We are just a few weeks away from our first annual Women’s Conference. The title of this event is “Women of Grace: Living the Gospel as a Woman.” It will be held at the Auburn Conference Center from Friday evening, January 28th through Saturday afternoon January 29th. Tanya York will be our guest speaker, and I have no doubt that our Morningview Ladies will be incredibly blessed through her warm spirit and her ministry of the Word of God.
A Women’s Conference is a great addition to the ministry of Morningview for several reasons. First, women do face unique challenges as they seek to walk with the Lord and apply Scriptural truth to the various dynamics of their lives. Just as men benefit from instruction on walking with God, leading the family, and biblically balancing home and work responsibilities, so women too benefit from specialized biblical instruction. As wives, mothers, grandmothers, and leaders in other contexts outside the home, women also need encouragement and instruction in the spiritual disciplines, in biblical priorities and roles, and in the practical expression of Christ-likeness in their marriages and homes.
Second, a women’s conference allows women to receive such instruction in a context where an experienced, gifted woman can serve as the primary preacher/teacher of the Word. God certainly gifts women with the ability to teach or even preach, but God also limits the exercise of that gift to settings that preserve the leadership and headship of men in delivering spiritual instruction. 1 Tim 2:12 tells us that women are not allowed to exercise teaching authority over men. That is why the biblical office of Pastor or Elder in the church is limited only to men. But in the context of a class, a retreat, or a conference made up entirely of women, our ladies have the benefit of receiving solid biblical teaching from a feminine perspective.
Third, this conference provides an excellent opportunity for biblical fellowship among our ladies. In most family contexts, the husbands do the majority of working and traveling outside of the home. Wives and mothers may work outside the home as well, but their primary ministry is still the home. (Wise men realize that their wives often work harder than they do as they maintain their ministry to the needs of the family.) So for most women, the opportunity to leave home for an evening, to go to a conference center, to rest in a hotel, and to enjoy laughing and learning and worshiping with female friends and church-family members is an immense blessing.
Men, I hope you are making every effort to help your wives and other ladies in the church to be able to attend this event. I hope you all are taking on the responsibilities of the home and family for these two days as a ministry to the women you love. It will bless them. It will refresh them. It will equip them. It will encourage them. Be in prayer for our ladies and for Tanya York as this event approaches. I love you all dearly!
