The last of the wonderful bazaars was the fall of 1969. They got rid of the R.S. magazine and changed the "Improvement Era" to the ensign and changed the "Children's Friend" to the "Friend" and added the magazine for the teenage kids. Their program used to be "Mutual" and it became Young Men and Young Women
As far back as 1972 in some wards and stakes they got rid of daytime homemaking meeting and had it at night. They still had Relief Society during the week. With that changed, they slowly started reducing and finally eliminating the luncheon that they had once a month for the women.
Many years ago when the women had bazaars they were allowed to keep the money.
When Relief Society was on Sunday, they changed the lesson formats to strictly gospel oriented lessons and it simply became nothing but a glorified sunday school class on Sunday
Never mind Ordain Women, it would be a step forward for the church to return privileges to the Relief Society that were taken away so long ago. Let Mormon women hold fundraisers and spend the money as they see fit. Let them determine the content of their meetings. Let church women actually *run* the organization that is for church women!
You may know someone who said that, but it is not remotely true. All sorts of churches and other tax exempt organizations hold fund raisers all the time.
It is a defining characteristic of tax exempt organizations. If you see an obvious fund raiser, you just assume the organization is tax exempt, though that is not necessarily true.
It was about control. Their money, magazine, and property were basically confiscated by the Q15, and the RS general officers were not happy about it. The RS HQ building was owned by the RS, not by LDS Inc. RS owned their magazine too. They were forced to "donate" them to the Presiding Bishopric's office.
deco Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "Relief society" always sounded to me like a bunch > of women whose job it is to line up and give out > hand jobs.
Since the first time I heard the words "Relief Society," it sounded like this to me, too!!!
While I understand the mission and vision of RS, I wonder if the other purpose JS wanted the RS around is because it provided Him with relief of finding a ready supply of women for sex, etc. It has been noted in a number of other places that JS was married to several of these women including Emma's conselours without her knowing. Emma felt no relief or charity when she found out what JS was doing.
When was "correlation" instituted? I seem to remember reading (probably on this forum) that it was during the ratification process for the ERA but that covers nearly a decade. Any links or info would be appreciated.
Eliza Snow was the first RS president. She was wife (concubine) to both Joseph and later Brigham.
And official church poetess. So yeah, initially it was about who was favored among women to lead the other women, like the blind leading the blind.
She was very gullible and much too trusting of both men she dedicated her life to.
They were the gods she worshiped. Mortal men who were flawed con men. I wonder if she ever figured out the fraud before her life was over? Probably not. The truth might've been too overwhelming for her to acknowledge than the lie she'd lived. She was a fraud too. But oh what lovely songs she could write! They were spell binding.
In earlier times that would've labeled her a witch. Lucky for her she lived when she did.
Eliza R. Snow was one of Emma's counselors and got special treatment since she was JS's other wife. Talk about secret combinations. Didn'T JS write down how evil secret combinations were in the BoM? Too bad he didn't practice what he preached.
It's been documented in some biographies that Eliza carried Joseph's child in a pregnancy. When Emma found Joseph and Eliza kissing at the top of the stairs in their Nauvoo home where Eliza was supposedly working there as a governess to their children, Emma went into a rage and beat Eliza with a broom handle, pushing her down the stairs and throwing her out of the house. Eliza had a miscarriage because of that incident.
I can't imagine how Emma endured so much betrayal. And how Eliza could live her life of duplicity along with Joseph. But they did.
Amy Jo, do you have any idea where you got this information about Emma throwing Eliza R. Snow down the stairs? Any chance I could find it in the book. "Sacred Lonliness"?
Thanks for correcting me. It was in 1842 she was the first secretary to the Relief Society.
Wasn't until 1866 she became the first president of the RS after its move west to Utah, when it underwent a major reorganization, and long after Emma was no longer a part of the Mormon church.
The real Relief Society died a very slow and calculated death while the church ramped up the Correlation Program. In Correlation, everything has to fall under the priesthood, and women must be tethered. Mormon priesthood leadership fears nothing like they fear the women.
With an independent RS, women could (and did) take control and run their own thing. Since they paid dues, they could fund the organization. Since they could raise funds with bazaars and dinners, they could fund even more activities. They did all this while the so-called "brethren" stupidly sat around in circle-jerks. The situation was intolerable.
Relief Society has changed significantly in my lifetime (I'm in my 60s). I was hoping there were published articles that accounted for the RS of the 50s and 60s and how it was stripped of it's abilities to fundraise, plan, and fund events that were beneficial to the RS members vs. the boring 50 minutes that is part of the Sunday three hour block.
I am about your age and I well remember when the Relief Society had progressive dinners (we went to four different homes for a part of the meal.
We had a meeting once a month that lasted most of the day and had a lot of demo's and small classes. That is where I learned to make chef salad and homemade donuts. Because the women had made their own money they paid a couple of ladies for the day and they cared for the children who were not in school. We would sign up for one month out of the year and help with the luncheon. I do have to say that back in those days, I became a great cook and learned a lot of really fun things because of my experiences in Relief Society.
More than this, however, apart from anything else, the women developed a camaraderie with one another that no longer exists. I found that the church had become very isolating for women who were not in a calling where they worked with other women.
The luncheons were sometimes the only time many of the older women were able to socialize with one another, not to mention that for some it was probably the best meal they had all month.
The weekly lessons were cultural refinement, social relations, back when they had the Relief Society Magazine, the lessons were about literature and art, etc.
IMout, you nailed it exactly: "camaraderie." That's what RS was like in the first ward I joined as a newbie.
RS was the one place in church where you could let your hair down, as it were; you could kick back, gossip, LAUGH, and talk with your friends. New mothers often nursed their babies and nobody cared.
Lessons were INTERESTING and often informative. What little I know about quilting, I learned from RS. They had lessons about things other than religion. They were often cultural.
It felt like we were an extended family. Everybody knew everybody else's business, but it also meant that you knew other people's challenges, so you could step in and help if needed, or people knew they could come to you for help if you had specialized knowledge.
I miss the camaraderie. But I don't miss anything else about that made-up church.
The first thing that tipped me off that I had made a huge mistake joining TSCC was when I was asked to help set up for a funeral (my first calling was assistant to the woman who coordinated help to families in RS - can't remember the calling's title.)
I need to get a knife and was told that the priesthood locked the drawer to the knives to protect us women and that I would have to figure out an alternative. Heck, I was a career woman (educator mostly) and, at one point, managed a big box hardware store as a second level manager (group manager of 5 departments: building materials, lumber, garden shop, nursery and plumbing) reporting directly to the "store manager." I cut lumber, threaded pipe, cut glass and hefted rolled roofing and here I was being told that I was too "something" to handle a knife.
RS continued to reveal how women were sub-standard as the months went by. Sorry, that just didn't fly and it only took 5 years to get out of the stupid organization that pretends to be a church. I am ashamed it took me that long to realize what a stupid stupid mistake I made as an investigator! I just don't understand why women - with all the progress we have made - can stay in the church. I just don't get it.
It is so sad. Relief Society was subrogated to an almost nothing Organization. I remember when It was a power house organization. IMHO the women that ran that Org where making our inspired leader look like idiots. They were more organized, better at fund raising, better at taking care of the needy. They managed their finances better. The bazaars were awesome. My mother was heavily involved in this org and it was very empowering for her.
Just a guess but it mite have been dismantled/reorganized to rob the coffers. I think they TSCC was having financial issues around 1969.
Just one Guys Opinion (Raised by a very strong, Awesome women)
Loved your comments. One problem they were having was the federal government was threatening to take away their tax-exempt status right at that time. When it came right down to it the choice was the women or the money and we all know what comes first. LOL.
Losing Relief Society was the deal-breaker that helped to send me packing. I honestly miss it. If it was the same today as it was then, I probably would have stayed even if I didn't believe anything.
while not a woman/female/girl, it's pretty obvious that the pres & Q12 guys had a Heavenly Vision... of the Ordain Women movement, so they preemptively decided to Head It Off At The Pass!
they were threatened by the vision that women might be a little more independent!
Yup, 18th Century Stuff brought to you from SLC COB.