Women of all ages, grandmothers, mothers, daughters, students and a few men gathered to worship together in spirit and in truth in Calvary Chapel.
With hands raised and minds open to receiving the Word of God, women gathered to attend the first Women in Apologetics Conference held on campus on Jan. 19 and 20. The two-day conference included worship, breakout sessions, a buffet lunch and notable keynote speakers such as Mary Jo Sharp, Melissa Cain Travis, Natasha Crain and Hillary Morgan Ferrer. The event was put on with the help of the Biola University Apologetics Department, Intelligent Faith and Mama Bear Apologetics.
WOMEN COMMUNE DURING NEW CONFERENCE
Women from all over gathered to attend the event. Cheryl Smith, originally from Northern California and now living in Azusa, heard about the conference from some friends up North and decided to attend with them. Smith found worshipping with women from various places encouraging and thinks apologetics is important in evangelism.
“I really enjoyed Hillary Morgan Ferrer,” Smith said. “Her presentation and the way that she talked about the background on people with whom you share your faith and how she presented the psychological principles associated with that. I thought that was extremely interesting and very helpful.”
Dai Doan lives in the area and found out about the conference through friends who attend Biola. Doan believes women have a unique perspective on apologetics as they bring the relational side to it. While the conference focused on equipping women in apologetics, it also helped to equip the new generation for Jesus Christ.
“I love that all of the speakers are very well versed in their topic, and they would like to equip the new generation to be firmly in God’s Word,” Doan said.
APOLOGETICS FOR EVERYONE
As a graduate student in the Christian Apologetics program Tamra Duston attended the event, and described the experience as awesome. She also noted how apologetics is for everyone.
“It’s not just for an elite group like the Dr. Craigs and the J.P. Morelands,” Duston said. “In my view, it’s for everybody including the church, not just for evangelism but also discipleship. I think women have a unique perspective, a different role in the family type situation with raising children and all of that—all of those work together to make having more women in apologetics be important.”
The event brought a different perspective of apologetics to Duston, including seeing women who actively participated in ministries and apologetics already.
“[These women] don’t get seen in the public eye or that we don’t talk about in our classes as much, but they are there. Just being able to see them and interact with them and learn from them and their experiences is really valuable,” Duston said.
