If God is real, then what?
That is the theme for a one-day women’s conference hosted by Crossway Church, 1825 U.S. Highway 61 South.
The conference called “If: Local” is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10.
“It’s calling us to action in our relationship with God, and I think that’s the goal of the event is for everyone to deepen their relationship with God,” organizer Andrea Arruda said.
This is the first time the church has embarked on this specific conference, which is targeted toward woman of any age. The “If: Local” conference consists of speakers on video and group discussions.
“Basically different speakers are going to be talking and then we’re going to be breaking out to different discussion groups throughout the day to talk about what we’ve heard with other women in our groups,” Arruda said.
She said the objectives of the conference are for the women to work through understanding that God is real, identifying the places in their life where they struggle with belief, contemplating how to overcome the struggle and learning what God can do with doubt.
“I think it’s really important for women to gather collectively to wrestle with the issues that all women wrestle with, and to do that in a venue where there is no judgment and everyone is accepted is important,” Arruda said.
Throughout the day participants will watch a video of nine speakers, Amena Brown; Jo Saxton, speaker and teacher; Jennie Allen, Bible teacher; Jeanne Stevens, one of the lead pastors of Soul City Church in Chicago; Eugene Cho, founder and lead pastor of Quest Church in Seattle; Shelley Giglio, chief strategist, director of label operations and artist management for Atlanta-based record label sixstepsrecords; Jen Hatmaker, the author of seven books and Bible studies; Angie Smith, writer; and David Platt, president of the International Mission Board and founder of Radical.
Arruda said the materials and videos used for the conference came from a large gathering in Texas. While locally the conference was not streamed live, the church purchased the previously recorded material to use now.
“Ours is not going to be a part of that live stream. You can purchase the products to host at your own church, and that’s what we’re doing,” Arruda said.
Registration is $20 and covers snacks, lunch and materials.
Arruda said more spots were recently made available because the conference was filling up fast. She said it was important to register early because space is limited. To register, go to visitcrossway.org/if.