C. Jane Kendrick is a Mormon feminist and blogger that I've been following off and on for a few years. I've been checking her blog recently, waiting for her response to the Ordain Women controversy and subsequent excommunication of Kate Kelly from the Mormon Church. As someone concerned about and committed to gender equality in our spiritual systems, this event got my attention. Kendrick gives us a heartfelt, thoughtful consideration of the issues and people involved in today's post: To My Mormon Daughters.
In writing the essay as a letter to her daughters, Kendrick owns that she is a feminist who cares deeply about her faith and her family. She is seeking new and more opportunities for women to serve in the Mormon church, while maintaining a deep, lived appreciation for the spaces she currently inhabits. She holds her Mormon sisters in high regard and values her engagement with them.
Kendrick presents the essay in three sections. First, the research and relationships that informed her position on the issues at hand. Second, her affinity and affection for people who courageously express their hearts even when their ideas are unpopular. (I'd include Kendrick in this group.) Third, her belief that the ordination of women in the Mormon church won't come about until more women really want it.
My favorite part of the essay comes near the end. Kendrick shares her conviction that there is "no scriptural or doctrinal declaration" proving that God does not want women to be ordained. She continues affirming the call to bring before God what is on our hearts. "Ask, knock, ponder, pray, have faith, have hope." Finally, she compares God to a loving parent who gives their children what their hearts desire, when it is "inherently good and safe."
I love this essay because it is brave and heartfelt. I love it because Kendrick writes it to her daughters about who she is today and the vision she has for their future. I love it because it resonates with my own heart's desire for more opportunities for leadership and inclusion of women's perspective and experiences in the Evangelical Christian church of my youth. I love it because it illustrates Kendrick's commitment to stay in the church she loves, simultaneous to her work for something more for that church. It's a commitment that I couldn't make and I'm impressed and humbled by her example.
In writing the essay as a letter to her daughters, Kendrick owns that she is a feminist who cares deeply about her faith and her family. She is seeking new and more opportunities for women to serve in the Mormon church, while maintaining a deep, lived appreciation for the spaces she currently inhabits. She holds her Mormon sisters in high regard and values her engagement with them.
Kendrick presents the essay in three sections. First, the research and relationships that informed her position on the issues at hand. Second, her affinity and affection for people who courageously express their hearts even when their ideas are unpopular. (I'd include Kendrick in this group.) Third, her belief that the ordination of women in the Mormon church won't come about until more women really want it.
My favorite part of the essay comes near the end. Kendrick shares her conviction that there is "no scriptural or doctrinal declaration" proving that God does not want women to be ordained. She continues affirming the call to bring before God what is on our hearts. "Ask, knock, ponder, pray, have faith, have hope." Finally, she compares God to a loving parent who gives their children what their hearts desire, when it is "inherently good and safe."
I love this essay because it is brave and heartfelt. I love it because Kendrick writes it to her daughters about who she is today and the vision she has for their future. I love it because it resonates with my own heart's desire for more opportunities for leadership and inclusion of women's perspective and experiences in the Evangelical Christian church of my youth. I love it because it illustrates Kendrick's commitment to stay in the church she loves, simultaneous to her work for something more for that church. It's a commitment that I couldn't make and I'm impressed and humbled by her example.
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