Women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often mistakenly called the Mormon Church), join together annually in what is referred to as the General Relief Society Meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Relief Society, as its inspired name indicates is a global circle of sisters, Latter-day Saint (Mormon) women who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, take to heart the commission to act in His name under His authority as manifest in our day through a living prophet and apostles, as the Lord’s female disciples and equal participants in God’s plan to redeem His children from sin and error and bring them ‘under His wing.’ It’s an amazing organization, and those of all faiths are invited to participate in the service opportunities it provides, in Sunday meetings and evening instruction in Christ-centered living, in gospel outreach, and in strengthening homes and families. To find a Relief Society meeting near you, visit Find a Meetinghouse and to learn more about the women called of God to serve the worldwide sisterhood today, visit the LDS News Source, Newsroom of The Church of Jesus Christ.
To listen to the messages from two members of the current Presidency of the Relief Society–Julie Beck, Barbara Thompson- as well as the words of a living apostle of Jesus Christ, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, please visit these audio and video archives. Archives for the General Relief Society Meeting have been posted in more than 60 languages. To choose your language, simply select it from the drop down menu on the top right hand side of the page, as shown below:
Mormon Woman: Relief Society History
Women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are diverse and extraordinary, ordinary women. They face the challenges of life with the resources of the gospel, striving as Emma Smith, first president of the Relief Society–the largest women’s organization in the world of approximately 4 million Mormon Women, to have the Spirit of God “to know and understand [ourselves] that [we] may be able to overcome whatever of tradition or nature would not tend to exaltation in the eternal worlds” and to be about “taking care of the poor–administering to their wants” and “correcting the orals and strengthening the virtues of the female community” (Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society, p. 11).
As these women coalesced, after The Church of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth through a personal appearance of the Savior and God the Father to a young boy, they sought to organize themselves in the manner of the day. That included by-laws to govern and provide order and direction for the society. When asking the prophet Joseph Smith to review these, he acknowledged that they were better than any he’d previously seen but not after the pattern the Lord had in mind for His female disciples. That pattern was then restored to the earth–and its organization has been known as Relief Society ever since.
Additional Resources
Julie Beck: President of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
