I met Jennie Allen for the first time in the spring of 2011. It was my final week serving as the Director of Communications at Thomas Nelson and Jennie was presenting Anything at Thomas Nelson’s Quarterly Sales Conference.
Some might say we are an unlikely duo. Jennie is passionate {sometimes I think she might hit her breaking point and physically burst}. I am practical. Jennie is a happily married mother of 4. I am a happily {most of the time} single woman who sometimes has trouble juggling the responsibility of a high demand job and a low maintenance Collie-mix named Molly. Jennie graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with a Masters in Biblical Studies. I graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelors in Marketing, a few hard knocks, and a couple of great ski days.
But we bonded. We bonded fast and we bonded tight. {I would be remiss for neglecting to mention that our diversity is one of greatest strengths.}
We bonded over the need to gather our generation of women. Our entire generation of women of believers. Not just the evangelicals or the main-line church-goers. Not just the conservatives or the progressives. Not just the complementarians or the egalitarians. Not just {insert label here}s or the {insert label here}s.
We bonded over our desire to equip them. With like-hearted friends. With a safe space to wrestle, question, doubt and confess. With stories of hope. And most-importantly with Truth.
We bonded over our longing to unleash women to find their voice and their purpose. And we bonded, over the word “uncomfortable.”
Our generation of Christians is different. We are not satisfied with comfortable life. We don’t trust it. We want more. We want to be…uncomfortable. Because we know our discomfort is a sign of growth. And it’s a sign that we are stepping into the audacious dream that God has for us. {Words I shared on Jennie’s blog in 2011.}
Over the last two years as Jennie and I have shared this common vision with women around the country, we have found countless others with similar aspirations. We have built an incredible collection of women {Lauren Chandler, Melissa Greene, Jen Hatmaker, Esther Havens, Tara Jenkins, Rebekah Lyons, Bianca Olthoff, Angie Smith, and Ann Voskamp} who are going to help us begin to mold, shape and guide this…thing. Our hope is that the If:Gathering becomes a place, both physically and virtually, where we all can come together, reflect, rest, refuel, and redeem our passions, our purposes, and our lives.
“That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:21 (ESV)
Does this vision resonate with you? Do you see a need for a gathering of women like this one?
If so, go to http://www.ifgathering.com and sign up for our email list. And as the movement launches, you will be the first to know.
More posts about the If:Gathering…
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