Stassi Cramm is the 1st female Prophet-President of the Community of Christ. I asked her to reflect back on the 1984 revelation that granted priesthood to women and her time as a lifelong member of Community of Christ. Was it hard? Check out our conversation...

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Gospel Tangents

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0:00 Meet Stassi Cramm
4:32 Women Get Priesthood in 1984 Revelation
17:28 Diverse Agreement
Look Back at 1984 Revelation on Women's Ordination
Stassi Cramm, is the first female President of the Community of Christ. In 1984, was a young adult just starting her career in Southern California when the Community of Christ (then the RLDS Church) experienced a pivotal moment in its history: a revelation was presented that, among other things, opened the door for women to be ordained to the priesthood. For many, it was a moment of profound rightness. For others, it was a deeply divisive decision that would reshape the church for years to come.

She recalls being "oblivious" to the years of study and conversation that led to this moment, as she had been busy with university and her new job. She wasn't at the 1984 World Conference where this new scripture, now Section 156 of the Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants, was approved. News traveled slowly back then, through weekly long-distance phone calls and reports from conference attendees returning home.
A Sense of Rightness Amidst Division
When President Cramm finally read the new revelation, her reaction was immediate. "For me, there was this immediate sense of rightness to it and this sense of course! Why hadn't I thought of this before?" she recalls. She expresses a retrospective sense of shame that, as a woman in the male-dominated field of flight test engineering, she hadn't previously recognized the "lack of equal opportunity for leadership and service" in her own church.

However, she soon learned of the "divisive nature" of the decision. People had walked out of the conference in protest, and the revelation sparked a schism within the church. Congregations split. Padlocks were put on church doors, and debates raged over property ownership. President Cramm's own congregation in Lancaster, California, handled the change well. But the wider church felt the strain.
Personal Cost of a Calling
Two years later, in 1986, Stassi Cramm received her first call to the priesthood. She remembers the vulnerability of that moment, standing before her stake conference as some members, including people she considered friends, raised their hands in opposition.

"It's hard. You feel vulnerable anyways when you're accepting a call. And so when there’s a group of people who raise their hand against you, intellectually you understand it. Emotionally you feel it".

She credits the very first women who were ordained as her heroes, calling them "amazing path makers" who endured verbal criticism with humility and faithfulness. For herself, she chose to live in the difficult space of maintaining friendships with those who disagreed, recognizing that differing perspectives on whether the revelation was "of God" shouldn't sever their ability to be friends. This, she notes, is where Christlike love becomes a conscious choice, not a feeling—a choice to respect others' opinions even when you don't share them.
Navigating Faithful Disagreement
This experience highlights a core aspect of the Community of Christ's culture: navigating faithful disagreement. President Cramm later moved to a congregation in Las Vegas where a group remained opposed to women in the priesthood. The congregation found a way to coexist, making small accommodations for one another. For example, if a woman said the communion prayer, a male priesthood member would serve the sacrament to those who o...