Jean B. Bingham

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Jean Barrus Bingham was sustained as first counselor in the Primary general presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 2, 2016. She was serving on the Primary general board at the time of her calling. On April 1, 2017, she was released as first counselor in the Primary general presidency and sustained as the seventeenth Relief Society general president. On April 2, 2022, she was released effective August 1, 2022.

Sister Bingham was born on June 10, 1952, in Provo, Utah, and is one of nine children born to Robert Rowland and Edith Joy Clark Barrus. She lived in four states growing up, graduated from high school in New Jersey, and earned an associate degree from Elgin Community College. Later she earned a second associate degree from Brigham Young University where she met Bruce B. Bingham. They married in 1972 and are the parents of two daughters. They also fostered many children. When her children were older, she obtained bachelor's and master’s degrees in education from National Louis University in Illinois. She has taught English as a second language and has also worked as a nurse's aid.

She has served in the Relief Society, the Young Women, as well as the Primary, and has been an early-morning Seminary teacher and temple worker. In 2018, Sister Bingham conducted the General Women’s Session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference, the first under the new structure of the General Priesthood Session being held annually at April conference and the General Women's Session being held annually at October conference. Until this session, the General Women's Session had been held the Saturday evening prior to General Conference weekend.

Bingham was selected to participate in the 2018 White House National Day of Prayer. She helped unveil a completely redesigned and updated Relief Society website in 2019 that she explained, "Now you can 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 Brigham Young University's Women's Conference.

In November 2020, the members of the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary general presidencies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched official Instagram accounts to expand their global ministries. The Church leaders’ use of social media platforms demonstrates a desire to connect with members around the world using technology. Sister Bingham said, “We’re delighted to be able to communicate with our sisters of all ages around the globe on the Instagram platform. This is a wonderful opportunity to increase our feeling of unity as the gospel of Jesus Christ brings us together in love and service.”[1]

She was selected to serve as the first woman grand marshal of the Days of ’47 Parade in 2022, held in Salt Lake City. "She descends from six generations of Latter-day Saint pioneers on both sides of her family. Many of them arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in the late 1840s and early 1850s — from an infant girl who was born on Goose Creek, Nebraska, to a 16-year-old boy who drove a wagon across the plains, to a 70-year-old widow who walked most of the way."[2]

Sister Bingham serves as a representative at the European Union and International Affairs Office of the Church in Brussels, Belgium. She participated in a panel discussion on “The Role of the Family in Promoting the Right to Education for Children.” “Families are essential in promoting the right to education,” said Sister Bingham. She addressed a crowded side event at the 57th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday, September 19, 2024.[3]

Sister Bingham's General Conference Talks

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