Next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22, Harding will host the annual Women in God’s Service Conference. The WINGS Conference theme this year is “Bring Out the Good China” because it is the 20th anniversary of the event.
The keynote speakers for the weekend are Elaine Denman on Friday evening and Tiffany Yecke Brooks on Saturday morning.
Adjunct professors Anessa Westbrook and Terri Rine oversaw the plans for the conference. They chose the theme, booked the guest speakers and selected the panel of speakers from Harding’s campus.
“We wanted it to be a celebration of these 20 years and also a celebration of our relationship with God,” Rine said.
Westbrook said the ladies came up with china as a theme because it is a common 20th anniversary gift and because they discovered there are many spiritual parallels.
“Each person’s china pattern is different — the way God interacts with each person, the way each person develops spiritually is different,” Westbrook said. “China is also very strong and has a lot of endurance. It has to go through a really tough process.”
Rine said the wide variety of china patterns represented the types of personalities found in the church.
“God has created us with all kinds of talents and skills,” Rine said. “I hope all the people who attend will recognize that God created each of us as an individual, just like someone who crafts fine china or a potter who molds clay. He does it one at a time, and each one is beautiful in its own right but also beautiful in a set. We come together and we compliment each other.”
Westbrook said community members took the analogy a step further by repurposing broken china into beads for necklaces. The necklaces will be on sale at the conference, and the proceeds will go toward a women’s shelter.
“Broken china can still be used; there are ways to take brokenness and losses in our lives and make those turn around and become different things,” Westbrook said.
About 250-300 visitors attend the WINGS conference from all over Arkansas and from out of state every year.
The ladies are also accepting entries for an ugly plate contest. Pictures must be posted to the WINGS Facebook page, and the winner will be announced at the closing session.
Registration costs $35 or $25 with a student ID. Rine said that this covers the cost of the event, including the food and a small gift for the speakers. The Marriage and Family Therapy Program and Counseling Center also assist with some of the cost.
“We try to keep the cost as low as possible,” Rine said.
Harding students have the option of taking WINGS as a one-hour class credit. This waives the normal registration fee.
Westbrook said her hopes for the conference were simply that the women who attend will benefit spiritually from what they heard over the weekend.
“The ultimate goal is for women to feel like they’ve had a chance to reflect and maybe grow a little bit, to be able to go back home and be able to do more and work on their spiritual life,” Westbrook said. “It’s like one of those mountaintop experiences.”
Rine also said she hopes the women who attend will be blessed by the conference.
“I pray that people come with open hearts and open minds, to be ready to have fun and fellowship with sisters of all ages and stages of life,” Rine said. “I pray that this is the direction God wants us to take this conference and that we have his blessing. We want it to be in praise and honor and glory to God.”
