The inaugural Empowered Woman Preach conference took place at Grebel over the October 19–20 weekend. It brought together women of different denominations to encourage each other and become more equipped to proclaim Christ while working to renew their local church communities.
The initiative for this conference stemmed from several MTS students taking the Preaching course at Grebel, taught by Visiting Professor Allan Rudy-Froese from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. In response to the supportive community that students experienced while taking the course, and conversations that arose around the need for women’s voices in the church, Danielle Raimbault, Erica Mills, and Marg Van Herk Pardis began plans for a conference.
The keynote speaker, Betty Pries, provided a thought-provoking message about “The Podium of the Preacher: Reading the Bible Slant,” challenging attendees to look at the Bible through a different lens. Workshops that focused on topics like “The Empowered Preacher’s Voice” and “So you’re going to preach a sermon” provided an environment for conference attendees to discuss their techniques for preaching, as well as offer tips and advice to those who are new to preaching in general. The conference also had opportunities to hear four women, Dana Benson, Sara Erb, Taryn Ferrede and Megan Collings-Moore, give six-minute sermons, providing a safe space for the pastors, ministers, and chaplains to hear feedback and responses to their messages.
Overall, it was an uplifting conference empowering attendees to continue making a positive difference in their church communities.
