Jean B. Bingham

Jean B. Bingham
Jean B. Bingham
17th Relief Society General President
	April 1, 2017
Called by	Thomas S. Monson
Predecessor	Linda K. Burton
Personal details
Born	June 10, 1952; Provo, Utah
Alma mater	Brigham Young University,; National Louis University
Spouse(s)	Bruce Bingham
Children	2
Parents	Robert R. Barrus and Edith Joy Clark

Jean Barrus Bingham (born June 10, 1952) has been the 17th Relief Society General President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since April 2017.

Bingham was born in Provo, Utah to parents Robert R. Barrus and Edith Joy Clark.[1] Bingham was raised in New Jersey, Minnesota, and Texas.[2] In Minneapolis, Minnesota, her father served as the church's bishop and she did minor aid in helping build a new LDS chapel. She lived in New Jersey during her high school years. She has an associate degree from Elgin Community College and another from Brigham Young University (BYU), along with a bachelor's and master's degrees in teaching from National Louis University. After graduating she moved to Illinois and also lived in Wisconsin. Bingham taught English as a second language and also worked as a nurse's aid.[2]

LDS Church service

In the LDS Church, she has served as both as a ward Primary and Young Women president and a counselor in a ward Relief Society presidency. She also served for a time as a stake Young Women president. She was also an early morning seminary teacher for 6 years and an ordinance worker in the Chicago Illinois Temple. She also served for six years as a member of the Primary General Board. In April 2016, she was called as a counselor to Joy D. Jones in the Primary General Presidency.

In April 2017 Bingham was called to succeed Linda K. Burton as Relief Society General President.[3] She called Sharon Eubank and Reyna I. Aburto as her counselors in what was called an 'unusually diverse' presidency.[2] In 2018, Bingham presided over the women’s session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference that replaced the April all-male Mormon priesthood meeting.[4] Bingham was selected to participate in the 2018 White House National Day of Prayer and was quoted, "This nation has been given relative peace and prosperity and we humbly ask thee to watch over those in harm’s way, protecting our freedoms in the pursuit of happiness."[5]

Bingham helped unveil a completely redesigned and updated Relief Society website in 2019 that she explained, "Now you can access resources for hope and help, see what sisters around the world are doing and listen to inspiration for women on podcasts".[6] In 2019, Bingham participated in the first-ever 'Sister-to-Sister' question-and-answer worldwide live event as part of Brigham Young University's Women's Conference.[7] She visited the West African country of Sierra Leone June 5 through June 16, 2019 to visit members of the LDS Church.[8]

Personal life

Bingham married Bruce Bingham in the Provo Utah Temple in 1972. They have two children and fostered many children.[2]

References

"Sister Jean B. Bingham: A Builder of the Church - Church News and Events". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
Stack, Peggy Fletcher. "New Mormon women's leaders bring a global bent", The Salt Lake Tribune, 7 April 2017. Retrieved on 13 March 2020.
Noyce, David. "Improve the lives of women and watch the world improve as well", The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah, 27 October 2005. Retrieved on 10 November 2017.
Stack, Peggy Fletcher. "Put serving God and his children before chores, urge Mormon women’s leaders", The Salt Lake Tribune, 6 October 2018. Retrieved on 13 March 2020.
Bailey, Sarah Pulliam and Boorstein, Michelle. "Trump announces faith-based effort on National Day of Prayer", The Salt Lake Tribune, 3 May 2018. Retrieved on 13 March 2020.
Pugmire, Genelle. "LDS Relief Society launches newly updated website for women", Provo Herald, 12 October 2019. Retrieved on 13 March 2020.
Weaver, Jennifer. "BYU Women's Conference to include first ever 'Sister-to-Sister' live event", KUTV CBS News, 15 April 2019. Retrieved on 13 March 2020.
"In our opinion: Latter-day Saint women don’t wait for things to come their way — they make them happen", Deseret News, 15 March 2020. Retrieved on 15 March 2020.

Sources

External links

General Authorities and General Officers: Jean B. Bingham

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles
Preceded by Linda K. Burton	Relief Society General President 2017 – current	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Cheryl A. Esplin	First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency April 2, 2016 (2016-04-02) – April 1, 2017 (2017-04-01)	Succeeded by Bonnie H. Cordon

General presidencies of the Primary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Presidents	Felt (1880–1925) Anderson (1925–39) Hinckley (1940–43) Howells (1943–51) Parmley (1951–74) Shumway (1974–80) Young (1980–88) Grassli (1988–94) Pinegar (1994–99) Menlove (1999–2005) Lant (2005–10) Wixom (2010–16) Jones (2016–present)
First Counselors	Barratt (1880–88) Freeze (1888–1905) Anderson (1905–25) Pack (1925–29) Ross (1929–39) Howells (1940–43) Parmley (1943–51) Hale (1951–62) Doxey (1962–69) Reading (1970) Randall (1970–74) Paulsen (1974–77) Lemmon (1977–80) Cannon (1980–88) Jepsen (1988–94) Wirthlin (1994–99) Reynolds (1999–2005) Stevens (2010–15) Esplin (2015–16) Bingham (2016–17) Cordon (2017–18) Harkness (2018–present)
Second Counselors	Cannon (1880–95) West (1896–1905) Beebe (1906–25) Ross (1925–29) Thomas (1929–33) Lambert (1933–39) Thompson (1940–42) Parmley (1942–43) Boyle (1943–51) Richards (1951–53) Doxey (1953–62) Dunyon (1962–63) Reading (1963–70) Lane (1970–74) Lemmon (1974–77) Murdock (1977–80) Grassli (1980–88) Wright (1988–94) Warner (1994–99) Clegg (1999–2005) Matsumori (2005–10) Esplin (2010–15) Durham (2015–16) Cordon (2016–17) Franco (2017–present)

General Presidencies of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Presidents	E.H. Smith (1842–44) Snow (1866–87) Young (1888–1901) B.W. Smith (1901–10) Wells (1910–21) Williams (1921–28) Robison (1928–39) Lyman (1940–45) Spafford (1945–74) B.B. Smith (1974–84) Winder (1984–90) Jack (1990–97) Smoot (1997–2002) Parkin (2002–07) Beck (2007–12) Burton (2012–17) Bingham (2017–)
First Counselors	Cleveland (1842–44) Young (1880–87) Richards (1888–1901) Hyde (1901–09) Williams (1910–21) Knight (1921–28) Lyman (1928–39) Howells (1939–45) Sharp (1945–74) Cannon (1974–78) Boyer (1978–84) Evans (1984–90) Okazaki (1990–97) Jensen (1997–2002) Hughes (2002–07) Allred (2007–12) Stephens (2012–17) Eubank (2017–)
Second Counselor	Whitney (1842–44, 1886–87) B.W. Smith (1888–1901) Dusenberry (1901–10) J.L. Smith (1910–21) Robison (1921–28) Child (1928–35) Barker (1935–39) Sorensen (1940–42) Spafford (1942–45) Garff (1945–47) Simonsen (1947–56) Anderson (1957–58) Madsen (1958–74) Boyer (1974–78) Thomas (1978–83) Reese (1983–84) Doxey (1984–90) Clyde (1990–97) Dew (1997–2002) Pingree (2002–07) Thompson (2007–12) Reeves (2012–17) Aburto (2017–)