McArthur Krishna & Anne Pimentel: Changemakers
Women Who Boldly Built Zion
We’re really excited to share a conversation about a brand-new children’s book called Changemakers: Women Who Boldly Built Zion by McArthur Krishna and Anne Pimentel, with beautiful artwork by Jessica Sarah Beach.
The book is a powerful and much-needed affirmation, especially in a moment when many women are quietly wondering where they fit. Through stories from scripture and the global history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it highlights women whose ideas, faith, and courage have helped shape the church in meaningful and lasting ways. This book is accessible to children, beautiful to look at and meaningful for readers of all ages.
We’re joined by McArthur and Anne to explore some of these incredible stories. Both women are remarkable in their own right—McArthur is the author of several books, including A Girl’s Guide to Heavenly Mother and the Girls Who Choose God series. Anne is a founder of Meetinghouse Mosaic, an organization working to diversify Christian art and amplify voices that sometimes go unheard in our faith community.
In this conversation, we explore what it means to be a changemaker in a Church that values both institutional authority and ongoing revelation. We talked about the tension many women are feeling right now, how pain can become a catalyst for meaningful, needed transformation, and what true partnership between men and women might look like in that process.
McArthur and Anne remind us again and again that revelation doesn’t always start at the top—so often, it often rises from the margins, born of questions, connection, and listening with love.
We hope this conversation inspires you to trust your gifts, to share your voice, and to believe, deeply, that your contributions matter.
Buy the book:
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For more on this topic, check out:
The Cherished Doctrine of Heavenly Mother — A Conversation with McArthur Krishna and Michal Thomas
Bonus Episode: Listening to Women
This week we also brought you a special conversation hosted by Jared Halverson, who’s joined by three women—Bethany Brady Spalding, Kathryn Knight Sonntag, and Aubrey Chaves—who’ve been part of a larger, ongoing conversation sparked by one of Jared’s recent videos on social media.
If you haven’t seen the video, here’s the context: Jared highlighted the recent trend of women leaving the Church in greater numbers than men and encouraged women to stay, highlighting how much depends on them. His message, meant to be supportive and hopeful, was heard by many as hurtful and dismissive—particularly by women who feel their voices and gifts are too often sidelined or unseen. The response was overwhelming. Thousands of women responded with honesty, vulnerability, and a shared sense of grief for the ways they’ve been asked to carry the Church while too often being denied a real seat at the table.
To his credit, Jared didn’t get defensive. Just a few days later, he posted a real, heartfelt apology, then did something even more rare and brave: he asked if he could sit down, ask questions, and just listen.
That’s what this episode is.
What unfolds is a conversation about pain, power, partnership, and the potential for something more whole. We talk about what “spiritual collaboration” might really look like—not just in our doctrine, which includes the radical and often untapped vision of Heavenly Parents—but in our lived experience. We ask what it means for women to be invited not just to support the work, but to shape it. And we explore what changes when women are actually believed—when their longing to be seen, to lead, and to offer their full selves to the body of Christ is not framed as rebellion, but as righteousness.
Jared holds this space with humility and openness, and Bethany, Kathryn, and Aubrey tried to speak from their own experiences—not as representatives of all women, but as people who love this tradition and believe it can do even more to reach its highest, holiest potential. We believe, as one commenter put it, that this isn’t a crisis of belief—it’s an opportunity for renewal.
This episode is tender, and we also think it’s hopeful. We hope it models the kind of listening and learning that we need more of—at home, in our wards, and across the Church.
Faith Matters also invited anyone who wanted to contribute to the conversation to email us, and we’ve published a small but representative sample of those responses here:
Seeking a Better World
Why are women disaffiliating from religion at an increasing rate? What does it mean for women to “lay aside things of this world and seek for things of a better” as Emma Smith was counseled to do in Section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants? A recent discussion of these questions sparked a passionate response from countless women.
For more on this topic, check out:
The Future of Women at Church: A Conversation with Neylan McBaine
Faith Matters actively seeks to publish more on this important topic; submit your ideas and writing here!
CELEBRATE THE FEMININE DIVINE AT THE COMPASS
Please join us for a special event in honor of the release of Sharlee Mullins Glenn’s groundbreaking new book, Brighter and Brighter until the Perfect Day. There will be art and music centering and celebrating the feminine divine in addition to a presentation and reading by the author, followed by a Q&A, a book signing, and light refreshments and mingling.
Brighter and Brighter until the Perfect Day reimagines the entire scope of existence from premortal life through the creation, the fall, mortality, the Atonement, and beyond. This gorgeous epic poem blends theology (including the cherished Latter-day Saint doctrine of a Heavenly Mother), science, and imagination in a way that is thoroughly engaging and provocative.
“This breathtaking epic poem expands the heart beyond the small stories we tell about God and existence itself. Rooted in Latter-day Saint theology, it feels both familiar and profoundly new. It creates an exhilarating spaciousness for imagining what could be. Sharlee Mullins Glenn’s vision speaks to a deep heart-knowing—gently healing the ache of Mother God’s quiet absence and restoring the sense of her intimate and infinite love at work in our lives.” —Aubrey Chaves
Our Compass events are subsidized and made possible by private rentals of the space for wedding receptions, business retreats, birthday parties, and more. If you or someone you know has an event coming up, consider supporting Faith Matters by recommending The Compass!
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