Written by Abbey Williams \/\/ Graphic by Cooper Turman, photo provided by Bloom Conference<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harding has hosted the Bloom Women\u2019s Conference for 28 years, and this year the event will be held Feb. 17-18 with the theme, \u201cWhen God Authors Your Story.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two USA Today bestselling Christian authors, Serena B. Miller and Tamera Alexander, will speak at this year\u2019s event and have a book signing, according to the conference\u2019s webpage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Co-director of the conference and associate professor of Bible Anessa Westbrook said Bloom aims to equip and help women grow spiritually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Bloom conference is a national level conference,\u201d Westbrook said. \u201cWe do have a number of church groups that come from different states. We are always trying to think about equipping, encouraging them to go back into their churches and to contribute.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Westbrook said the committee likes to have students work with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe also try to keep some students on our committee so we can get their perspective, but we also mentor them,\u201d Westbrook said. \u201cWe currently have a group of students interested in Christian publishing on it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior Karrisa Neal runs the social media for Bloom this year. She said it\u2019s her first year on the committee, and she gives student perspective when needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neal said she has been to past Bloom conferences with her church family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think of Bloom like a family reunion,\u201d Neal said. \u201cIt\u2019s like, dare I say, \u2018pre-heaven,\u2019 but then you have the spiritual aspect of it. Everyone is just together, and you\u2019re cultivating these relationships that you would never meet because they\u2019re from across the nation, and you kinda just remember you have that unifying bond in Christ.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neal said there\u2019s always something to connect to in the classes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis year I\u2019m speaking in one of the breakout classes, which is crazy, but like every year even if I\u2019m not super passionate about the topics, there\u2019s still something you can connect to,\u201d Neal said. \u201cIt meets you where you\u2019re at. It’s like this universal key; it just applies to your situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harding admissions counselor Jessica Berry, who is a worship leader for Bloom, said the conference builds up women\u2019s ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe also build up women’s ministry and say yes, you can do things,\u201d Berry said. \u201cSo our two keynote speakers are Christian authors, and they have a movie. We have these superstar women, and we say, \u2018Yes, you can go do a lot of things and still love the Lord passionately.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Berry said Bloom is very intentional with picking out speakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBloom is like a learning experience because we\u2019re very intentional about bringing in speakers that walked a path that may be different from our typical crowd,\u201d Berry said. \u201cWe also just reinforce love and how Christ goes about and seeks individuals that may not be popular or we may not think of on a daily basis, so we try to put those types of people in front of these ladies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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