Relief Society Birthday

By Kate Ensign-Lewis

On March 20th, the Relief Society celebrates its 176th birthday, making it one of the world’s oldest women’s organizations. It is also the world’s largest women’s organization, with five and a half million sisters in 170 countries. If you’re planning a Relief Society celebration in your ward or branch, we’re got some great ideas to help strengthen testimonies as well as strengthen bonds between Relief Society sisters.

A Night of Relief Society History

Relief Society Jeopardy

Teach your sisters more about the mission of Relief Society by reviewing its roots. A fun way to teach the sisters the history of the organization is to play Relief Society Jeopardy. Depending on how competitive your sisters are, divide the group into teams, or allow sisters to yell out their answers freely. Create questions that bear some significance to Relief Society––questions concerning scriptures that are significant to Relief Society, hymns that have significant Relief Society history, trivia about Relief Society leaders, or other general trivia. Use this game in conjunction with a dinner and message about the growing mission of Relief Society through time.

Video of the General Relief Society Meeting of 2005

Another way to highlight Relief Society history is to share the video that was shown during the General Relief Society Meeting of 2005. This video beautifully explains the reason for organizing the Relief Society and the power behind the organization. After watching the video, invite a priesthood leader to share some statements Joseph Smith made about the purpose and potential of the Relief Society. Gather some statements from the brethren in the ward on how the Relief Society contributes to the purposes of the gospel. Share them and lead a discussion exploring what the sisters can do to help the Relief Society live up to this great potential.

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