Primary Singing Time: Deborah Was a Prophet

I’ve been in the Primary presidency for about four years now.  During that time, I have tried to figure out a place for my feminist ideals.  I think I’ve come to a pretty good place.  While I don’t think I should do a lesson on the three waves of feminism, I do try to bring in examples of underrepresented groups of people whenever I can.  Every sharing time I present has a story with a strong woman or girl in it.  With a little research, it hasn’t been too tricky.

But, I sometimes struggle with the songs.  The tune to “Follow the Prophet” is so catchy and educational, but it makes me sad that every person we’re singing about is a man.  So, I loved Mary Ann’s guest post on FMH for new verses to “Follow the Prophet” posted in 2007. 

It took me about a year and a Primary Singing Time emergency to get up the courage to teach Mary Ann’s verse about Deborah:
Deborah was a prophet—
she judged Israel.
Led them into battle,
triumphed with Jael.
God will guide our leaders,
women can lead too.
They will show the way to
God for me and you.

Our Singing Time leader called in sick about 2 hours before Church, and I was in charge of music time that day.  I’m not particularly clever when it comes to teaching kids songs, so  I had no idea what to do.  After a prayer for inspiration, I felt like I should go over “Follow the Prophet” with the kids and teach them Deborah’s verse.  I was nervous.  I asked my husband how I should do it.

His response: “Don’t act like it’s a big deal.  Just teach the verse like you would teach all the other verses of the song.”

So, I did…I brought costumes for Noah, Daniel, and Deborah and picked kids to dress up for each one.  Then, I walked into Primary.  It was the middle of the summer, and I knew there wouldn’t be a lot of people.  Of course, when I got there, I see a few outside substitutes and a member of the bishopric.  That unnerved me a bit, but I felt like I had done the necessary preparations to make this a successful singing time.

I took my husband’s advice to heart and talked about each verse, telling the story of the prophet and why he/she was important to sing about.

The kids loved it.  I’d like to think I saw a glimmer in a few girls’ eyes when I told the story of Deborah and had one put on the costume.  I didn’t sense (or hear) of any concerns that I taught this Deborah verse.  In fact, people wanted to know where I found such a gem.

This experience made me wonder how often I hold back just because I fear how I’ll be perceived.  In my ward, I’m not secretive about my feminist ideals, but I do try not to force them on others, just as I hope they will be respectful of my interpretations of the Gospel.  Still, sometimes, I think it is necessary for me to get out of my comfort zone.  This experience taught me that with the aid of prayer and a pure intent, we can often be guided to the best ways to make Primary (and other classes) more inclusive.