Report Back: Rock Your Role Conference

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Recently, I had the privilege of speaking at the Rock Your Role at Home and at Church: A Biblical View of Titus 2 conference at First Baptist Church of Brookings, South Dakota. It was such a joy to fellowship with the ladies of Brookings and the surrounding area.

I landed in beautiful Sioux Falls on Thursday evening, where I was warmly greeted by my hostess, Andrea, who whisked me away to Brookings for a delicious home-cooked supper in her home with some of the other ladies on the conference planning committee.

For dessert, there was “cow to cone” cookies & cream ice cream from the South Dakota State University Dairy Bar (part of the university’s Department of Dairy and Food Science).

Did you know that cookies & cream flavored ice cream was invented at SDSU, right there in Brookings, in 1979? What a treat!

Photo courtesy of Trip Advisor

After a lovely evening, a sweet hostess gift welcomed me to my hotel room. Lots of great snacks and goodies, and a new “conference ornament” for my tree this year!

Now, I have to take a moment here to brag on one of the snacks that was included…

…because OH MY GOODNESS, WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE? Nerdy Nuts is a South Dakota company that not only makes an amazing peanut butter in several different flavors, they also came up with the idea of putting “toppings” in peanut butter. This one was “monster cheesecake” and, as you can see, it has M&Ms, chocolate chips, frosting, and a bunch of other stuff in there. YOU. EAT. IT. OUT. OF. THE. JAR. WITH. A. SPOON! COME ON! Forget Mt. Rushmore, this is what South Dakota should be known for. How did someone not think of this, like, a hundred years ago or so? Anyway, you need to order some, because you need this in your life.* You’re welcome.

OK, I’m sorry, but I’m just very passionate about peanut butter. Back to sanity here…

Friday, I had the much appreciated (and much needed!) luxury of sleeping in and having a slow, relaxing morning before a fun lunch with Andrea and Haley, planning committee member and one of FBC’s pastors’ wives. Afterward, we headed over to the church to check things out.

FBC is a gorgeous, historic (turn of the 20th century, I’m guessing) building in downtown Brookings.

Close up of the floor level baptistry (in the front left corner of the sanctuary above), my favorite feature of elderly Baptist churches. Peep the half door you enter through. The steps down into the water are behind that door.

The ladies were hard at work decorating and putting the last minute touches on everything. I’m so grateful for their hard work to make things beautiful and comfortable, and I know the attendees were, too!

This conference was not recorded. The recordings linked to the teaching sessions mentioned below are audio/video from previous conferences where I’ve taught similar sessions, as available.

Friday evening, it was time to get the ball rolling.

The ladies were greeted warmly at registration…

…and we kicked off the conference with session 1: Rock Your Role at Home and at Church, learning the beauty of God’s design for women and how we can robustly and biblically fill out the roles He has given us.

There was plenty of time for discussion and fellowship during the conference and we wrapped the first day with desserts and mingling.

Saturday morning started with an energizing breakfast…

…followed by Teach What Is Good: Discipling Younger Women in the 21st Century. We learned about the theology behind “Titus 2” women’s ministry, along with lots of practical ways to disciple younger women. (I don’t have a conference recording of this session, but it shares much in common with our A Word Fitly Spoken two part series on women’s ministry: Biblical Women’s Ministry (Part 1) and Practical Women’s Ministry (Part 2).)

Our final teaching session was How to Study (and Teach!) the Bible. This is such a crucial skill for Christian women today. We’ve got to be good students of the Word so we can disciple our own children and the women and children of our churches.

Lunch time! Delectable brisket sandwiches and warm and wonderful fellowship!

A rousing Q&A session rounded out the day. This was the first conference I’ve spoken at where attendees could scan a QR code to submit their questions. It was a great tool!

Before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye. What a great group of ladies who worked so hard to put on a super event!

But before I left, I had to sample just one more South Dakota delight. I stopped by Marlin’s Restaurant in the Sioux Falls airport and treated myself to an order of “tater kegs”. They are ginormous (a little bit bigger than a jumbo marshmallow) tater tots stuffed with cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, and chives, and served with cheese dip (Hey – I don’t diet when I travel!), and they are phenomenal.

It was such a fantastic day with the ladies of FBC Brookings. Thanks so much to Pastor Gavin for trusting me to teach these incredible women. Thanks to Haley, Andrea, and all the other ladies for making me feel right at home and working so hard to host a fantastic conference. If you’re ever in the area and need a good church to visit, make plans to spend the Lord’s Day with these wonderful brothers and sisters.