Powerful Women Leaders Of The LDS Church

I’ve heard many say that the LDS church doesn’t allow women to be leaders. But on this International Women’s Day, I want to set the record straight. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does have women leaders. And I’d like to tell you about my favorite three; Jean Bingham, Sheri Dew, and Emma Smith.

In the LDS church, the Prophet and First Presidency are men. But the LDS church has equally heavy callings (AKA church jobs) for women in the General Relief Society Presidency, General Primary Presidency, and General Young Women’s Presidency.

The LDS church values women and has been showing that much more clearly in recent years. And I say bravo because women are the backbone of society.

Here are three of my favorite women leaders in the LDS church. 

Jean Bingham

The first woman I want to talk about is Jean Bingham, who served as General Relief Society president from 2017-2022. The Relief Society is the Church’s organization for its six million female members ages 18 and older. And before she was General Relief Society president, Jean was one of my youth leaders at church when I was a teenager. She taught me to keep going when things got hard. 

Jean was a wonderful and encouraging face each Sunday in the congregation. When I would be assigned a talk, whenever I looked out at Jean she would be sitting there with a smile on her face. She smiled at all those who spoke from the pulpit or taught a class, and that encouragement meant the world to me. I now do my best to smile at the speakers at church to lift them as I was lifted.

Changing to be more Christ-centered

My favorite thing that Jean did in her presidency was to redo what had been called Visiting Teaching and instead made the program into Ministering. She taught the sisters to watch over each other as the Savior would have done. Truly it was beautiful to change from a 15-minute visit monthly with a scripted message, to becoming true friends with your church sisters. 

No longer is there a scripted message to bring to your assigned sisters, allowing time to get to know each other. And no longer is there a mandated visit so that people can be nurtured in their own way. My favorite ministering sister text messages me daily, and we have a great time chatting on the phone. Face-to-face visits are nice, but life is often too busy. And I am so glad that Jean Bingham helped revamp Visiting Teaching.

Sheri Dew

The second inspiring female leader of the LDS church I want to focus on today is Sheri Dew. She served in the General Relief Society Presidency from 1997-2002, many of the years I was a young single adult. She spoke with power and conviction and taught me that womanhood was something to be proud of. That there is great power in women. 

Before Sheri Dew, I’d only seen leaders who were married and mothers. But Sheri was single like I was. And she had taken life by the horns and had a very successful career.

She supports men but didn’t seem to lean on men. And I had been raised to lean on men, but now needed to stand on my own two feet. And Sheri was a wonderful example to me at a key time in my life.

Author, Speaker, Leader

Sheri is also an author. My favorite book of all time is God Wants A Powerful People. She created in that book a call to arms. And it spoke deeply to me. The idea that you can be a devout Christian and a powerful force for good sank deep into my soul. So when I started writing years later, I titled my blog Scattering Sunshine, because I wanted to contribute to the movement for good in the world that Sheri talked about. 

I will never forget some of Sheri’s talks to the Relief Society, and how she showed me that I could make a difference. Without fail, I felt empowered after hearing Sheri speak. I hope one day to make a difference for others as she did for me.

Emma Smith

Finally, I want to talk about Emma Smith. She lived a long time ago, and clearly, I never met her. But her story inspires me. Emma Smith lived in the 1800s and married Joseph Smith on January 18, 1827.

She was the one to compile the first hymn book for the LDS church. And she was the first Relief Society President of the LDS church. She and the other sisters crushed up their china so that the walls of the Kirtland temple would sparkle. 

Emma and the other sisters provided meals and support as the men worked to build the Nauvoo temple. She got to participate in creating communities of Saints in Ohio and Illinois. In both situations she also witnessed the Saints being driven from their beautiful temples and homes. I’m sure it was heartbreaking.

Pioneer, persecuted, and brave

Along with Joseph, she endured great hardship. She knew what it was like to lose babies. And when I was going through my multiple miscarriages I often thought of her and her struggles. It gave me strength to know that such a great lady had been where I was. There is much more to her story. I encourage you to read Emma Smith; An Elect Lady. I loved it.

These three women leaders are wonderful examples of the power of womanhood. The LDS church and I personally have been blessed by their influence. And in each of these ladies, we see how much one person can be a light in the world. On this International Women’s Day, I hope their stories have made your day brighter.