Relief Society looks beyond leisures
Deseret News 1Oct99 N1
By Carrie A. Moore: Deseret News religion editor

The LDS Church's General Relief Society Presidency last week announced changes in the church's monthly homemaking meeting The changes reflect the church's desire to strengthen the spirituality and practical skills of 4.8 million women - both married and single - who belong to what is believed to be the world's largest organization for women.

In a church that puts a heavy focus on the traditional family, many women, especially those who are single, have felt disconnected from Relief Society in recent years. Particularly from what was formerly known as the Relief Society's monthly "homemaking meeting," where some women say craft-assembly projects and other leisure-time pursuits have - in many areas - upstaged the real purpose of the gathering.

Now known as Home, Family and Personal Enrichment, the regular monthly meeting will focus on a spiritual topic and the development of practical skills that enhance that focus. Service will also be emphasized. In a world filled with illiteracy, hunger, poverty and suffering, LDS women must realize their responsibility to look beyond leisure, using their time and talents to first strengthen their own homes, and then society at large.

The Relief Society also has a new Declaration, a formal statement of belief, that gives women a standard by which to judge social policy and counter immoral influences. It affirms devotion to such religious principles as faith, virtue, vision and charity, and says LDS women support "the priesthood as the authority of God on earth" and "dedicate (themselves) to strengthening marriages, families and homes."