The Priesthood Power of Women by Barbara Morgan Gardner

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Book Review of The Priesthood Power of Women by Barbara Morgan Gardner

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A common nickname in the past has been “Mormon” because we believe The Book of Mormon to be the word of God, along with the Bible. In our Church, men are ordained to priesthood offices, while women are not. However, both women and men have priesthood power available to them to use in their families and in the roles they serve in, in the Church. The Priesthood Power of Women by Barbara Morgan Gardner does a wonderful job laying out how it all works together and helps women understand how to use and magnify their priesthood power in their lives.

Blurb:

With changes happening in the Church to focus on the paramount importance of the home, Latter-day Saints are striving more than ever to understand and call upon the power of God. This includes a renewed emphasis on priesthood power. Some are surprised to learn that priesthood authority, privileges, and power apply to women as well as men. Our limited understanding often stems from the doctrine of the priesthood being taught too narrowly. This has led to many women feeling undervalued, voiceless, and marginalized regarding the priesthood.

But it need not be that way. In The priesthood power of Women, author Barbara Morgan Gardner explores teachings of the living prophets and scriptures to increase our understanding of God’s power as it operates in the temple, the Church, and the family. Her well-documented research demonstrates that women have more authority and power in all those settings than they may have previously supposed.

In a compelling invitation to action, the author writes, “How will we as women use the priesthood power we have been endowed with in our homes, communities, and the world if we don’t know what it is, let alone how to call upon it? This powerful book will help all members, especially women, more completely understand God’s power and take full advantage of the powers, blessings, and privileges available to them in this mortal journey.

My Book Review:

I have been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints my entire life. As a woman in the Church, I have only felt marginalized, unimportant, or dismissed one time. One individual person felt that women did not have the ability to pray in our Sunday meetings. That was over 26 years ago. Thankfully, I have not felt that way since then. Not having the priesthood is not something that has bothered me. However, I know it does bother other women. I happened to hear about The Priesthood Power of Women, and I was curious to learn more.

What a wonderful book! I am so glad that I read it. Even though I wasn’t worried about it, it was so good to learn more! I actually did learn a lot! Barbara Morgan Gardner does a great job of explaining what the priesthood is, and it turns out it is more complex than what I thought. Over the years, I have had questions regarding the priesthood and the temple, and she had answers for most of my questions.

The Priesthood Power of Women is well written. I loved the tone and voice of the book. It’s written so that it conveys love along with good information. It’s not condescending or dismissive of those women who struggle or have had negative experiences. Barbara Morgan Gardner does a great job of teaching the women and the men in the Church what the priesthood is and how each of us can access and use it in our lives.

There are several charts and diagrams that explain the different priesthood organizations, who holds keys, and who presides in different situations. I love the examples she gives because they make the information more relatable. My favorite part was learning about the difference between the hierarchical and patriarchal/familial structures of the priesthood. I had never heard of the patriarchal structure. It makes sense, though, now that I think of it.

Although there are still many questions that we don’t have answers to, The Priesthood Power of Women does a wonderful job of answering many of the questions women and men may have had over the years regarding the priesthood. I am very glad I read it! I highly recommend it to each woman/young woman in the Church. We have been asked by our prophet to learn more about how to access and use the priesthood in our lives, and this book does a great job of helping us do just that.