Kate Kelly's appeal to open revelation

Ongoing and open revelation sets the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart from many other religious traditions. Mormons believe there is a living prophet of God on Earth and that he has the power and authority to receive new doctrine directly from the Lord. Despite its infrequent implementation, the ninth article of faith is one of the most important tenets of Mormon doctrine: “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” Open revelation is at the heart of the recent excommunication of Mormon feminist Kate Kelly.

Kelly founded the group Ordain Women in 2013 and quickly became the face of a new feminist uprising in the church. Ordain Women asks church leaders to inquire of the Lord’s will with respect to women’s ordination. Its mission statement states, “We sincerely ask our leaders to take this matter to the Lord in prayer.” Kelly asks the prophet and his advisers to seek such a revelation—never claiming authority to receive revelation herself nor demanding the right to ordination. 

At the same time, however, Kelly and her fellow Mormon feminists are not asking quietly. Ordain Women gained national attention by leading demonstrations at the church’s semiannual conferences at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, lining up with Mormon women of all ages outside priesthood meetings, aware that they would be barred from entering, but asking for overflow seats all the same. Ordain Women has an active website that aspires to “create a space for Mormons to articulate issues of gender inequality they may be hesitant to raise alone.” Using their website, Facebook, and Twitter as public forums, Ordain Women intends to put themselves in “the public eye and call attention to the need for the ordination of Mormon women to the priesthood.”