I realized I was in the middle of something really special when I found myself sitting at a table drinking bubble tea at a restaurant with three fabulous women from Toronto, Vancouver, and Lethbridge, Alta., at midnight, discussing ministry, mission, and life as women in the church. We had met up at the young women’s gathering following the opening banquet and, as none of us were particularly tired, we decided to head out for a midnight snack.
I was invited to attend the National Presbyterian Women’s Gathering as a student representative. When I first received the registration package, I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the event. There were over 25 workshop options as well as four guest speakers. Having been to, and volunteered at, Canada Youth, my expectations were heavily influenced by my experiences there; I was looking forward to getting to meet different women from across the country, to worship and have fellowship together.
It was really special to me as a young woman in the Presbyterian Church to get to meet the women who have worked tirelessly for so many years to further the work of the church in so many different ways. I was also encouraged by the fact that I was not the only young woman present at the conference. It was a great opportunity to meet others and to talk about how we as young women in the church will continue the work of all the women before us with the same enthusiasm, creativity, resourcefulness and grace.
To say that the conference exceeded my expectations would be an understatement. While I expected a similar experience to Canada Youth, I wasn’t prepared for the energy that was present in the ballroom when I first walked in. What was even more surprising was that the energy was present not only the first night, but throughout the whole conference and, if it’s possible, may have increased. Each of the workshop leaders and guest speakers was so in touch with the theme of Look In, Shout Out that no matter who I seemed to talk to, whether they’d been to the same presentation as me or not, we were able to talk and share and come away with even more ideas to take back to our congregations.
It is difficult to choose just one speaker as my favourite; each had so much to offer us and each challenged us to “look in” to our own understandings and preconceptions and encouraged us to go back and “shout out” not only to our congregations and friends, but to the larger community and world. I was especially inspired by Dr. Margaret Somerville’s first address in which she presented an argument for the need for a religious voice in secular society.
I left the conference with a deeper understanding of what it means to look in and shout out. When I looked around the ballroom at the nearly 600 women who had gathered, I was reminded of the awesome collection of gifts that we have in our church and reminded of the history of the work of women. I leave the conference encouraged to use my voice both in the church and in the community at large, and to speak up for what I believe in.
