Preemptive Post: parents blessings

[bismark]

Dear 100 Board,

Parent's blessings (aka, both father and mother laying their hands on a child's head and the father acting as voice): are they still appropriate? I don't think they are common now but my understanding is they were at one time. Are there any official statements limiting present day practice? Thanks.

- bismark

My question is sitting at 200+ hours and I am told it is proving a bit difficult to answer.

I've found a few articles/blog posts on the topic, though none specifically answer my question:

https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/115-6-30-43.pdf
http://www.feministmormonhousewives.org/?p=641
http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/14/a ... a-glimpse/
http://bycommonconsent.com/2005/10/24/h ... -of-faith/
http://www.splendidsun.com/wp/1914-rs-message/

Opening this one up to anyone...

[Gimgimno]

It's answered. Answered well. It will post on Monday.

[bismark]

So I hear. Looking forward to it!

[bismark]

Cheers to Rating Pending for the thorough answer. I haven't had a chance to digest it all yet, but I am certainly not one to turn down good research on an interesting topic.

[bismark]

I find it interesting that the Church moved away from women performing blessings around the same time that the an interesting shift in the understanding of priesthood was occurring. During 1910-1930 the General Authorities were dealing with polygamous groups claiming to have received the sealing power from John Taylor in accordance with his 1886 "revelation". They believed their priesthood authority continued regardless of their membership status, so Church began to emphasize the connection between Church leadership and priesthood authority (see Widstoe's Priesthood and Church Government). I have little doubt there is a correlation between the two events.