Jean Barrus Bingham (born June 10, 1952) was the 17th

Relief Society The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 18 ...

General President of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) from April 2017 to August 2022. Bingham was born in Provo, Utah to Robert R. Barrus and Edith Joy Clark. Bingham was raised in

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, and Texas.Stack, Peggy Fletcher
"New Mormon women's leaders bring a global bent"
'' The Salt Lake Tribune'', 7 April 2017. Retrieved on 13 March 2020. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, her father served in the LDS Church's local

congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

as its

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

, and she did minor aid in helping build a new 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 Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU), along with bachelor's and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s in teaching from

National Louis University National Louis University (NLU) is a private university with its main campus in Chicago, Illinois. NLU enrolls undergraduate and graduate students in more than 60 programs across its four colleges. It has locations throughout the Chicago metropol ...

. 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.

LDS Church service

In the LDS Church, she has served as both as a

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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 first 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. She called

Sharon Eubank Sharon Eubank (born October 4, 1963) was the first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from April 2017 to August 2022. She is also the director of Latter-day Saint Ch ...

and Reyna I. Aburto as her counselors, in what was called an 'unusually diverse' presidency. Bingham was selected to participate in the 2018

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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." Bingham helped unveil a completely redesigned and updated Relief Society website in 2019 that allowed women across the church to, as she explained, "access resources for hope and help, see what sisters around the world are doing and listen to inspiration for women on podcasts." In 2019, Bingham participated in the first-ever 'Sister-to-Sister' question-and-answer worldwide live event as part of BYU's annual women's conference. She visited the West African country of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

from June 5 through June 16, 2019 to meet with members of the LDS Church there. Bingham was the keynote speaker at the International Women-In-Diplomacy Day in March 2021, emphasizing in her remarks that education is key for the success of women worldwide. On August 1, 2022, Bingham was released as Relief Society General President and was succeeded by

Camille N. Johnson Camille Neddo Johnson (born September 12, 1963) has been the 18th Relief Society General President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since August 2022. She previously served as the church's 14th Primary General Presi ...

.Meet the New Relief Society and Primary general presidencies sustained during the April 2022 General Conference
''Church News'', 7 April 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.

Personal life

Bingham married Bruce Bingham in the

Provo Utah Temple Provo or Provos may refer to: In geography In the United States * Provo, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Provo, South Dakota, an unincorporated community * Provo Township, Fall River County, South Dakota * Provo, Utah, a city ** Provo ...

in 1972. They have two children and fostered many children.

References

Sources

''Deseret News'' bio of Bingham''St.'' ''George'' ''News'' article on Bingham

External links

General Authorities and General Officers: Jean B. Bingham

LDS Church service

Personal life

References

Sources

External links

See also