Susan Meredith Hinckley & Cynthia Winward

FRI, MAY 6, 2022   |  7:30-9:00 pm MST

What might change if enough Latter-day Saint women began to speak openly and honestly about their feelings and experiences?

IN-PERSON GATHERING AND VIA ZOOM:

THE CONVERSATION:

Cynthia and Susan launched the ALSSI project in April 2020, unsure whether they’d find an audience. They wanted to create a space where they could talk about some of the challenges they’ve experienced as women in the Church. What they found was thousands of other women who’d felt largely unseen and unheard, waiting to tell their stories.

In their words here’s what we will discuss: “Through interaction on our podcast episodes, on social media, by email, in monthly online discussion groups, and at a recent ALSSI community gathering in AZ, we’ve heard different versions of the same experiences and concerns from hundreds of LDS women. Many are eager for change. Some feel hesitant about raising daughters in the Church’s patriarchal structure, or worry about their LGBTQ children suffering harm. Some mourn things they sacrificed as a result of following the prescribed path to prioritize marriage and children. Some wonder where they fit without motherhood. Some struggle to make sense of painful Church history. Some have suffered abuse.

After a lifetime of supervision by men, many say they struggle to claim spiritual authority for themselves.

But perhaps most notably, many women tell us they have no one to whom they feel they can speak these truths. Their discomfort—even pain—is a secret they carry, sometimes for decades. What if we all began to listen to the experiences of women? What might be changed, culturally and institutionally? After our first two years of conversation, one thing feels certain: it will take acknowledging and understanding where we’ve been to create a future church that will remain a relevant, lifelong spiritual home for today’s young women.”

ABOUT CYNTHIA AND SUSAN:

Cynthia Winward makes her home in Provo, Utah although she will always be a California girl.

Fifteen years ago she created Meringue Designs, an online business that sells her digital embroidery designs worldwide. She holds a degree in business management from Brigham Young University. Her true loves are baking lemon meringue pie, and true to her Mexican heritage, the world’s greatest red chile enchiladas. She loves travelling with her family, reading non-fiction, and getting up early.

Susan M. Hinckley tells stories in words and pictures. She is creator of the webcomic Gray Area, and co-creator of the At Last She Said It podcast. She is a graduate of the University of Utah. A longtime exhibitor with the American Craft Council, her art has appeared in numerous books and magazines and is in private collections across the US. Her essays have appeared in Exponent II, Dialogue, and Sunstone magazines. She splits her time between AZ and MN, but her heart is always in the desert.

EXPLORE BEFORE WE MEET:

• At Last She Said It podcast
• Women in the Church chapter in Richard Ostler’s latest book: Listen Learn & Love: Improving Latter-day Saint Culture
• Cynthia and Susan’s recent conversation on Dan Wotherspoon’s Latter-day Faith podcast: Episode 122: Creating Spaces for Women’s Voices and Spiritual Flourishing in the Church

LISTEN TO THE RECORDED ZOOM CONVERSATION

• Click on the Zoom link above.
• When you are connected you will either be waiting in a lobby and will let be in shortly or you will immediately be able to see other participants. Please make sure that you muted and that your video is on if you choose to have it on. (Love to see and hear you live, but we’ll take curious lurkers also.)
• If you can’t hear the host, me, or others, find your settings and make sure you have a working microphone and speaker selected. Also, make sure you have your volume up.

ZOOM ETIQUETTE: 

• Please mute your microphone before entering and when you are not speaking so noises are not heard by everyone else.
• Rather than have the whole group watch you try to get your camera or screen positioned, or play with funky green screen backgrounds, feel free to get that figured out prior to when we meet.
• Resist the urge to multitask—be with us fully if at all possible. But we’ll be grateful for whatever presence you are able to offer. Just knowing you are there is nice.
• If you are going to multitask, or wander around a lot, please turn off your video and make sure you are muted. No one wants to be distracted by you eating or using the loo.
• If you are having difficulty with the technology, don’t hold up the meeting by distracting other participants for solutions. Try Googling your problem. I do that with most of life’s problems.
• Speaking of distractions—just as when we used to meet in person in the good old days, let’s be cautious about using the chat for side conversations that may distract others. You can always ask for people’s contact info and continue your conversation—I’d love that to happen. Or, let me know, and I’ll do my darndest to give you a chance to share to the group.
• Please share air time and follow the guidelines under “Intentions” on this website.