The Women’s Leadership Institute and Young Women’s Leadership Development Event, taking place during the 221st General Assembly this summer, seeks to empower and guide women in their spiritual and leadership growth.

The event is designed for all women in leadership roles throughout the church, including young and immigrant women who are or want to be leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 

The theme of the conference is “An Abundance of Power: Vulnerability and Power.” This event will address issues faced by women as well as explore the relationship between vulnerability and power. Participants will tap into their inner strengths as they continue down their path to become more effective transformational and visionary leaders. 

The event will start with lunch at noon June 13 and will conclude after the Women’s Orientation Breakfast, 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m., June 14. Registration is $99 and includes a ticket to the breakfast.  

This year’s keynote speaker is the Rev. Laura Mendenhall. Mendenhall has served as youth leader, missionary, educator, pastor and president of Columbia Seminary. Along the way there were “midwives” who nurtured and encouraged gifts she did not know she had. She will share her story while encouraging you to find your midwives and to be midwives to others.

Also speaking at the event are the Rev. Laura Mariko Cheifetz,  the Rev. Laurie Ferguson and Carolina Treviño. Cheifetz serves as the executive director of church and public relations at the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. She received her M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary and her MBA from North Park University. She is an ordained teaching elder in the PC(USA). She enjoys spending time with friends over food and exploring whichever region in which she happens to live.  

Rev. Ferguson  is one of the leaders of The Auburn Coaching Institute which has helped hundreds of church leaders thrive in their ministries and strengthens church leaders in the ways they need the most: organizational leadership, personal resilience, and vocational discernment. Treviño serves as the Christian Educator for Children and Youth at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas.

The worship leader will be the Rev. Desiree Ann Lawson, pastor of Trinity United Presbyterian Church, a multicultural church in Flint, Michigan. She received her M. Div. from Andover Newton Theological School. She is particularly drawn to multicultural ministry, women’s issues and ministering and counseling to those struggling with martial concerns. Lawson is a participant in the African American Mentoring Program sponsored by Racial Ethnic & Women’s Ministries.  Spiritually, she is drawn to nature and finds great comfort in the trees. Her favorite meditative scripture is Psalm 104:16: “the trees of the Lord are well watered.” 

Register now. A limited number of scholarship opportunities are available for this event. Get your application now.

Deadline for scholarship application is May 6, 2014.