Matt Bowman says that the LDS Church is sometimes critiqued for its conformity, but he thinks there are different ways of understanding the faith, different emphases and different visions of what the church might be. And these will be seen at General Conference.

Matt doesn't think that these various visions of what the church might be are mutually exclusive, and he thinks the leaders he names as the most emblematic of each vision of what the church can be would say that actually they’d identify with two or three or all of the categories.

By thinking about the influence of these leaders and these different approaches, perhaps we also can get a glimpse of where the LDS Church might move in the future.

The Church of Effort

President Russell M. Nelson’s sermons consistently have emphasized effort, trying harder, doing better, “thinking celestial.” His most controversial sermon links divine blessings to human behavior and argues that the fulness of those blessings derives from doing what's right. It's an appeal to reach our divine potential through proper belief and right behavior. Of course, it also presumes that humans can, theoretically, always choose to do right.

The Church of Natural Law

The idea behind natural law is that God created a universe which functions through knowable principles that could be learned by scientific investigation as well as divine revelation. That investigation would reveal a natural order of things built into the fabric of the world itself. As humans learn that order, they can conform to it and be happy.

Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the church’s governing First Presidency, has a reputation as perhaps the most consistent defender of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” among the current general authorities. That document is steeped in the language of natural law. It does not merely state that God prefers human families to function in a certain way; it argues that, in fact, the universe is set up such that families who function in that way will thrive while those who do not will struggle.

For Oaks, a lawyer by training, these sorts of arguments, with their if-then constructions, their neat definition of terms, and their rational procession, are irresistible. He speaks of principles and rules, the comprehensible structure of a universe that functions according to clear law.

“To understand the teachings and examples of our Savior, we must understand the nature of God’s love and the eternal purpose of his laws and commandments,” Oaks teaches. “One does not replace or diminish the other.”

The Church of Grace

The idea here is that divine grace is not something earned but rather a gift that can bridge the gaps of human frailty and heal human weakness. President Emily Belle Freeman, head of the global Young Women organization, is the Latter-day Saint leader most fluent in this dialect. Her career before becoming a church officer was built on interfaith dialogue with evangelicals, and her writing and teachings are drenched with evangelical idioms — not merely in content but also in style. She calls for a personal relationship with Christ that provides healing, advances spiritual power and comes in great abundance. She speaks the language of dramatic intensity characteristic of Protestant evangelicals but increasingly appealing to Latter-day Saints who turn to their faith for aid in overcoming challenges.

“In that place where you feel bound, plead for his grace. Trust that it is available in abundance,” Freeman teaches. “Jesus Christ sees you. He can help you overcome.”

The Church of Community

This is a vision of the church that emphasizes its communal aspects. To be a member is, in part, to take the sacramental bread and water on Sundays, but most of all to look after each other by contributing labor and resources to the well-being of the community, such as visiting people in the hospital or those who are lonely.

The titles of three of apostle Gerrit W. Gong’s recent conference addresses share a similar focus on the church as a community of mutual care. In April 2021, he spoke on “Room in the Inn,” analogizing the church to the inns of the New Testament. There he asked members to “make [the Lord’s] inn a place of grace and space, where each can gather, with room for all.” In October 2023, he elaborated on the lyrics to the hymn “Love Is Spoken Here,” describing the ideal ward as a place where love is evident through service. That April, in a talk called “Ministering,” he stated “think of your ward or branch as a spiritual ecosystem.” For Gong, the church is a series of bound covenant relationships among humans as much as between humans and God. He emphasizes the social aspects of religious life, seeing salvation coming through bonds with one another.

You know what I don't understand, why do straight people think so much about gay people? It's like you're obsessed with us.

You know what gay people don't sit around and talk about? Heterosexuals.

20-years of working at the University of South Florida!!!

In 2005, I had just earned an MBA and was looking to make a change in employment (what’s the point of getting a degree if I stayed in my same job?). Back then, Disney and the state universities were the only large employers in Florida which offered partner benefits, that led me to seek a position at USF because I knew I’d be safe if they found out I’m gay. Thankfully the nation has changed so that lgbtq people can be their authentic selves without worry of losing their livelihood, housing, and public accommodations.

My 20 years at USF have been spent working in the university’s reseach efforts. I enjoy knowing that I contribute to the acquisition, application, and dissemination of knowledge. Plus it is fun to work somewhere with a fight song and a mascot.

I am very pleased to work at USF. Go Bulls🤘

Judges 4-5 - Deborah

The position of Judges comes from when Moses appointed rulers to assist him in resolving arguments among the people (Exodus 18).

The Book of Judges documents a cycle in Israel’s history where the populace does things they shouldn’t, then as a result they get captured or someone rules over them, and this is followed by the people repenting and a Judge is raised up by God to deliver them from oppression and to administer justice. Then the people stray away from God again and the cycle repeats.

Deborah becomes the only female judge in Israel's history, at least the only one we know of. Being a judge also gives her the role of prophesying and setting free the people of Israel.

Judges 4:4-5 - And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. (KJV)

Deborah is only one of five women described as a prophetess in the Old Testament. The four others are Miriam, Huldah (2 Kings 22:14, 2 Chronicles 34:22), Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14), and “the prophetess” (Isaiah 8:3).

In Hebrew, the same word is used for “woman” and for “wife,” so we don’t know with certainty if Deborah was a “woman of Lapidoth” (a place) or the “wife of Lapidoth” (a person). "Lapidoth" means "torches" or "flames," so another option is that Deborah was a "woman of flames" or a "fiery woman."

Most Christian translations say that Deborah is the wife of Lapidoth. The rabbinic tradition interprets this phrase as “woman of flames,” explaining that she had been a wick-maker for the tabernacle’s sanctuary lamps. I think this divergence is interesting and could be the Christian impulse to show a woman as subservient to her husband, where the Jewish tradition foreshadows her role as a light-giving judge.

Deborah would sit under the palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would line up for her to rule on a matter. Judges sought guidance from the Lord by praying and meditating before proclaiming their ruling on a matter. Many judges were considered prophets who spoke the word from God. As a judge, Deborah was said to hear God's voice and share God’s word with others.

One difference between Deborah and the other male leaders is as a priestess she did not offer sacrifices as the men did, but she did lead worship services and preach.

Deborah served as a judge during a time when the Israelites were oppressed by the Canaanites. Deborah was called by God to lead the nation of Israel into victory.

Upon receiving instructions from God, Deborah called Barak, an Israelite warrior, to bring 10,000 troops up Mount Tabor to attack the Canaanite general Sisera. Barak responded by saying, "If you will go with me, I will go; if not I will not go" (Judges 4:8 NIV).

In the next verse, Deborah agrees to go to battle with Barak and the troops but cautions him that this will result in no glory for Barak because the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman (Judges 4:9).

Deborah goes to battle with Barak, and under her guidance the Israelite forces won a significant victory over the Canaanites at the Battle of Mount Tabor. As foretold in prophecy, Sisera fell at the hands of a woman when he fled the battle and sought refuge in the tent of a woman named Jael, who would drive a tent peg through Sisera's head with a mallet.

After the battle, Deborah composed a song of victory, which celebrates the triumph of the Israelites over their oppressors and praises God for His role in the victory, and this is recorded in Judges 5.

————————————————————

At a time when women were treated as property and valued for the number of children they could produce, Deborah is a forthright, assertive prophet and judge who speaks authoritatively on behalf of the Lord and plays a crucial role in a military victory. The story of Deborah is gender expansiveness because it disrupts the cultural assumptions and expectations about women's roles.

Through the centuries, numerous women, and men who support women's aspirations to leadership, have used Deborah's story to justify their own claims to political and religious authority.

From a queer perspective, it’s interesting that Deborah broke the gender roles. While she did things that were reserved only for men, the text doesn’t suggest she thought of herself as masculine, and perhaps that’s because being trans is not a concept that Deborah would have been familiar with, but we can say that her story shows the concept of gender often is limiting and needs to be greatly expanded.

Deborah's unexpected story complicates and subverts what it meant to be a woman, and shows the boundaries we put on what it means to be a woman or a man, on masculinity and femininity, are artificial. Deborah is one of the most influential women in the Bible with a legacy that can transform our modern cultural limitations we put on gender.