Summary: right-click here to download As revealed to Marshall Vian Summers on November 14, 2007 in Boulder, Colorado There is a New Message from God in the world, and one of the things that it calls for is the emergence of women leaders, particularly in the area of spirituality and religion. It is time now for certain women to be called into these greater roles and responsibilities, and it is important around the world in different quarters and in different religious traditions that this be allowed. It will be interesting, perhaps, for you to consider that in advanced nations in the Universe—advanced nations in the Greater Community of intelligent life in which you live—that where there is a distinction between men and women, or male and female, in those particular races, the races that are not androgynous in nature, that the female is usually given priority in matters of conscience and spirituality. This represents an advancement and a practical wisdom as well, for leaders within this context must essentially be providers, and they must essentially be a maintainer. The role of being a religious leader in whatever context it may exist—whether it is within a formal tradition, whether it is within a hierarchy of leadership or whether it is much more informal, dealing with smaller groups of people—it is in all cases a role primarily focused on providing and maintaining. To be creative in the area of religion is only appropriate if it is to meet practical needs of people and to adapt a religious teaching to changing circumstances. And even here it must be carried out with great care, for people like to change what has been given and alter it to meet their needs, their preferences, their desires and their own self-interest. So creativity in the area of religion is actually extremely hazardous. But religion itself, in whatever context it exists, must change and evolve. It must have a greater capacity to serve people who are undergoing change in their personal lives and change at the level of nations and societies as well. Indeed, even as the environmental conditions of this world change in the face of the Great Waves of Change that are coming to the world, religion will have to adapt and change as well. What essentially is the role of religious leaders in nearly all situations is to be providers and maintainers. And what they are providing is not really of a material nature as much as of a spiritual nature, within the realm of a deeper experience and recognition that is possible for all human beings and other races within the Greater Community. For God has placed a deeper mind within all sentient beings—a mind that is called Knowledge in the New Message. Clearly, women in many societies have been taking greater roles, but there is still considerable resistance, and in some traditions, it is not allowed at all. But there must be a greater recognition here of the inherent strength of women and the natural capacity they can serve in this regard. For even in current traditions, women may not serve as the recognized leaders, but they are in most cases the backbone of the religious organization and tradition itself. Men should not be threatened by this, for it is an assumption of natural abilities. And while men will continue to be religious leaders, the opportunity for women should be greatly expanded. For if an individual, a woman in this case, has developed her skills in learning of the deeper mind and of responding to it appropriately—in carrying out its direction responsibly, without altering it or redefining it for herself or for the expectations of others—then as she gains this maturity and this responsibility, she can assume a greater and more natural role as a religious leader. Clearly, if you look in the past century, you have seen in all of society’s evolution, in many places in the world, the rise of women to roles of prominence that were previously only assumed by men.
