2022
March 1842: Charity Never Faileth
March 2022


This Month in Church History

March 1842: Charity Never Faileth

The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized 180 years ago on 17 March 1842. It was founded so women could pool their resources and combine their efforts to provide for the people in their communities. That’s why it’s called the Relief Society—it was designed to give assistance to those who need it. The early Relief Society helped fund medical training for women, build hospitals, establish adoption services, secure women’s voting rights, and more.

Today, the Relief Society organizes service projects, fellowships other women, and helps them develop both life skills and a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Its motto is charity never faileth. Relief Society sisters seek to follow Jesus’s example and to extend love to friends, neighbors, and strangers alike. The Relief Society is one of the world’s largest, oldest, and most diverse women’s organizations in the world. What began as a small gathering in the red brick store in Nauvoo, Illinois, now includes more than 7.5 million women in 220 countries.

When the Prophet Joseph Smith organized the Relief Society, he said it was organized under the priesthood and after the pattern of the priesthood. Eliza R. Snow, the second General President of the Relief Society, said, “It derives all its authority and influence from that source.”1 General Relief Society President Jean B. Bingham stated: “I want people to know that Relief Society is an organization that has power, really, to change the world. . . . Today, the Relief Society is full of ordinary women who do extraordinary things as they exercise faith in God and Jesus Christ.”2

In 2021, seven women in the Africa Central Area were called to serve in the newly created position of international area organization advisors of the Church. The women called to this new position will provide training and mentorship for local Relief Society, Primary and Young Women’s leaders, will participate in councils with the men and women of the Church in their respective areas, and will serve under the direction of the Area Presidencies to help them achieve their priesthood goals.

Notes

  1. Eliza R. Snow, “Female Relief Society,” Deseret Evening News, April 18, 1868, 2.

  2. Jean B. Bingham, “Episode 22: ‘Charity Never Faileth’ Even in a Pandemic President Bigham Celebrates 179 Years of Relief Society,” [Church News Podcast, March 16, 2021], www.TheChurchNews.com/podcast.