In January and February, Wheaton College and various campus organizations hosted one men’s and multiple women’s conferences on campus. About 150 women attended “Embodied Faith: Navigating Womanhood in a Post-Modern World” on Feb. 2 and 3, and about 50 men attended the annual men’s conference on Jan. 19 and 20, both of which were held in Barrows Auditorium.
Voice for Life — a student-run pro-life campus advocacy group — sponsored the Embodied Faith conference, one of several women’s conferences held on campus this winter. The group partnered with several women’s ministry groups, including Zoe’s Feet, Presence, Abide and the Garden and Prairie Project to host the event weekend. The keynote speaker was Amy Davison, a contributing blog author to Mama Bear Apologetics, a conservative evangelical group that helps Christian mothers find parenting advice. Davison kicked off Friday evening with a message about biblical sexuality.
Rachael Burtness, a senior English major and the president of Voice for Life, said she hoped women would find solidarity and biblical truth at the event. “We wanted to create a space for women where they would receive grounding in biblical truth,” said Burtness. “From there, we wanted to encourage them to interact with the culture.”
As Davison began the large group message, whispers echoed throughout the auditorium as Davison asked the audience what they had been told about sexuality and their bodies.
“How many of you were told that what you do with your bodies is a direct reflection of what you believe about God, about truth and morality, about sin and loss?” said Davison.
She spoke about American secular culture’s shortcomings in defining a consistent, honest image of womanhood. Davison used the “Barbie” movie and Taylor Swift as illustrations of this point, that celebrities and culture propagate many, and even contrary, ideas about what is fulfilling people.
Davison ended the large group session with a reading from Proverbs 31, using it to define biblical womanhood for her audience. She left attendees with a call to action: to reflect the attributes described in the passage, including reverence to God, wisdom and self-control.
“Don’t be intimidated when culture tries to say that biblical womanhood is a bad thing,” Davison said. “Anything can be bad if it’s done in the wrong way, but we always go back to scripture and then live out in submission to Christ as well as loving submission and boldness to others.”
After the message, attendees could choose between several breakout sessions. Sharon Wilson, an author and speaker who is also married to Chaplain Wilson, led a workshop on discipleship; Dan Haase, professor of Christian formation and ministry, and Kathleen Haase led a workshop on dating and marriage; and Sarah Laribee, a career coach at the Center for Vocation and Career (CVC), led a workshop on loving God and neighbor.
Dyanne Martin, professor of English, broke the mold by leading a dance session. Many of the women in attendance gathered on stage, removed their socks and shoes, and went through the dance workshop together. Zoe’s Feet, the college’s dance ministry, ended the weekend with a performance. The group created a dance just for the event, and members of the Garden and Prairie Project also contributed by preparing bouquets for each of the speakers.
Laura Lien, Voice for Life’s event coordinator, said it was a fulfilling experience to live out the principles being discussed and collaborate with other women doing the same.
“It was truly like the embodied faith,” said Lien. “Dancing felt like the most tangible thing in that moment, and it was spectacular to see support outside of our Voice for Life cabinet. It felt like the campus was standing with us.”
After the breakout session led by Laribee, multiple students said that they appreciated the opportunity for reflection and mutual encouragement on the topic of loving God and neighbors. Annika Watson, a junior environmental science major, said she appreciated the emphasis on transparency being a vital part of Christian life.
“She helped us figure out how to tell our stories while giving God all of the glory,” said Watson. “You can’t be afraid to tell it all, so God gets all the glory, not just part of it.”
Elena Ritter, a senior philosophy and Bible and theology double major, said she was encouraged by the solidarity of being in a room full of women with shared experiences.
“Seeing other women there who have lived through the same kind of struggles and have the same sorts of aspirations was both a comfort and encouragement to me,” Ritter said. “It relieved me of the feeling that I have to shoulder my problems alone.”
This event came about two weeks after the annual Men’s Conference, hosted by the office of student development and the chaplain’s office. That event included messages from Chaplain Wilson and President Ryken, fellowship and eight breakout sessions ranging from how to read the Bible to engaging with our emotions.
On Saturday at the men’s conference, there was an open Q&A panel made up of five faculty and staff members. The most popular question was about physical boundaries in a committed dating relationship, and what the biblical bases were for that stance.
Junior international relations major Noah Chung attended both Friday and Saturday, and he said he appreciated the opportunity to receive encouragement from other men. He said the weekend included a call to action to cultivate deep male friendships, take responsible initiative to set boundaries in romantic relationships and “do hard stuff.”
“It’s good to have close friends that you can tell about your problems,” said Chung when asked about his takeaways from the conference. “Putting a much finer point on how it’s not only important, but actually essential.”
