Although The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always structured its hierarchy on male authority, its theology and practice concerning women is rather intricate and complex. Throughout much of the 19th and first half of the 20th century, the Relief Society (central Latter-day Saint women’s organization) was given far more power and authority than it is today. For example, in its early days, Latter-day Saint women were allowed to give “faith blessings,” where they would lay hands on others’ heads for healing.

Church founder Joseph Smith gave the Relief Society significant decision-making authority as well. In fact, they functioned on a mostly independent budget, oversaw their own social service agency and printed their own publications until the 1960s. At that time, under the direction of apostle Harold Lee, the church’s correlation committee stripped the Relief Society of these endeavors with the goal of strengthening deference to senior male leadership.

While early Mormonism promoted much of the patriarchal constructs of its time, its theological notions on gender had some unusually liberal and expansive components. Most notably, as early as 1845, former Relief Society President Eliza R. Snow penned the beautifully worded hymn “O My Father.” In it, she affirms: “In the heav’ns are parents single? / No, the thought makes reason stare; / Truth is reason–truth eternal / Tells me I’ve a mother there.” While there is no formal record of a revelation to Joseph Smith on Heavenly Mother, several women, including Zina Huntington, later recounted experiences of Smith instructing them on the doctrine.

Despite misalignments with mainstream Christianity, Latter-day Saint doctrines around Heavenly Mother remain paramount to the faith’s most sacred theological narratives and aspirations. The highest rituals of Latter-day Saint temples instruct men and women on the path to godhood; women to become “queens and priestesses”; and men to “become kings and priests.” The fact that this process of deification is portrayed in both masculine and feminine forms is something that many Latter-day Saint women describe as inspiring. Feminist scholar Janice Allred stated in 1992: “There is another God, and she has a woman’s body like mine. I want to know her, not simply as a model, but as a person. That she is God as well as woman is as important for men as it is for women as it affirms the equality of male and female and of masculine and feminine attributes and values.”

Notwithstanding its centrality to Latter-day Saint doctrine, current leaders rarely talk about and even discourage mentioning Heavenly Mother. The most common rationalization for near silence on the topic is uncertainty. In the April 2022 women’s session of general conference, apostle Dale Renlund stated:

“Very little has been revealed about Mother in Heaven, but what we do know is summarized in a gospel topic found in our Gospel Library application. Once you have read what is there, you will know everything that I know about the subject. I wish I knew more. You too may still have questions and want to find more answers. Seeking greater understanding is an important part of our spiritual development, but please be cautious. Reason cannot replace revelation.”

It is first noteworthy that an apostle, who claims special access to God’s will, compares his level of understanding on Heavenly Mother to that of any layperson. It is curious to me that Latter-day Saint authorities claim fervent certainty on topics that support their current interests and power structures (e.g., the sinfulness of homosexuality), yet claim uncertainty on topics in which diving deeper would unsettle and disrupt the church’s interests and power structures.

Another common rationalization for silence on Heavenly Mother is that Heavenly Father is “protecting” her from the darkness and evil of the world. This is a prime example of what psychologists have referred to as “benevolent sexism,” in which men justify their authority over women by asserting that women need their protection. Certainly, an all-powerful, all-knowing Heavenly Mother can handle the dark and tumultuous aspects of the world and does not need to stay in the shadows.

In our current climate of impassioned strides toward equality and social justice, it makes sense that Latter-day Saint leaders would discourage members from thinking too much about and even praying to Heavenly Mother. In his address, Renlund continued by instructing members to “direct our worship to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ and do not pray to Heavenly Mother.”

I am aware of several instances in which Latter-day Saint women who prayed aloud to Heavenly Mother in their congregations were chastised, to say nothing of the women who have been excommunicated in previous decades for their activism and scholarship around Heavenly Mother. It seems there is fear and insecurity among church leaders around what would happen to Latter-day Saint power structures if prayer to Heavenly Mother became normalized.

Feminist activist and writer Sonya Johnson articulated this point in a deeply profound way:

“Her existence is dangerous to patriarchy, for which reason I should think the whole effort was to keep the issue about her very quiet. The less people think about her, the less they will question her position, the church’s position about her. The less, in short, they will question male rule. I like to imagine what would happen if Mormons really began believing in her and her equality with Father: polygamy, the all-male priesthood, all aspects of patriarchy would be in deepest jeopardy.”

As Johnson notes, if Latter-day Saints were to increase focus on Heavenly Mother, the next logical step would be to question existing power structures that concentrate authority in men’s hands. In the current church, no administrative decision can be made by a woman without the approval of a man. Greater emphasis on Heavenly Mother would also bring scrutiny to the fact that less than 10% of general conference speakers are women, that women are unable to hold financial management callings, and that women are prohibited from offering baby blessings and priesthood blessings to their children.

It is important to note that there are hosts of Latter-day Saint women who for decades have consistently and nobly advocated for gender equality. In the Bay Area, for example, Latter-day Saint women sat on the stand in many congregations for over a decade. In November 2023, however, Latter-day Saint authorities ordered an end to this practice. Similarly, after Latter-day Saint leader J. Anette Dennis’ extremely controversial speech in March, in which she stated that “there is no other religious organization in the world, that I know of, that has so broadly given power and authority to women,” scores of faithful Latter-day Saint women disagreed and responded with incredibly moving descriptions of their experiences.

Indeed, the more Latter Day Saints encourage discussion and worship of Heavenly Mother, the more the patriarchal constructions so deeply woven into the fabric of Latter-day Saint theology and governance will become weakened and eventually unraveled. I call upon Latter-day Saint leaders to welcome and encourage open dialogue about Heavenly Mother in Latter-day Saint congregations and ecclesiastical curricula worldwide, not only to more fully benefit from the beauty contained in this distinctly Latter-day Saint doctrine, but to take a crucial and necessary step toward gender equality within the church.

Keith Burns is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College who specializes in Mormonism and sexuality.

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