When Jean Stevens stood up to the pulpit on Saturday morning, I was driving seven kids in my minivan. We’d been listening to Conference the way you listen when there are seven kids in the car, which is to say, it was mainly background noise. I’d been waiting for this moment ever since I heard members of the church asking for women to pray in General Conference, and especially since I’d heard rumblings that it was going to happen. Call me clueless, but until this winter, I hadn’t even realized that women didn’t pray in General Conference. So I was surprised to find myself shushing the kids with a catch in my voice, and telling them that they needed to sit still, listen to President Stevens, and remember this moment. They saw the tears in my eyes, and I think they probably all thought I was crazy, but in the moment, to hear a woman invoke the Almighty, felt very powerful.

Over the last two days, I’ve seen quite a few reactions to “the prayer heard round the world,” but today I’d like to hear what you think. Were you aware it was happening in advance? What was your reaction? What do you think this means for the body of the church?


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