Becky Lee Savage is an American leader in

Community of Christ The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

. She was a counselor to

Stephen M. Veazey Stephen Mark Veazey is the Prophet-President of Community of Christ, headquartered in Independence, Missouri. Veazey's name was presented to the church in March 2005 by a joint council of church leaders led by the Council of Twelve Apostles, as ...

in the

First Presidency Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...

of the church from 2007 to 2016. Savage was the first female member of the First Presidency in the history of Community of Christ. Savage was nominated as a counselor by Veazey on March 1, 2007. Savage's appointment was approved by the membership of the church at a World Conference of the church held March 24–31, 2007 in

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

.Helen T. Gray, "First Woman Ordained to First Presidency", ''Kansas City Star'', 2007-04-07, p. E12. In 2016, she was released from the First Presidency

"Letter of Counsel about World Church Leadership"
cofchrist.org, March 31, 2016. and was ordained an

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a co ...

on June 6, 2016. Savage was born in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

and has been a professor of

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

at Graceland University in

Lamoni, Iowa Lamoni is a city in Decatur County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,969 at the time of the 2020 Census. Lamoni is the home of Graceland University, affiliated with the Community of Christ, and the city was the church's headquarters fro ...

."Becky Savage"
cofchrist.org, accessed 16 June 2016. She has degrees from Graceland University and the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

. Community of Christ opened its priesthood to women in 1984 when a document instituting the ordination of women was approved as Section 156 of the church's

Doctrine and Covenants The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Chu ...

Notes

Living people Guatemalan members of the Community of Christ Guatemalan religious leaders Graceland University alumni Graceland University faculty Members of the First Presidency (Community of Christ) Women Christian clergy University of Kansas alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{LDS-stub