A group of Mormon women asking for ordination to their church’s priesthood is planning to stage another demonstration at the LDS General Conference in three weeks. But they may not get as far as they did last October.
Last fall, members of the group Ordain Women met for a rally at a park and then walked a couple of blocks to Temple Square. They wanted to wait for standby tickets to attend the priesthood session that is part of every General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were turned away, and this time, they’re being asked not to come through the gates.
A letter sent from the church’s public affairs department asks Katy Kelly and her group to stay in the designated protest zones on the public sidewalks outside Temple Square.
Because they’re members of the church, Kelly says she doesn’t think her group will be treated as trespassers if they do come on the square. She says she’s actually encouraged by the letter.
“In some ways," Kelly tells KUER, "it’s very faith-promoting and very exciting to see the public affairs department of the church respond to us. We obviously disagree on this issue, but the fact that they are responding to us, the fact that they’re reaching out to us, the fact that they see our desires and that they receive our messages is a positive, positive development.”
The letter says women in the church generally do not share the group’s advocacy for ordaining women, and the priesthood session is “designed to strengthen men and boys.” It’s signed by Jessica Moody of the LDS public communications department.
Copyright 2014 KUER 90.1
