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Church History Matters

200 - Priesthood & Women During the 20th Century | Church History Matters I Women & Priesthood Series

Church History Matters

Scripture Central

Religion & Spirituality:christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.92K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2026

⏱️ 99 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, hosts Scott Woodward, Casey Griffiths and Lisa Tait explore the sweeping changes that reshaped The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the mid-20th century, focusing on the rise of the correlation movement under Harold B. Lee. As the Church experienced rapid global growth, leaders sought to simplify complex programs, unify curriculum, and create a structure that could function across cultures and languages. What began as an effort to streamline administration soon evolved into a broader theological and organizational shift—placing priesthood authority at the center of all Church functions. This transition helped the Church become a truly international faith, but it also redefined leadership dynamics, particularly for women, as long-standing auxiliary organizations were integrated into a more centralized, priesthood-led framework. The discussion highlights both the gains and the losses of this transformation for women in Church leadership. While correlation made programs more adaptable and scalable worldwide, it also reduced women’s institutional autonomy, limiting their control over budgets, publications, and decision-making processes. The episode thoughtfully examines how this era reinforced male headship structurally, even as it laid the groundwork for future collaboration and expanded influence for women in later decades. By wrestling with questions of authority, partnership, and global diversity, this conversation invites viewers to consider how evolving structures have shaped—and continue to shape—the relationship between women, priesthood, and leadership in a worldwide Church.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Gender is just one of those things in the human condition that we're always navigating and trying to figure out.

0:05.0

We're in an era of dynamic change.

0:08.0

They embrace what's called progressive recreation.

0:11.0

And as we're kind of seeing right now, there is a kind of panicked freak out from the adults.

0:15.0

And this becomes what's known as the social advisory.

0:19.0

So some innovative things happening in Relief Society to become more energetic, involved,

0:24.1

and attractive group to become a part of.

0:26.5

This is sort of the first stirrings, right, of them saying, let's all get on the same page.

0:30.4

Most of the traditional elements of the MIA were explicitly discontinued or faded.

0:34.7

It's probably a necessary step, even if painful. They've got to become

0:40.1

cognizant of the fact that the church isn't just an American church anymore. It's becoming a global

0:44.1

faith. What do women gain? What do they lose?

0:50.9

Hello, Scott. Hello, Lisa. Hey, guys. Hey, Casey and Lisa.

0:55.2

We're back.

0:56.7

We're back.

0:57.7

Back and better.

0:59.5

Back and better and bigger than ever before.

1:03.4

And heading into, well, this has been pretty complex, but heading into an even more complex era where we're talking about women's

1:12.2

ecclesiastical positions in the church.

1:22.5

Today we're covering the 20th century.

1:25.0

Our last episode, we covered the 19th century.

1:28.2

All kinds of fascinating, lesser known history here, I'll say. But let's recap that really fast so that we have

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