Women's Conference 2000 set for Dallas

CARROLLTON, Texas--"Let the older women teach the younger" will serve as the guiding principle at Women's Conference 2000, to take place in the Dallas area March 10-12, 2000.

"This groundbreaking conference will be open to women, regardless of church affiliation, who respect the traditional role of women in the Sabbatarian Churches of God but want to identify new areas of service and growth," said Linda Hardy White of Carrollton, an organizer.

The conference will be sponsored by the International Bible Learning Center (IBLC), a Sabbatarian group of which Mrs. White is a regent, with support and endorsements from Christian Educational Ministries of Tyler, Texas; United Christian Ministries of Birmingham, Ala.; Servant's News of Perry, Mich.; Friends of the Sabbath; independent congregations such as the United Church of God Big Sandy and United Church of God Birmingham; and fellowship groups in Dallas, Houston, Tyler and Waco, Texas; Milwaukee, Wis.; and Nashville, Tenn.

Women's Conference 2000 will convene at the Marriott Hotel Solana, at 5 Village Circle in Westlake, a 10-minute drive from the Dallas­Fort Worth Airport in the Solana business district. The hotel is in a secluded and elegant setting, complete with jogging trail, free health-club facilities and a restaurant.

"The primary goal of the conference," said Mrs. White, "is to help women think outside the box in terms of the impact they can have on their family, local congregation and community. It will also include workshops geared to women of all ages and categories: teenage girls, single women, stay-at-home and working moms, wives and grandmothers."

To help women who might otherwise not be able to attend, congregations are encouraged to consider financially sponsoring at least one woman who would benefit from the conference, said Mrs. White.

The IBLC will set up a special dedicated fund for anyone who would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to help defray costs for any of the general activities or for specific people.

"There will be no conference fee if women register by Jan. 15, 2000," Mrs. White said.

After that, a nominal fee of $10 will go for conference materials and attendance at all seminars and workshops. Accommodations and meals at the hotel will be offered at discounted rates.

"It is clear from Scripture that older women are to be teachers of younger women," said Allie Dart of Tyler, a conference presenter. "The New Testament simply does not limit how or when that teaching function of woman to woman should take place. Although we may be blazing a new trail, we are doing so consistent with biblical guidelines."

One of the goals of the conference is to reexamine the valuable role of women in promoting the gospel through personal evangelism.

"We want to recapture some of the practices that surely existed in the primitive church," said Mrs. White. "At that time women worked side by side with the apostles, and some, like Lydia, may have even set up churches in their homes. The apostles appeared to target leading gentile women, for example, who were noted as being among the first to accept the gospel outside of Judea."

The conference begins Friday evening with a welcome reception and refreshments. Beginning at 10 on the morning of the Sabbath, seminars will include "The Historic Role of Women in the Church," "Educating the Next Generation" and "Succeeding Through Biblical Wisdom."

The keynote address will be "Thinking Outside the Box: Fresh Insights on Christian Leadership and Service," by Dr. Jewell Cress, a speaker and writer in Church of God (Seventh Day) circles who is also chairman of a business department at Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Okla.

"There will be an hour-long music program on the Sabbath," said Mrs. White. "Afterwards, conference attendees will be invited to participate in an open forum on service programs and personal evangelism."

Breakaway workshops after sunset will include "Generation Next: A Forum for Teens," "Juggling Time!," "Homeschooling Pros and Cons" and "The Single Christian." The Saturday-evening sessions will conclude with an ice-cream social, door prizes and a country-music show.

"Money Matters!" and "How to Effectively Deal with Conflict" will be offered as workshops Sunday morning beginning at 9. The conference will conclude at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

"Certain segments of the female population, such as single or divorced women with or without children, tend to have needs that are a little different from those of married women," said Pam Havir of the UCG Big Sandy, a conference supporter. "We would like to focus on some of the issues that they face as well as topics of general interest, and we hope everyone will take advantage of this great opportunity to make some new friends."

For more information call (877) 444-IBLC (toll-free) or (972) 492-3305, or E-mail info@iblc.org or marketl@worldnet.att.net.

A registration form appears in the Connections section of this issue of The Journal, on page 11.

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