.

I was once asked in an interview if I had a role model for the ideal “Mormon woman” (female member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).  “What exactly is meant by ‘ideal Mormon woman’?” I asked.  “Does such a prototype really even exist?”  The discussion that followed was an intriguing one, because it hadn’t been too long before that, that I’d pined for female role models in my own life – ones that were iconic, prophetic, visionary – and mused not only about this elusive “ideal Mormon woman,” but more broadly about “ideal women” in general.  What exactly was considered “ideal,” according to whose standards, and why?

Around this same time, I sat in a Gospel Doctrine class (one of the Sunday school classes offered to adult members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nicknamed “Mormons“) where the topic of the day happened to be Nephi’s vision of the Tree of Life from the Book of Mormon, a book regarded by Latter-day Saints to be a volume of scripture witnessing alongside the Bible of the divinity of Jesus Christ.  I’d read the account what seemed like a thousand times, and so, admittedly, I felt my interest wane as the instructor guided the class through its verses.  The passage, found in the early chapters of the Book of Mormon, details how Nephi, the son of the prophet Lehi and himself a prophet, desired to behold and understand the interpretation of a dream his father had had regarding a glorious tree whose fruit was “most sweet, above all that [he] ever before tasted” and that “filled [his] soul with exceedingly great joy” (1 Nephi 8:10-12).

Nephi’s desire was granted, and he found himself “caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain,” where his own visionary experience followed (1 Nephi 11:1).  The Spirit accompanied him, acting as a sort of “tour guide,” highlighting and explaining salient elements of the dream in order for Nephi to understand its meaning.  It is a beautiful account, indeed, yet my mind drifted.  I found myself wondering especially about Nephi’s wife.  What transcendent visions could have been hers; had she had her own mountain heights to ascend?  ..If it had not been her lot to haul water, or scrub vessels in the creek?  Or, if she did in fact have them, how would we ever know?  Considering her time and culture, would her writings have even been seen fit for inclusion in any existing body of canon?  Was she even literate?

Lost in my thoughts, I skimmed the familiar verses, apart from the class discussion going on around me.  As I sat there, a striking epiphany quite suddenly began to emerge in my mind – a perspective I’d never considered before, and one that hit me with great force.  Here was Nephi, having been whisked up to a mountain top, where the Creator of the Universe had at his command a vast array of powerful and stunning cosmic demonstrations with which to instruct his pupil – a pupil who happened to be a prophet.  How would God choose to distill perhaps the most important concept of all – the nature of His love – upon one of his most elect servants?  What astounding object lesson would He employ?  In the passage, 1 Nephi chapter 11, the Spirit shows Nephi a virgin “most beautiful and fair above all other virgins” and asks him, “Knowest thou the condescension of God?”  Nephi answers, “I know that He loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.”  Then the Spirit explains, “Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.”  Then Nephi looks and beholds “the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.”

Prior to his vision, Nephi had “sat pondering in [his] heart,” wondering about the possible interpretations of the tree.  These questions apparently weighed on his mind a great deal, as the text suggests he’d devoted some time to their reflection.  In spite of this, enough uncertainty remained that he ultimately went to the Lord , Jesus Christ, for definitive answers.  After having given Nephi the opportunity to observe this sweet and simple scene of a mother holding her child, the angel asks him the culminating question, and the very question that initiated Nephi’s quest in the first place, bringing him full-circle:  “Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?”  This time, Nephi knows, and he knows instantly, requiring no time at all to ruminate.  He beholds Mary bearing her precious baby in her arms, and declares: “Yea, it is the love of God….” (v. 22).

My heart swelled as I sat in that classroom and contemplated this exchange.  So this is how God teaches a prophet about the nature of His love!  I had just been wallowing in my dismay over the seeming inequity of Nephi’s wife’s comparatively lackluster mission (and the fact that we don’t even know her name!) when my Heavenly Father enlightened my mind and showed me that, even with the entire universe as his classroom, it was through the most simple and most fundamental act of womanhood and nurture that his own mission could most clearly and potently be exemplified.  And it was modeled through a role in which I currently found myself!  Loving and caring for little ones – obviously important, but unglamorous and easily lumped in by the world with the other seemingly pedestrian tasks of day-to-day living – was in fact the summative symbol of God’s love for humankind!

To whom did the Lord point when this ancient American prophet, Nephi, needed a model?  When Nephi needed the key to the dream’s interpretation?  Not to figures adorned in glory, wielding might, courageously striking down foes.  Not to riveting orators or captivating statesmen.  Not to men or women with dazzling intellectual acuity, stunning beauty, or accolades streaming endlessly from their names.  God’s own mission, nature, and character – his ideal – was demonstrated through a quiet, one-to-one act – one which expressed tenderness, compassion, love unfailing, and without attachment to any public display or acknowledgement.  It was also portrayed through a role we can all relate to, as all of us have been nurtured by our own mothers, are parents ourselves, or have the opportunity to nurture those around us in some capacity.

I’ve reflected on that experience many times since.  I think there were several things my Father in Heaven intended me to glean in that moment of introspection that day.  I think He wanted me to know that the greatest hero of all, Jesus Christ, He who possessed “no form nor comeliness; …no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2), beholds every act, knows every sincere desire, and esteems every noble endeavor, even when they aren’t widely known or extolled.  I think He wanted me to know that all, “black and white, bond and free, male and female…are alike unto God,” and the Savior and that “He denieth none,” that “He inviteth them all to come unto Him and partake of his goodness” (2 Nephi 26:33).  I think He wanted me to know that His love, the most joyous to be had, would not be found in striving after the ideals held up by others, but instead by embracing the ideals held up by Him, Our Redeemer.  I think He wanted me to know that what He cares about far more than what I have accomplished is if my heart has been transformed – if I am prepared to subjugate the ever-beckoning cause of self in order to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees” (Modern Revelation: Doctrine and Covenants 81:5).  I think He wanted me to know that His love, “the most desirable above all things” and “the most joyous to the soul” (1 Nephi 11:22-23) is far more accessible than I might have imagined, and that the opportunities to partake of it abundantly were right under my nose, to be had at any time or place.

Upon having partaken of the precious fruit, Lehi declared his very first impulse: “I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also” (1 Nephi 8:12).  As we are filled with the love of our Father and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we are moved upon to in turn shed that love upon others; in so doing, we discover that sharing is, in fact, partaking – a gift that is always multiplied but never divided.  So goes the Lord’s one, eternal round, as he ceaselessly works to make sanctified creatures of each one of us.  Herein is his ideal accomplished, which in the end is what makes us “ideal”:  through the love of Christ purified, through receiving, through giving, He makes us his own.

Addition Resources:

Learn more about the role of Mormon women and families.

Request a free copy of The Book of Mormon.

Yes! Jesus Christ had a high respect for women, often including them as positive role models of faith and dedication in his teaching and parables (see, for example, the widow of Zarephath who fed Elijah, Luke 4:25-26; and the woman who gave her two mites into the treasury, Mark 12:42-44). Although the New Testament accounts of the women who followed Jesus are limited in their number and scope, it is still clear that they played a role in Jesus Christ‘s ministry.

From the very beginning, Mary, Elizabeth and Anna understood who the infant Jesus Christ was and testified of his ministry. Mary received angelic instruction that she would conceive a son who “will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31-33). Elizabeth, when the pregnant Mary visited her, “was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!’” (Luke 1:42). Likewise Anna, when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple, saw the babe and “gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). Although we have no record of any further part Elizabeth and Anna may have played as followers of Jesus Christ, Mary is present at, and facilitates, Jesus’ first miracle of turning the water into wine (John 2:1-11), at the cross where Jesus commends her to the apostle John (John 19:25-26), and is numbered among the Jerusalem members who met after Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:14).

Throughout his mortal ministry, we also find a number of other women following Jesus Christ. As Luke begins his travel narrative he writes, “Soon afterward he [Jesus] went on through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom were seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means” (Luke 8:1-3). Mary Magdalene seems to have been the leader of the women disciples because she is always mentioned first in the lists of women (see also Mark 15:40, 47; 16:1; John 19:25). The description that these women “provided for them out of their means” indicates that they provided material sustenance for Jesus Christ during his journey. The word translated here as “provided” (diakone?) is, however, also used by Luke as a noun to describe the apostles’ “ministry (diakonia) of the word” (Acts 6:4). This Lukan usage may suggest that the women also participated in the teaching of the word. These women disciples are also conspicuously present at Jesus’ crucifixion and tomb, with Mary Magdalene being the first person to see the resurrected Jesus and the one to announce the resurrection to the disciples (John 19:11-18).

In addition, the gospels describe a number of other women whose faith led them to seek Jesus Christ. The Syro-Phoenician woman, although a Gentile, implored Jesus to heal her daughter who was possessed with a demon. Her commitment to Jesus, despite the initial negative response by Jesus and his disciples, resulted in Jesus declaring, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was immediately healed (Matt. 15:21-28). The woman with an issue of blood for twelve years, reached out to touch Jesus’ garment, even though she knew such an act would render him ritually unclean. Jesus, recognizing that “power had gone forth from him” immediately stopped and sought out the woman. He declared to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved (s?z?) you. Go in peace and be healed from your disease” (Mark 5:25-34). The unnamed woman who came to Simon’s house loved Jesus greatly because he had forgiven her sins. She came and anointed Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, and anointed them with ointment. Jesus declared to her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:36-50).

Lastly, both the gospels of Luke and John also mention two sisters, Mary and Martha. John records, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister [Mary], and [their brother] Lazarus” (John 11:5). Luke says that Martha received Jesus into her home during the travel narrative part of his gospel when Jesus was journeying to Jerusalem. Jesus went into that home fully expecting to be fed since he and his disciples relied upon the generosity of others during this journey (Luke 8:3; 9:58; 10:4). While staying in the home, Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet, and listened to his teaching.” Some manuscripts include a relative pronoun in the sentence which would then read, Mary “also sat at the Lord’s feet,” (italics added) indicating that Mary joined her sister in listening to Jesus. In John’s gospel both sisters are prominent disciples. Martha, along with Peter, is a quintessential example of people who have testimonies of Jesus as the Christ. She declares, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming to the earth” (John 11:27; cf. Peter’s declaration in John 6:68-69). Mary shows her devotion to Jesus be attentively listening to his teaching (Luke 10:39) and by anointing his feet with expensive ointment and then wiping his feet with her hair (cf. the unnamed woman who performed a similar act of devotion in Luke 7:36-50). Although Judas criticizes her actions, “Jesus said, ‘Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me’” (John 12:7-8).

After Jesus’ death, women continued to play an active role in his Church. Lydia and Chloe may have been patrons of house churches in Philippi and Corinth (Acts 16:14-15; 1 Cor. 1:11). Luke records that a significant number of women joined the Church (Acts 5:14; 8:12; 17:4, 12). Priscilla participated alongside her husband Aquila in teaching the gospel to Apollos (Acts 18:24-26; see also Rom. 16:3; 1Cor. 16:19). Although at times Paul chastises women members of the Church for their behavior (1 Cor. 14:34-35; 1 Tim. 2:9-15), women do contribute through prayer and prophesying (1 Cor. 11:5; see also Acts 21:8-9), and it is a woman, Phoebe, “a servant of the Church which is at Cenchrea,” to whom Paul entrusts the carrying of his pivotal letter to the Romans (Rom. 16:1-2).

Ben Witherington III

“Jesus’ views of women and their roles do not fit neatly into any of the categories of His day. He was not a Qumranite, nor was he a traditional rabbi in these matters, though he had certain things in common with both groups. His use of women, both fictitious and real, as examples of faith for his followers, and His teaching on honouring parents, is not without precedent in rabbinic literature. His calling of men and women to radical commitment to God, in view of the inbreaking of the Kingdom, has certain affinities with the teachings of both John the Baptist and Qumran. Yet, on the whole, and especially in view of His Jewish context, Jesus appears to be a unique and sometimes radical reformer of the views of women and their roles that were commonly held among his people. Perhaps this is the very reason why the Third and Fourth Evangelists take pains to present various women as religious models for their audiences.” Ben Witherington III, Women in the Ministry of Jesus: A Study of Jesus’ Attitudes to Women and their Roles as Reflected in His Earthly Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 126. Dr. Witherington III is Professor New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.