Relief Society
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations. |
| Relief Society | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Motto | "Charity never faileth" |
| Formation | March 17, 1842 |
| Type | Non-profit |
| Purpose/focus | gospel instruction, women's/familial support, humanitarian aid |
| Headquarters | Salt Lake City, Utah, USA |
| Membership | 5.6 million women in over 170 countries[1] |
| General President | Julie B. Beck |
| Parent organization | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
| Website | lds.org |
The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization and an official auxiliary organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA, the Relief Society today claims more than 5.2 million members in over 170 countries and territories, and is one of the oldest and largest women's organizations in the world.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Relief Society motto, purpose, and objectives
The motto of the Relief Society, which is found in Moroni 7:46 as well as 1 Corinthians 13:8, is "Charity never faileth".[3]
The official purpose of Relief Society is to "assist priesthood leaders in carrying out the mission of the Church by helping sisters [women] and families come unto Christ."[4]
The official objectives of Relief Society are to:
- Build faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and teach the doctrines of the kingdom of God;
- emphasize the divine worth of each sister;
- exercise charity and nurture those in need;
- strengthen and protect families;
- serve and support each sister; and
- help sisters become full participants in the blessings of the priesthood.[5]
[edit] History
[edit] Organization of the Relief Society
In the spring of 1842, Sarah M. Kimball and her seamstress, Miss Cook, discussed combining their efforts to assist the efforts of workers on the Latter Day Saints' Nauvoo Temple. They determined to invite their neighbors to combine efforts and assist in creating a Ladies' Society. Kimball asked Eliza R. Snow to write a constitution and by-laws for the organization for submission to LDS Church President Joseph Smith for review. After reviewing the notes, Smith commented that "this is not what you want.... [The Lord] has something better for them than a written constitution. ... I will organize the sisters under the priesthood after a pattern of the priesthood."[6]
Eighteen women gathered on Thursday, March 17, 1842 in the second-story meeting room over the Smith's Red Brick Store in Nauvoo. Smith, John Taylor, and Willard Richards sat on the platform at the upper end of the room with the women facing them. The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning was sung, and Taylor opened the meeting with prayer. The women in attendance at the initial meeting were:
|
|
Additionally, eight other women not present that day were admitted to membership:
|
|
Smith stated "the object of the Society—that the Society of Sisters might provoke the brethren to good works in looking to the wants of the poor—searching after objects of charity and in administering to their wants—to assist by correcting morals and strengthening the virtues of the community, and save the Elders the trouble of rebuking; that they may give their time to other duties, &c., in their public teaching."[7]
Smith also proposed that the women elect a presiding officer who would choose two counselors to assist her. Emma Hale Smith was elected unanimously as president. She chose Sarah M. Cleveland and Elizabeth Ann Whitney as her two counselors. Taylor was appointed to ordain the women and did so.
It was proposed that the organization go by the name Benevolent Society and with no opposition the vote carried. However, Emma Smith made a point of objection. She convinced the attendants that The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo would better reflect the purpose of the organization, for they were to do great acts of "relief," not merely be "benevolent." After discussion, it was unanimously agreed that the name of the fledgling organization be changed to The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo.
Joseph Smith then offered five dollars in gold to commence the funds of the Society and the men left the room.
Eliza R. Snow was unanimously elected as secretary of the Society with Phebe M. Wheeler as Assistant Secretary and Elvira A. Coles as Treasurer. Emma Smith remarked that each member should be ambitious to do good and seek out and relieve the distressed. Several female members then made donations to the Society.
The men returned, and Taylor and Richards also made donations. After singing Come Let Us Rejoice, the meeting was adjourned to meet on the following Thursday at 10 o'clock. Taylor then gave a closing prayer.
One week later, Joseph Smith recorded in his journal: "I attended by request, the Female Relief Society, whose object is the relief of the poor, the destitute, the widow and the orphan, and for the exercise of all benevolent purposes. ... [W]e feel convinced that with their concentrated efforts, the condition of the suffering poor, of the stranger and the fatherless will be ameliorated"[8]
The new organization proved immediately popular. Under Emma Smith's direction, the Society was organized and meetings conducted in each of the city's four ecclesiastical wards. Young mother Sarah Pea Rich, wife of Charles C. Rich, remembered, "We then, as a people, were united and were more like one family than like strangers."[citation needed]
By March 1844, membership totaled 1342 women.[citation needed] The last meetings of the Relief Society in Nauvoo were held on March 16, 1844.
[edit] Young Gentlemen's and Ladies' Relief Society of Nauvoo
Beginning in January 1843, a similar movement began among the young men and women in Nauvoo under the immediate supervision of Apostle Heber C. Kimball. Evening lectures addressed using time wisely, scripture study, and avoiding excessive parties, dances and entertainments.[citation needed] On at least one occasion, Joseph Smith addressed the informal gatherings and urged the young people to include service to the poor in their efforts.[citation needed] In response, shortly before Smith's death, the youth organized the Young Gentlemen's and Ladies' Relief Society of Nauvoo as a charitable society.[citation needed] Many years later, the aims of this society were addressed in the Church's Young Men and Young Women organizations in Utah.[citation needed]
[edit] Independent Relief Societies, 1844 to 1868
Shortly after the last Relief Society meetings in Nauvoo were held, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were taken into legal custody and then killed by a mob at Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. After their deaths, the majority of local church members focused on finishing the building of the Nauvoo Temple and doing appropriate temple work before leaving the city.
When Relief Society secretary Eliza R. Snow joined the Saints in their exodus west in 1846, she carried the Relief Society Book of Records with her. Elizabeth Ann Whitney conducted a few Relief Society meetings that year in Winter Quarters, Nebraska.
During the 1850s, while church members established new communities and tried to gain a foothold in the Utah desert, formal church meetings other than sacrament meeting were held irregularly. However, several wards in Utah created independent Relief Society organizations. Records are limited but show that, by 1858, independent Relief Societies existed in ten Salt Lake City wards and in several other wards in Ogden, Provo, Spanish Fork, and Nephi, Utah. Among their stated purposes was the feeding and clothing of Native Americans. Though these Mormon women were poor in material goods, they felt the need of Native Americans exceeded their own.
In 1854, an "Indian Relief Society" was formed in the Thirteenth Ward Meeting House with Matilda Dudley as President and Martha J. Corary as secretary. That organization continued for three years and kept complete minutes and financial reports. Eliza R. Snow was involved in the independent Relief Society in her Eighteenth Ward. In 2004, historian Carol Holindrake Nielson documented the organization, activities and membership of the Salt Lake City Fourteenth Ward Relief Society. The Fourteenth Ward included the square designated for the temple and eleven residential squares to the south and west. This section contained the homes of many church leaders. Among others, the rolls of the ward Relief Society contains the names of Leonora Taylor and Jane B. Taylor, wives of John Taylor; Elizabeth B. Pratt, Kezia D. Pratt and Phoebe Soper Pratt, wives of Parley P. Pratt; and Phebe W. Woodruff, Emma Woodruff, Sarah Woodruff, Sarah Delight Woodruff, Phebe A. Woodruff, Susan C. Woodruff, Bulah Woodruff, wives and daughters of Wilford Woodruff.
The disruption caused by the Utah War of 1858 interrupted the activities of these Relief Societies. No more than three or four of these independent organizations survived the temporary move of much of the Mormon population south of Salt Lake County. (Walker and Dant, p. 262)
[edit] Expansion of the Relief Society
Church President Brigham Young called Eliza R. Snow as General Relief Society President for the entire church in 1866. Seeking not only for the relief of the poor, but the accomplishment of every good and noble work[9] Young addressed the need to establish local Relief Society units at the church's 1868 April conference: Now, Bishops, you have smart women for wives, many of you. Let them organize Female Relief Societies in the various wards. We have many talented women among us .... You will find that the sisters will be the mainspring of the movement.[10] Snow was then assigned to assist local bishops in organizing permanent branches of the Relief Society. Using the minutes recorded in the early Nauvoo meetings, Snow created a "Constitution" for all local units intending to unite them in name, purpose, and organization. She and nine other sisters began visiting wards and settlements in 1868, and at the end of the year, organizations existed in all twenty Salt Lake City congregations and in congregations in nearly every county in Utah.
On a ward level, the new Relief Society performed a variety of functions. The women helped the bishop of the ward in assisting the poor. They collected and disbursed funds and commodities and performed service oriented tasks such as cleaning homes, sewing, planting and tending gardens, and manufacturing small locally needed items.
Snow’s presidency emphasized spirituality and self-sufficiency. The Relief Society sent women to medical school, trained nurses, opened the Deseret Hospital, operated cooperative stores, promoted silk manufacture, saved wheat, and built granaries. In 1872 Snow provided assistance and advice to Louisa L. Greene in the creation of a woman's publication, the Woman's Exponent, which was loosely affiliated with the Relief Society. Snow's responsibilities also extended to young women and children within the church. She was the primary female organizer for the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association in 1869 and the Primary Association in 1884. By 1888, the Relief Society had more than 22,000 members in 400 local wards and branches.
Early Relief Society meetings were held semimonthly. One meeting per month was devoted to sewing and caring for the needs of the poor. During the second meeting, members received instructions and encouragement from the discussion of elevating and educational themes and bore testimonies. The women were also encouraged to explore and develop cultural opportunities for their community.
[edit] Growth of the Relief Society
By 1942, membership in the organization was approximately 115,000 women, growing to 300,000 members in 1966.[citation needed] In 2007, the Relief Society has approximately 5.2 million members in over 170 countries and territories.
[edit] Chronology of the general presidency of the Relief Society
[edit] Relief Society in the church today
[edit] Relief Society in local congregations
In the LDS Church today, every Latter-day Saint woman age 18 or older is a member of the Relief Society. Additionally, women younger than 18 who are married and 17-year-old single mothers are members of the organization. There is no fee for joining the Relief Society and there are no annual membership dues.
In each local congregation of the church, a member of the Relief Society serves as the local President of the organization. The president is permitted to ask two other women from the congregation to assist her as counselors; together the three women make up the local Relief Society Presidency. The Relief Society Presidency acts under the direction of the bishop or branch president in presiding over and serving the women in the congregation. Additionally, stake or district Relief Society presidencies exist to supervise five or more local Relief Society Presidencies.
In most congregations, the Relief Society strives to accomplish its objectives by implementing four main programs: (1) Visiting teaching; (2) welfare and compassionate service; (3) education; and (4) home, family, and personal enrichment.
[edit] Visiting teaching
In every LDS congregation, each member of the Relief Society is paired with another member; this couple is then assigned by the Relief Society Presidency to be the Visiting Teachers of one or more other members of the Relief Society. Visiting Teachers strive to make a monthly contact with the women assigned to them; ideally, this contact is a personal visit in the member's home. If this is not possible, the member may be contacted by telephone, letter, e-mail, or a visit in a location other than the member's home. Visiting Teachers are encouraged to look for opportunities to serve the individuals that they "visit teach".
[edit] Welfare and compassionate service
Along with the bishop or branch president, the Relief Society President is the key person in the ward in ensuring that the temporal and emotional needs of the members of the congregation are met. The Relief Society Presidency is responsible for helping the women of the congregation learn welfare principles such as work, self-reliance, provident living, personal and family preparedness, and compassionate service of others. In many congregations, the Relief Society will ask a woman to serve as the Compassionate Service Leader, who is responsible for organizing service activities and responses to members' needs in times of emergency or hardship.
[edit] Education
Relief Society holds weekly meetings every Sunday that last approximately fifty minutes. During these meetings, an educational lesson is presented by a member of the Relief Society Presidency or another woman who has been asked to serve as the Relief Society instructor. Since the 1990s, the curriculum has been composed of Teachings of Presidents of the Church and other materials. The Relief Society also leads the LDS Church's efforts to teach basic literacy skills to those members and nonmembers that lack them.
[edit] Home, family, and personal enrichment
Home, family, and personal enrichment (often shortened to enrichment) is a Relief Society meeting that is held on a quarterly basis. Enrichment is held on a weeknight and is separate from the weekly Relief Society meetings held on Sundays. At enrichment meeting, women learn a variety of skills, with special emphasis on parenting and homemaking skills. Local congregations may also hold monthly or weekly enrichment activities for women with similar needs and interests. Enrichment activities are less formal than enrichment meetings, and local congregations have a wide discretion in determining what activities will be a part of enrichment.
[edit] Church-wide supervision
Three women are called to serve as the General Relief Society Presidency of the entire LDS Church. Although these women are not considered general authorities, they are considered to be general officers of the church and are the highest ranking women in the LDS Church's hierarchy. Since April 2007, the General Relief Society Presidency has been composed of Julie Bangerter Beck, President; Silvia Henriquez Allred, First Counselor; and Barbara Thompson, Second Counselor.[11]
Annually in late September, the Relief Society holds a General Relief Society meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is broadcast around the world via television, radio, satellite and the Internet. This meeting is an opportunity for the General Relief Society Presidency to address the entire body of the Relief Society. Typically a member of the church's First Presidency also speaks to the women of the church.
In Salt Lake City, the Relief Society occupies its own headquarters building that is separate from the other administrative offices of the LDS Church. While the Quorum of the Seventy had a building in Nauvoo in the 1840s, the Relief Society is the only auxiliary organization in the LDS Church today which has a completely separate facility. This Relief Society Building is also the closest of any building to the door of the Salt Lake Temple. These facts are cited by many as proof of the importance of the Relief Society and of women in the church.
[edit] See also
- LDS Family Services
- Relief Society Magazine
- Worship services of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
[edit] References
- ^ Introduction to Relief Society, lds.org, accessed 2008-04-30.
- ^ See List of women's organizations. The Relief Society is one of the largest women's organization in the world.
- ^ Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Salt Lake City, 1998, at 193.
- ^ Relief Society: Purpose; Church Handbook of Instructions Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Salt Lake City, 1998, at 193.
- ^ Church Handbook of Instructions Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Salt Lake City, 1998, at 193.
- ^ Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, By Linda King Newell, Valeen Tippetts Avery[1]
- ^ Relief Society, Charity Never Faileth: History of the Relief Society, 1842-1966, Deseret Book: Salt Lake City, 1967, 18.
- ^ Joseph Smith, B.H. Roberts (ed.), History of the Church, Deseret Book: Salt Lake City, 1902, 4:567-68.
- ^ "Female Relief Society," Deseret News, April 22, 1868
- ^ Journal of Discourses, 12:201
- ^ The Sustaining of Church Officers, April 2007 General Conference.
[edit] External links
[edit] Additional reading
- Derr, Jill Mulvay, Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, and Janath Cannon, Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992.
- Nielson, Carol Holindrake. The Salt Lake City 14th Ward Album Quilt, 1857: Stories of the Relief Society Women and Their Quilt. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, UT, 2004. ISBN 0-87480-792-1.
- Peterson, Janet; Gaunt, LaRene (1990). Elect Ladies: Presidents of the Relief Society. Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, UT. ISBN 0-87579-416-5.
- Relief Society, Charity Never Faileth: History of Relief Society, 1842-1966, Deseret Book: Salt Lake City, 1966.
- Scott, Patricia Lyn and Linda Thatcher, editors. Women in Utah History: Paradigm or Paradox? Utah State University Press, Logan, Utah, 2005. ISBN 0-87421-625-7.
