People often ask why Mormons don’t have female priesthood leaders. Today, there are still many churches, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that do not have women in the priesthood, having noted from their study of the Bible that this was not the way it was done. Jesus had many women who followed Him, and whom He pointed out as outstanding examples of gospel living, but He didn’t select any of them to be His apostles. It was not that He considered them unable to do the work, or unworthy of the role; it was simply not the role assigned to women by God.

Although a priesthood holder must be worthy of the title, and is therefore interviewed before receiving it, the assignment of the priesthood to men alone is not about worthiness, nor is it about being qualified or talented. It’s simply an assignment of service. Throughout the Bible, we see the priesthood was never given to all people at once. In fact, it wasn’t even given to all men. It has always been assigned to specific groups at a given time.

James E. Faust, a former apostle of the Lord, said:

The priesthood is held in trust to be used to bless all of God’s children. Priesthood is not gender; it is blessings from God for all at the hands of the servants He has designated. Within the Church this authority of the priesthood can bless all members through the ministration of home teachers, quorum presidents, bishops and branch presidents, fathers, and all other righteous brethren who are charged with the administration of the affairs of the kingdom of God. Priesthood is the righteous power and influence by which boys are taught in their youth and throughout their lives to honor chastity, to be honest and industrious, and to develop respect for and stand in the defense of womanhood. Priesthood is a restraining influence. Girls are taught that through its influence and power to bless, they can fulfill many of their desires.”

James E. Faust, “Fathers, Mothers, Marriage,” Ensign, Aug 2004, 2-7

The purpose of the priesthood is to bless others through responsible use of God’s gifts. It’s a position of service to others, and it is important to note that priesthood holders cannot use their priesthood on themselves. As an example, if a woman becomes seriously ill and wants a blessing of healing or reassurance from the priesthood holder, she must ask two priesthood holders to come to her to administer this blessing. If a man is ill and wishes to receive a priesthood blessing, he cannot give one to himself. He too must summon two other priesthood holders to administer the blessing. The priesthood is not a paid position, nor is it a full-time job, so there are no financial or career benefits to holding the priesthood. It only provides a means for the priesthood holder to voluntarily, and without pay, serve others.

It is also only one way to serve. There are many means of service that do not require the priesthood and women partake of these in great measure. The official women’s auxiliary in the church is called Relief Society, and as its name suggests, it is organized around the concept of providing service and relief to others. The Relief Society performs extraordinary levels of service in its own realm. They take meals to families that need them, check on the elderly, teach people to read, and watch over children during emergencies. They make items that are sent to third world countries and to help non-LDS people in their own communities or oceans away. They mentor new mothers and teach lessons in both the spiritual and the practical. There is no shortage of opportunity for women to serve others.

Although the priesthood is required in order to hold certain positions in the church, they are not paid positions. There are many leadership positions open only to women that men may not take on-such as the role of literacy leader-and others that may be done by anyone, including men without the priesthood. Women’s leadership opportunities go to the international level, with the General President of the Relief Society overseeing all the women of the entire church, a responsibility over more people than most corporate presidents. There are other positions at that level as well that are open to women.

Women in leadership positions sometimes oversee women, and sometimes supervise both men and women. For instance, literacy classes may be taught by either men or women, but the literacy leader must be a woman, and the literacy program is supervised by the Relief Society, which is run by women. Primary, the children’s organization, contains both men and women at the teacher level, but may only be led by women. There is no shortage of opportunity for women to lead or to serve others, and therefore, few have any particular desire to have the priesthood. They honor the priesthood and enjoy the full blessings that come from it. There is no blessing the priesthood can receive that is denied women. For this reason, women who truly understand the priesthood and have a testimony of God’s plan for them have no desire to hold the priesthood, understanding they have no particular need to hold it. They need only have access to those who do hold it, as does any man.