79EQUALITY OF MEN
AND WOMEN
SELECTED TEACHINGS
President George Albert Smith
“When the Prophet Joseph Smith turned the key for
the emancipation of womankind, it was turned for
all the world, and from generation to generation the
number of women who can enjoy the blessings of
religious liberty and civil liberty has been increasing”
(“Address to the Members of the Relief Society,”
Relief Society Magazine,Dec. 1945, 717).
President Spencer W. Kimball
“Our roles and assignments differ. These are eternal
differences—with women being given many tremen-
dous responsibilities of motherhood and sisterhood
and men being given the tremendous responsibilities
of fatherhood and the priesthood—but the man is
not without the woman nor the woman without
the man in the Lord (see 1 Cor. 11:11)....
“Even though the eternal roles of men and women
differ,... this leaves much to be done by way of
parallel personal development—for both men and
women” (“The Role of Righteous Women,” Ensign,
Nov. 1979, 102).
“We do not want our LDS women to be silentpartners
or limitedpartners in that eternal assignment! Please
be a contributingand fullpartner” (“Privileges and
Responsibilities of Sisters,” Ensign,Nov. 1978, 106).
President Howard W. Hunter
“A man who holds the priesthood accepts his wife
as a partner in the leadership of the home and family
with full knowledge of and full participation in all
decisions relating thereto.... The Lord intended
that the wife be a helpmeet for man (meetmeans
equal)—that is, a companion equal and necessary
in full partnership” (in Conference Report, Oct.
1994, 68; or Ensign,Nov. 1994, 50–51).President Gordon B. Hinckley
“I see my own companion of fifty-two years. Is her
contribution less acceptable before the Lord than is
mine? I am satisfied it is not. She has walked quietly
at my side, sustained me in my responsibilities, reared
and blessed our children, served in many capacities
in the Church, and spread an unmitigated measure
of cheer and goodness wherever she has gone. The
older I grow the more I appreciate—yes, the more
I love—this little woman with whom I knelt at the
altar in the house of the Lord more than half
a century ago” (“Rise to the Stature of the Divine
within You,” Ensign,Nov. 1989, 97).President Boyd K. Packer
“In the Church there is a distinct line of authority.
We serve where called by those who preside over us.
“In the home it is a partnership with husband and
wife equally yoked together, sharing in decisions,
always working together. While the husband, the
father, has responsibility to provide worthy and
inspired leadership, his wife is neither behind him
nor ahead of him but at his side” (in Conference
Report, Apr. 1998, 96; or Ensign,May 1998, 73).Elder Bruce R. McConkie
“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” (“Our Sisters
from the Beginning,” Ensign,Jan. 1979, 61).
“The Lord never sends apostles and prophets and
righteous men to minister to his people without
placing women of like spiritual stature at their
sides.... The exaltation of the one is dependent
upon that of the other” (Doctrinal New Testament
Commentary,3:302).Our roles and assignments
differ.... But the man is not
without the woman nor the woman
without the man in the Lord.
—President Spencer W. Kimball