Hi there. My name is Greg Hamblin. I’m excited to do a little blogging for the Cultural Hall, and I figured I had better start with an intro.

I’m a lifetime member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It’s a pretty big part of my life. I’m also a professional writer and marketer. I’m a returned missionary who served in Taiwan. I was also once a radio DJ at the same station where Richie T got his start, though I was much better at it than he was.

I’m also a participant in the faith-positive online communities related to the LDS church. You can often find me commenting on the lds community on reddit as geekgreg, on the facebook LDS group, and at my personal blog at http://latterdaysaint.wordpress.com/.

The big news all over the Mormon social media scene this week is the announcement from Church Headquarters that the Priesthood Session of General Conference will be broadcast not only to stake centers, but on television and over the internet. This is great news for those who hate to change out of their pyjamas on Conference weekend.

In the online communities the conversation is, quite naturally, headed a different direction: What does it mean for the ordain women movement, which very publicly stated their intention to “stand as a group of women, and male allies in the standby line in order to gain admittance to the Priesthood Session?” Especially since the church released a separate statement on the same day saying that women would not be admitted to the priesthood session.

I, for one, am not of the opinion that the priesthood session being made slightly more public was a reaction to the OW movement. I think that it was going to happen anyway. It’s already that way for the Relief Society session of General Conference. It’s not as if the priesthood session was a secret. After all, the entire content of the meeting is available in the Ensign and online just a few weeks after conference. Heck, I used to invite my wife to come along to the stake center with me when I couldn’t get anybody else to go. It was no big deal.

But by making it available as-it-happens to anybody who is interested, the church does effectively lob the ball back into the court of the OW group. Here’s why: The church is now saying that attending the Priesthood Meeting “virtually” is just as valid for the brethren as it is to attend it in person or at a stake center. So for OW, it forces them to make a choice: make this movement about hearing the voice of prophets, or make it about the movement. Cause now you can attend the meeting if that’s what’s important to you.

A few days ago, Kim Kelly, an organizer for OW, said this: “”this isn’t really just about going to priesthood meeting. This is about the ordination of women to the priesthood. We consider ourselves to be prospective priesthood holders and we want to go to priesthood meeting so we can show our leaders that we are ready for both the benefits and responsibilities of the priesthood. That is our focus.” (Deseret News has an excellent article about this.)

I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, so forgive me if my views don’t align. I know I could be wrong.

It is my opinion that OW is showing the wrong leaders the wrong things. This is a great opportunity for the women of OW to show that the priesthood, and the church, are so important to them that they’re willing to take advantage of the blessings offered them – specifically to attend the priesthood session.

They want to show our leaders that women are ready for the priesthood. I think they need to focus on showing the one leader who has power to make such a change.

If we believe this is the church of Jesus Christ, then we must act accordingly. Trust that he sees what is wanted. Trust that by taking advantage of the new opportunity his church has offered there are greater blessings to follow. By pushing back against attending the broadcast in homes, and insisting on trying to gain admittance to a place they’ve been told not to go, they only injure their cause with the only leader with whom they should be concerned.

If there’s to be a women’s movement in the church, let it be both active and faithful, following the pattern the lord laid out for us, and making faith primary to activism. Reddit user crashono made an exceptional comment on this topic on the lds reddit community. Here’s the center point of his argument:

“They want to go where they are not invited, to do force the church to make a decision- “keep us out and incur the wrath of the media”, or “let us in and embolden and credit the group”- Its a win win for them and a lose lose for the church…

“But why set the church up for a lose? That seems antithetical to a group that says it wants to further the church’s cause. And it is antithetical to the nature of how the Priesthood operates-

“D&C 121:41-43 41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; 42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—”

Well, that’s enough of that. Let’s talk about something less volatile. What about this Priesthood Session in your shorts thing? Are you going to stay home or go to the stake center? Will Deseret Book experience a huge loss as “ladies night” is cancelled? Clearly there are far-reaching consequences to be considered.