#if:gathering

Unity: clothed in grace

I have a friend with this habit of thrusting me into awkward situations. I never know when I’ll have a surprise meeting with a stranger, meet five random people at dinner or be swept along to some exclusive event I may or may not be on the guest list for. She genuinely loves life and loves people and I love her for it. At the Christian Alliance for Orphans summit last week we were walking along…

With One Voice – choosing unity over dissonance

My high school voice teacher once chose a particularly challenging piece for me to sing in competition. Bernstein’s I Hate Music is a series of five songs sung from the perspective of a child who hates music but loves to sing. The piece is discordant with harsh sounding phrasing sung in dissonance with the accompaniment. It’s abrupt, unpredictable and awkward to sing – let alone listen to. But…

How the oneness of God points us to unity

Recently I butted heads with a dear friend. We are alike in our passion for serving Jesus but think and operate very differently. Usually we enjoy our different personalities. This was not one of those times. There were tears and frustrations and big feelings. But we love each other and love the Lord even more. So we spoke forgiveness and reconciliation to each other, as we are both deeply…

A U D G E | ycswu friends: kacey + noonday collection

I met Kacey this past summer at our neighborhood park, and we became fast friends. We were both diving into the world of homeschooling together for the first time, navigating the waters of all that is toddlers and their feelings, and trying to find Jesus in the everyday grind. It was kind of weird how even though we were just getting to know each other, I felt like we were just picking up right…

IF:Gathering has a local gathering in Fuquay-Varina in 2016

The IF:Gathering seeks to gather, equip, and unleash this generation of women to live out God’s calling on their lives. We are a generation of women that believes God at His Word that He called us to our places and will use us for His glory and for the good of His people. Our goal is to make the name of Jesus great in and through the women of our church, neighborhood, & city. about this event 

Join me in studying Galations with the awesome team at If:Equip!

 I love the daily encouragement and focus on the Word of God. The questions are the same each day: If you believe this is true, what does this mean about God? about you? about the world? 

Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Religion News Service, Feb 12, 2014

AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) If past conferences such as Women of Faith drew thousands of evangelical women to indoor stadiums for devotional Bible study, a new generation of evangelical women is looking outward and concerned with issues such as social justice.

The IF:Gathering in Austin earlier this month was one of those conferences. At the Austin Music Hall, about 1,200 women were greeted by farm tables decorated with candles and cabbage- and lavender-filled centerpieces. The free coffee came from Westrock Coffee, an organization committed to safe working conditions in Rwanda. But the wholesome, back-to-nature ambiance was just the start.

The women participating, including more than 44,000 online, sponsored 600 children through Food for the Hungry. Speakers included sex trafficking victim advocates Christine Caine and Bianca Olthoff, humanitarian photographer Esther Havens and Annie Lobert, founder of Hookers for Jesus, a ministry for prostitutes that attempts to end sex trafficking.

“We are part of a world system that has always measured greatness in terms of power, but Jesus always measured greatness in terms of service,” blogger and author Jen Hatmaker told the crowd. “If we love mercy for ourselves, then we have to love it for everyone else.”

Past conferences and gatherings geared toward women have focused on issues such as marriage, parenthood and forgiveness. Female speakers such as Beth Moore and Kay Arthur have drawn thousands of women to stadiums, but the new batch of women is reaching a new generation concerned about theology, justice and calling.

“This was about expanding our vision outside of ourselves,” said Sharon Hodde Miller, a doctoral student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School who is studying women in seminary. “It could play out in a variety of different ways but encompassed social justice, racial reconciliation, poverty or thinking about the neighbor next door who is a widow.”

Jennie Allen, founder of the gathering, was more direct: “We gather in a new way because we’re not driven by women’s issues.”

This new wave of evangelical women is fueled by an ever-growing online culture of high-profile women bloggers and savvy social media types who have laid the groundwork for the new focus.

Tickets for the Austin gathering, with a theme of “If God is real, then what?,” sold out in 42 minutes; word of the conference spread largely through blogs and social media.

“We’ve grown up in a different context,” Allen said. “The technology is unprecedented.”

Ahead of the conference, Allen gathered more than 50 influential female leaders to hear about plans for IF, generating an interest even before speakers and topics were announced.

“Blogs are creating a platform for women who might not have otherwise been heard,” said Cindy Bunch, an editor at InterVarsity Press responsible for a new imprint by women, called Crescendo. “Denominations have always had women’s ministries. I think what’s new perhaps is women having a stronger writing platform and being read widely by men and women.”

For example, Ann Voskamp, who spoke at the IF conference, is a farmer’s wife and a 40-year-old home-schooling mother of six in rural Ontario. Her New York Times best-seller, “One Thousand Gifts,” and photo-driven blog sprinkled with poetry and lyrical phrases have endeared her to evangelical women of many theological persuasions.

Many of the new women’s initiatives are geared to navigating conversations about social justice or the role of women in an age of “Lean In,” the book on women’s leadership by Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook.

In November, the group Q, run by Gabe and Rebekah Lyons, hosted a conference focusing on calling.

Others include gatherings put on by the Gospel Coalition and Allume draw women with large social media followings. Many groups target women, who account for 85 percent of all consumer purchases.