Worldwide Sisterhood

                    Families are stronger when wives, mothers, grandmothers, and single women are concerned about the conditions in their neighborhoods and communities.  Most of us understand that groups of women have more influence than do individuals acting alone; therefore, it is normally a good experience to organize ourselves into groups.  We must be very careful and choose wisely which women's groups we join because some are in the business of advancing selfish ambition while others are concerned with supporting and strengthening marriages and families.  We want to be sure that we choose organizations that strengthen homes and families. 

One such organization is the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Relief Society is possibly the oldest and largest women's organization in the world, and it is celebrating its 170th birthday this week.  All members of Relief Society are part of a worldwide sisterhood of more than three million women and form bonds with each other that rival the relationships between sisters by birth.  

The mission and purpose of Relief Society is threefold:  1) Increase faith and personal righteousness, 2) Strengthen families and homes, and 3) Seek out and help those in need.  The motto of Relief Society is "Charity Never Faileth."  Relief Society members even have their own song, "As Sisters in Zion."   The words were written as a poem by Emily Hill, while she and her sister traveled West with the Willie and Martin Handcart Company; the poem was found and set to music in 1985.

Women have always needed relationships with other women; they have formed strong bonds with each other and given their best support to homes and families.  The natures of women would have been no different while Jesus Christ was living upon the earth.  Jesus valued the support of the women around Him, such as Mary and Martha, and He taught them in their homes and on the streets, as individuals and in multitudes.  He always showed loving kindness toward women.

                    There is little known about any formal organization for women in New Testament time, but a careful study of the scriptures suggests that women were active and important participants in the Savior's ministry.  There are numerous examples in the New Testament of women who exercised faith in Jesus Christ, listened to His teachings, and testified of his ministry, miracles, and majesty.  They were important witnesses in the work of salvation.

                    "The women in the ancient Church were dignified and noble, needed and valued.  They served others, increased in personal holiness, and participated in the great work of saving souls." 

                    Women continued strengthening homes and families.  While members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including some of my ancestors, were living in Nauvoo, Illinois, they eagerly worked to build a temple there.  Since the Prophet Joseph Smith encouraged everyone to take an active part in the building project and the men were doing the actual construction work on the temple, the women searched for some way in which they could contribute to the cause.

                    One day when the walls of the temple were about three feet high, Margaret Cook and Sarah M. Kimball were discussing a recent call for "provisions, clothing, bedding and general supplies for the workmen and their families."  Margaret said that she would be "pleased to contribute needlework" if materials could be made available to her.  Sarah offered to provide the materials and suggested that other women might desire to join their effort. 

                    Margaret and Sarah discussed the possibility of organizing a sewing society with the purpose of providing aid to the temple workers, and a few days later about a dozen women met in Sarah's home to discuss such an organization.  [These women were not alone in their desire to organize for a good cause because it was a common practice in that era for women to form their own organizations - complete with constitutions and bylaws.]  The women meeting in Sarah's home decided to establish a constitution and bylaws and assigned Eliza R. Snow to write them.  When Sister Snow finished with her assignment, the women asked the Prophet Joseph Smith to review their proposed constitution and bylaws and then tell the women what he thought about them.

                    The Prophet read them and declared them to be "the best he had ever seen."  He then added, "But this is not what you want. Tell the sisters their offering is accepted of the Lord, and he has something better for them than a written constitution.  I invite them all to meet with me and a few of the brethren … and I will organize the women under the priesthood after the pattern of the priesthood."

                    On March 17, 1842, twenty women met with Joseph Smith and two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elders John Taylor and Willard Richards.  On that day in a building referred to as "the red brick store" where Joseph had an office and business, the Prophet organized the women in "a divinely inspired and authorized manner" rather than after the pattern of other women's societies of the day with their own presidency to lead them.

                    In that meeting the Prophet told the women to encourage "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 the morals and strengthening the virtues of the female community."

                    The women discussed what they should call their organization and finally settled on calling themselves the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo.  Their new president, Emma Smith, declared:  "We are going to do something extraordinary….  We expect extraordinary occasions and pressing calls."

                    About six weeks later the Prophet joined the women in a Relief Society meeting to teach them more about their responsibilities.  He said, "This society is to get instruction through the order which God has established - through the medium of those appointed to lead - and I now turn the key to you in the name of God, and this society shall rejoice and knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time - this is the beginning of better days to this society."

                    The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo grew quickly.  From the 20 members in attendance on March 17, 1842, when the Relief Society was organized, the society grew to 1,100 members in August 1842.  Membership in Relief Society was not automatic to all female members of the Church.  Women had to "petition" for membership and were "accepted based on their goodness and virtue."  The sisters were simply following the Prophets counsel when he told them, "There should be a select society, separate from all the evils of the world, choice, virtuous, and holy."

                    Many women in Nauvoo were anxious to join the Relief Society and were excited about the opportunity to give spiritual and temporal help in an organized manner.  They loved being unified in their purpose and appreciated the priesthood leadership given by the Prophet.   They recognized that they had received a great blessing and privilege and had the responsibility to live up to it. 

Joseph Smith told the sisters, "You are now placed in a situation where you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms.  If you live up to these principles, how great and glorious."

On June 27, 1844, when the Relief Society was less than two years old, an armed mob with blackened faces advanced on the small jail in Carthage, Illinois, killed the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, and seriously wounded John Taylor.  The martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith did not stop the persecutions.  Brigham Young, the Church's new leader, eventually told the members of the Church that they would have to leave Nauvoo and find another home where they could live and worship in peace.

The exodus from Nauvoo began in February 1846, and the first pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847.  Through all their trials the women continued to live the principles of Relief Society even though they did not have a formal organization until nearly twenty years later.  The Relief Society was reorganized under the leadership of President Brigham Young in early 1867 and continues to this day.  The name of the organization was shortened to simply "Relief Society" and membership eventually opened to all adult female members of the Church.  The Relief Society continues to hold an important place among leadership and membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  President Joseph Fielding Smith commented in 1970, "The Relief Society was established by the spirit of inspiration, and has been guided by that spirit [ever since], and has instilled into the hearts of countless of our good sisters those desires for righteousness which have been pleasing to the Lord."

                    I am grateful for my membership in Relief Society.  Being a member of this organization has helped greatly in strengthening my own home and family and those of other sisters.  May this great, worldwide sisterhood continue to bless and strengthen our homes and families.  Happy Birthday, Relief Society!

                    A previous essay on Relief Society can be found here.   Information and quotes are from Daughters in My Kingdom - The History and Work of Relief Society.