To do this work we need Melchizedek Priesthood so that the Church has the power and authority to do ordinances. And He needs powerful individuals to run His Kingdom on earth-- faithful, righteous men and women.
Powerful Individuals
Powerful individuals (see Chapter Four) are men and women who know that they are children of God the Father and have a desire to be close to Him and return to Him. They are covenant-makers and covenant-keepers. They are men and women who importune the Savior of the World for redemption from sin. They repent and forgive, they rely on the Holy Ghost to sanctify and magnify. Through this process and over time, they become more and more worthy of the Spirit's communication from God. Add His influence and gifts to willing hands and soft hearts, and mankind is ready to help in the Church.
Your personal sanctity and ability to call down the
powers of heaven is dependent on you and the Savior. It is tied to your effort and
personal righteousness. As the Spirit communicates with you, He brings to you
the capacity for miracles. This is the key to being useful to the Church which
is why Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that what each of us needs is a PhD in
faith and righteousness. (1)
Let there be no mistake about it, the work of the
Kingdom of God is going to take the efforts of all of us, and men and women are
both aptly capable of profound righteousness. Elder McConkie said, "Where
spiritual things are concerned, as pertaining to all of the gifts of the
Spirit, with reference to the receipt of revelation, the gaining of
testimonies, and the seeing of visions, in all matters that pertain to
godliness and holiness and which are brought to pass as a result of personal
righteousness—in all these things men and women stand in a position of absolute
equality before the Lord." (2)
When Nephi saw his father's vision of the tree of
life, he was shown the latter days. In Nephi 14 of the Book of Mormon, he described
the fight for righteousness that the Saints of the last days would wage against
the forces of evil. “And it came to pass that I,
Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints
of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were
scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they
were armed with righteousness and
with the power of God in great glory.” (3)
Many years ago, I became acutely curious about what it
was that Nephi was seeing in the description above. I asked myself: What does
"the power of the Lamb of God" look like in vision? What did Nephi
see, or what are the visual evidences that God's power had "descended upon
the Saints"? What was Nephi watching when he described "the people of
the Lord" "armed with righteousness"? What did the
"Saints" look like with "the power of God in great glory"?
I imagined Nephi (and myself) standing back, looking at the earth in panoramic
view. Kind of like standing tall and watching ants work in a giant ant hill. From
this position afar off, one could totally appreciate the bustle of the work of
the Church in the last days. Maybe Nephi saw the thousands and thousands of
faithful men and women flowing into the Conference Center and into Stake
Centers across the globe for the General Conference. Then maybe he saw these
people leave, having been directed by living prophets and apostles, and flowing
into all of the cities and villages of the world-- healing, presiding, serving
and ministering in the name of Jesus Christ and with His power.
"Armed with righteousness" must be temple attenders, family history
sleuths, couples who marry in the temple, little families who welcome children,
faithful Sunday meeting attenders, missionaries, youth who attend Seminary, children
learning and yearning in Primary, crowds of happy youth at Youth Conferences,
humanitarian servants, and families who read, study and pray together. The
"power of God" must be ministering brothers and sisters, blessings
given with the priesthood, revelation via prayer and study, ward councils,
administration of the Church's welfare program, and watchcare over the needy
(all of us) under the direction of inspiration from the Holy Ghost.
What Nephi must have seen is how the "engine of
the church" is fueled by an army of righteous, powerful individuals.
Authorizations and Permissions
Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught that every act or
ordinance performed in the Church is done either under the direct or indirect
authorization of one holding the keys for that function. In Chapter Ten we
learned about direct authorization when we studied Melchizedek Priesthood key
holders, who are guardians of the ordinances. They are called, set apart and
given keys that they use directly for the purpose of protecting and presiding. (4)
Any ordained man might be
called and set apart to serve as a “guardian” of the Melchizedek Priesthood for
a time and should stand ready in worthiness if called.
Indirect use of priesthood describes how to the
behemoth, massive, wonderful work of “the many” in the Church of Jesus Christ
gets done. Under the direction of a key holder who has jurisdiction over a
branch, quorum, ward, stake, mission, temple, or church, men and women serve in
church callings and assignments with real priesthood authority and power. Again,
all of those men and women who are
serving are doing so with Melchizedek Priesthood power and authority because
they have been called and set apart by a presiding key holder. No one worthy
and called is excluded from that authorization and so we can’t mistakenly
believe that it is just men or just key-holding men who have this power. As
Elder M. Russell Ballard has explained, “Those who have priesthood keys…literally
make it possible for all who serve
faithfully under their direction to exercise priesthood authority and have
access to priesthood power.” (5)
Here is a little primer with the details of indirect authorization, some of which is repetitive for emphasis, but it so misunderstood at this juncture in our history that it bears repeating.
Melchizedek Priesthood key holders authorize, give permissions and provide oversight to men and women who to serve in many varied ways in the Church of Jesus Christ. A key holder gives men and women “sanction” to perform duties in the Church. People are called, set apart by the laying on of hands, and then directed in the work by key holders. Women and men do the colossal ministerial work of the Kingdom under the direction of guardian key holders. Temple workers do their work with power and authority under the direction of the keys that the temple president holds. Primary teachers, Young Women’s and Young Men’s advisors, Sunday School teachers, nursery leaders, ward librarians, choir directors and Relief Society meeting coordinators all do their work with power and authority under the direction of the keys that the bishop holds. Missionaries serve with power and authority under the direction of the keys that the mission president holds. Area Seventies do their work with power and authority under the direction of the keys that the Presidency of the Seventy hold. The High Council functions with power and authority under the direction of the keys that the stake president holds.
It takes all of us working hard and inspired in order to accomplish God’s work. President Dallin H. Oaks said, “The Church work done by women or men, whether in the temple or in the wards or branches, is done under the direction of those who hold priesthood keys…Whoever functions in an office or calling received from one who holds priesthood keys exercises priesthood authority in performing her or his assigned duties.” (6) Priesthood “power” is God’s power operating through righteous men and women while doing His work. (7) “Power” has reference to the enabling, magnifying resources from God that men or women need in order to be successful in roles and responsibilities.
I can think of at least three ways that men and women serve with power and authority in this Kingdom under the direction of key holders.
First, Serving Indirectly through Ordination:
Ordinances can be performed only under the direction of a presiding Melchizedek Priesthood key holder. Even though ordained to an office in the priesthood, men and boys serve by permission and under the protective eye of the key holder. For example: a worthy man can only perform a baptism after the key holder has interviewed and recommended the person who desires the ordinance.
Second,
Serving Indirectly by Being Called and Set Apart:
By serving in callings under the direction of a key holder, the bulk of the work of The Church of Jesus Christ gets done. It requires many, many willing hands. It requires men and women who are champions of the ministry, who love God, and want to serve His children.
Third,
Serving Indirectly by Permission:
In the temple, a woman can officiate in ordinances with “permission” from the key holder, who is the temple president. (8)
Being set apart is a vitally important step. By the laying on of hands, a man or woman is given access to the power and authority of the priesthood within the scope of that calling. The Duties and Blessings of the Priesthood manual teaches about the importance of the call and the setting apart, “When a person is called to a temporary Church assignment as an officer or teacher, he is set apart to that calling. The Church officer holding the keys to that calling gives the individual the right to act in that calling in the setting-apart blessing.” (9)
Without doubt, service in the Church, in its varied forms, is done with the power and authority of God delegated to covenant-keepers-- male and female. God may have delegated out pieces a little differently, but exact sameness doesn't matter when everyone is relevant. Men and women work together to move the boat. I like this quote by Elder Bednar where he celebrates the uniqueness of men and women and reveals those differences as our super power. "The unique combination of spiritual, physical, mental and emotional capacities of both males and females was needed to enact the plan of happiness." (10) And it is so important to remember that God's way is collaboration. Council and Collaboration. That is the rule. We all contribute to the work. We have a legacy of women who are strong and faithful, yoked with men who are strong and faithful. I will say it again, we need powerful individuals working together with power and permissions from God.
I think that the best words to describe our access to
God's priesthood in the engine of the Church is "authorization"
and “permissions”. Priesthood is God's power and will be forever and ever,
and men and women are authorized
through ordination or being set apart to be magnified by His power. They are
given permissions to perform certain
functions. It is the power (or capacity) and authorization (or permission)
allotted by God the Father for the purpose of doing His work.
Unfortunately, women and feminine work have been
excluded from the definition of priesthood. Priesthood has been incorrectly
treated like, and talked about a terms of being a fraternity. We cannot
separate the women out of somewhere that they legitimately belong. The
oft-used definition of Priesthood is, "the power of God delegated to
man", but I wonder if priesthood is really more accurately stated as
"the power of God, delegated to mankind, or humankind". There
certainly is precedent for the masculine to be used scripturally to describe
something that is not at all restricted to men, but instead is
gender-inclusive. "Man" doesn't always mean exclusively male. It is
also used to mean "mankind", "the human race", "men
and women".
I believe that most women embrace and support that men
have authority through ordination to perform ordinances and take a turn holding
keys. To most women the fix to the confusion is not to ordain women. It is to
teach with conviction and vigor that all service in the Church, in its
varied forms, is done with the power and authority of God delegated to
covenant-keepers, male and female. We need to acknowledge that women are
already there under the priesthood "umbrella", and then get used to
speaking of all of the work of God's army (male and female) as powered by
Melchizedek Priesthood. The engine of the Church is fueled by powerful
individuals serving with priesthood authority-- male and female.
The
Engine of the Church
As an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ in the
meridian of time, Paul delivered a bold and direct epistle to the people of
Rome. He ends the letter with a shout-out to the faithful members, male and
female, who were helping with the work of the Church in that city. Paul had a
long list of people that he wanted to thank. He expressed gratitude for each
one being a “servant of the Church”, a “succorer” (helper and rescuer) of many,
for being “helpers in Christ”, for laying down “their own necks” in service,
and for bestowing “much labor”. (11)
When I read these workings of the New Testament
Church, I can picture the Saints of Rome organized into wards and branches. I
can see them serving one another, taking care of the poor and poor in spirit,
extending themselves and laboring. I can see women ministering to families in
need and becoming a “mother” to Paul, like Rufus’ mother had become. I can see
the men who were imprisoned with Paul and how they suffered and strengthened
each other in times of trial. This epistle of gratitude was the result of the
great caring that Paul saw happening in the Church. Clearly, Paul’s observation
was that there were many faithful, willing hands doing the work of God. This
apostolic shout-out shows the collective power of men and women, who are
unstoppable in their combined efforts to move the Kingdom along.
This active chart (next page) is a
summary of how the work of the church is accomplished as powerful individuals
serve under the direction of guardian-key holders. Here is the
explanation of the chart by picture and with corresponding words:
(1) Covenant-makers and keepers (men and women) are
cleansed by the Savior and have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. This
gives them to God the Father's total priesthood power and they are magnified,
enabled, have increased capacity, can do and know and see the unknown and
unseen. This develops them into powerful individuals who are ready to serve in
God's Kingdom with great effectiveness.
(2) Men and women are enlisted by these covenants to
execute the mission of Jesus Christ's Church, which is to bring others to the
ordinances. They are covenant-bound to minister, teach, testify, and lead
inside the organization of Jesus Christ's Church. They have talents, and
willing hearts and hands.
(3) The mortal eyes-on operation, protectors, or
guardians of this work are priesthood key holders. (There are just a
handful at any given time.) They are ordained priesthood holders who are
called, set apart, and given authority (for a time) to preside, administer, and
protect the ordinances and the Church that houses the ordinances. Under
their direction and watchful eye, all men and women serve with real priesthood
power and authority.
(4) The Church is "an engine" of
activity powered by busy, powerful individuals (men and women) who
have priesthood power and permissions or “authorizations”. This work is
accomplished in many different ways. The world is big and the needs are vast.
There are qualified, called, capable men and women that are prepared for that
work.
(5) One way the work is accomplished is that men and
women serve in callings under the direction of priesthood keys and are
called by God and set apart by that key holder. By being set apart, men and
women are given the priesthood power and authority that they need to serve in
that stewardship. That means that men and women have heavenly authority or
permission to function in callings. They also have the power of God to
strengthen them and magnify them in those callings.
(6) Men and women serve together in organizations like
the Primary, the youth program, Seminary and Sunday School. Then sometimes men
serve men and the women serve the women in organizations like the quorums and
the Relief Society. They gather to council and help each other with the needs
of their organizations. These organizations, those divided by gender, are
places to find brotherhood and sisterhood. They teach and remind covenant
keepers of their duties both in the Church and in the family. The family is a
heavenly organization where men and women have the same objectives, but are
asked to play co-equal, but different, roles.
(7) Another way that the engine of the Church works is
that men are ordained to priesthood offices, which allows them to perform
ordinances (baptism, the sacrament, bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost,
ordaining to priesthood offices, temple ordinances, and grave dedication) when
given permission by a guardian key holder. Women are also given permission to
perform ordinances, not by ordination, but by permission from a key holder and
only in temples. Ordination and worthiness also enables men to give
blessings of comfort and healing.
Just In Case There is Any Questions about
Women
For millennia members of the Church have been
observing God's instituted law of witnesses when doing ordinances: "In the
mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." (12) Because
of the importance of ordinances in qualifying mankind to reenter the presence
of God, the ordinance needs to be witnessed in this way and recorded.
In the fall of 2019, President Nelson announced a policy change. No longer
would witnesses to ordinances need to be men. All covenant-makers and keepers were
authorized to bear witness that an ordinance had been performed and performed
correctly. This brings tremendous efficiency in the work of the temple. But
most importantly, President Nelson explained that it will increase the members'
opportunity to have "covenants...planted in (their) hearts." (13)
There was quite a bit of excitement about this change in social media as though
it represented the liberation, equality and validation of women. Frankly, I
liked President Nelson's framing better than the vocal view that this policy
change is "one giant step for womankind". It took a day for me to
figure out my own feelings and I found them, in part in an article by Sarah
Jane Weaver, a writer for the Church News. This is the last sentence of Sister
Weaver’s article: "(With this change) mostly I celebrate the
women in my life whose living witness of the Savior and His Church reminds me
that this policy change isn’t really a change at all." (14)
Yes. Faithful women had already been standing under
the Melchizedek Priesthood umbrella serving with power and permissions as
described earlier in this chapter. But further, they had already been standing there
as witnesses.
Just writing that last line makes me emotion because
it describes with perfection, my mom. She was a woman of graces and was
unassuming. She stood straight and dignified, and was so beautiful to me. She
had a great sense of humor and sometimes laughed until she cried, but she was
never course or inelegant. She was a woman of self-control and discipline. She
was a powerful individual.
Her life was filled with the unpredictable, but she
was a pragmatic, hard working. put-your-shoulder-to-the-wheel kind of girl. Her
work was done in private and her personal ministry was done in secret. In my
mind, I can see her standing in the background and observing me with a
supportive, approving look that I needed and cherished. I knew how much she
loved me and that she was proud of me but this because of moments out of the
public view-- at the kitchen counter, as a passenger in her car, in the dark at
midnight as she waited for me in the living room, from the back of a concert
hall, from the rear of a chapel. None of which was at all overt or showy.
I knew that she took seriously her own covenant walk. She
was deeply involved in the engine of the Church. She was always for the
underdog and those who lived under the radar. She bore, held, fed and comforted
the modest and unflashy. She loved the temple. She served in Primary, Scouting
and the other organizations with imagination and commitment. She loved this
Church and was proud of the cultural programs and historical sites. She loved
her ancestors and found faith in their faith.
It is funny all the lessons that I learned without any
loud shouting voices or figurative tap dancing or standing behind a rostrum
with any great visibility. I never saw her bear her testimony in a Sunday
meeting. Although she did, I never saw her lead a Church organization. I never
saw her with a prominent member of the Church. Every amazing thing that she did
was quiet and done with reserve.
Still, I knew what she wanted for me. I can picture
her in the temple on the day that I married, sitting near me. Not in the formal
witness chairs, but without doubt, she sat there as an attestor. First, because
in a million ways she had brought me there that day by her lifetime of teaching
and modeling devotion to God. And second, because she had been in the
(sometimes uncomfortable) Valerie-development-trench my whole life long and she
was my most knowing witness in that room that I came to the temple that day
prepared with intention and devotion to new covenants.
I guess I would just say that like Ms. Weaver,
"My own history is filled with women whose lives have been defined by
their witness and discipleship." And while it is good that all covenant-keepers
are witnesses to ordinances now, it wasn't necessary to my faith or, more
importantly, to a woman's worth. Faithful women have always been standing there as witnesses. They have always been shoulder-deep in the work of
the Lord. They have always been powerful individuals fueling the engine of the
Church.
The work of the Church of Jesus Christ is so great and all members have part in it. To share the gospel with the world, offer saving ordinances, and minister to others spiritually and temporally is a huge task that is accomplished by a mighty battalion of workers with willing hands. Men and women serve in callings with priesthood power and authority under the direction of Melchizedek Priesthood key holders. They are effective in those callings by accessing God the Father’s capacity through the gift of the Holy Ghost.
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