Category: Speaking Engagements

Speaking Engagements

Report Back: Beautifully Rooted Conference

Michelle Lesley

Ready to schedule your spring, summer, or fall 2026 women’s event? I’d love to come share with the ladies of your church or organization. Click here for more information,
or to find an upcoming event near you!

Images courtesy of Beautifully Rooted conference.

In early November, I had the privilege of speaking at the Beautifully Rooted conference at Southern View Chapel in Springfield, Illinois. I had a wonderful time fellowshipping with the ladies of Springfield and the surrounding area.

Sadly, this lovely photographic mural in the St. Louis airport was pretty much the extent of my sightseeing in the area. It was a quick trip, flying up Friday and flying home Saturday, but I wanted to be home for the birth of a new grandbaby who was due in a few days!

I got settled in at my hotel Friday afternoon…

Always a fan of funny hotel numbering systems!

A lovely gift bag from my hostesses!

We got things kicked off Friday night with Foundations of Discernment, which dealt with building a solid foundation of prayer, study of the Word, and faithfulness to the local church as the basis of discernment.

Photos above, courtesy of Priscila G. Photography

On Saturday, Discernment 101: Learn to Discern was first on the agenda. This session covers some practical aspects of how to determine whether or not someone is a false teacher, who some of today’s most prolific false teachers are, and popular forms of false doctrine in the church.

Rounding out the day, Saturday, was Hooked on a Feeling. So often, we, as Christian women are led around by the nose by our feelings. We talked about why this is unbiblical, and some practical ways of avoiding temptations to sin.

Photos courtesy of Priscila G. Photography

There were also some wonderful breakout sessions taught by ladies of the church, and by my friend Susan Heck. She is a delight, and I always love catching up with her.

You can listen to the audio from all of the main sessions and breakout sessions here.

And, of course, we had a wonderful time of worship led by these sweet and talented ladies of SVC…

Breaking bread and spending time together around the table is such an integral part of events like this. It’s one of the ways God designed women to build each other up in Christ. The food was delicious and the fellowship was even sweeter!

Delightful decor and door prizes!

Lots of great exhibit tables!

Merch!

I love meeting the ladies!

Especially the young ladies!

I was so glad to meet Bro. Gary Gilley who not only pastors at SVC, but also has a wonderful discernment ministry, Think on These Things. (Bro. Gary has done extensive work on John Mark Comer {whom many of you have asked me about}, which I’ve linked up at the Popular False Teachers & Unbiblical Trends tab in the blue menu bar at the top of this page. I’ve also added Bro. Gary as a discernment resource here.)

Before I left, one of the pastors’ wives, Priscila Gilley, blessed me with an unbelievable and invaluable gift – new publicity photos (which I desperately needed, since mine were about five years old). Priscila is an incredibly talented photographer (you pretty much have to be to make me look this good!), and I would highly recommend her if you live in the Springfield area. Check out her website and the lovely photos she took at the conference.

And yes, despite a flight delay that forced me to spend the night in the DFW airport on the way back, I got home with plenty of time to spare to welcome Baby A into the world!

It was such a fantastic day with the ladies of Southern View Chapel. Thanks so much to Pastors Gary Gilley and Brian Gilley for trusting me to teach these incredible women. Thanks to Dawn, Susan, 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.

If your church or organization is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information, or to find an upcoming event near you!

Photo Credits

All photos by Michelle Lesley and other conference attendees except those credited to Priscila G. Photography and Beautifully Rooted Conference.

Speaking Engagements

Upcoming Events: Ladies, You’re Invited!

Michelle Lesley

Looking for a super, doctrinally sound women’s event to attend? Let me tell you about one I’ve got coming up this fall!

Nothing in your area? I go where I’m invited, and, as Providence would have it, it’s time to start planning your fall 2025 or winter 2026 event! Find out how your church or organization can set up an event at my Speaking Engagements page. I’ve even got lots of tips, tricks, and helpful hints for you on everything from budgeting to promoting your event!

Illinois

I’m coming your way this fall, Illinois! Join me Nov. 7-8 for the Beautifully Rooted women’s conference, Walking with Discernment, at Southern View Chapel in Springfield, Illinois. Women from the surrounding area are invited to attend, but you must register. Click here to register and for more information.

Sessions will include:

Session 1: Foundations of Discernment

Session 2: Discernment 101: Learn to Discern

Session 3: Hooked on a Feeling

We are working on adding more events to my calendar, and we’d love to add yours! Click on over to my Speaking Engagements page for all the info.

Never planned an event, and you’re a little nervous about all the details? No need to reinvent the wheel! Grab some great ideas from previous events I’ve spoken at. And check out my article Women’s Events on a Shoestring Budget and Other Practical Tips for all the “how to’s”!

To keep an eye out for an event near you,
or to schedule me for your own event, check out my
calendar of events and booking information on my
Speaking Engagements page.

Hope to see you soon!

Speaking Engagements

Report Back: Answers for Women 2025 – Resolute

Michelle Lesley

Ready to schedule your summer or fall 2025 women’s event? I’d love to come share with the ladies of your church or organization. Click here for more information,
or to find an upcoming event near you!

It was such a joy and an honor to speak at Answers in Genesis’ 2025 Answers for Women conference, Resolute: Refuting False Gsopels with Biblical Truth at the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. It was an amazing experience I will never forget. (And I now have my own bio page at the Answers in Genesis website!)

Due to the popularity of this event, there were actually two separate three day conferences back to back: Monday, March 31 – Wednesday, April 2, and Thursday, April 3 – Saturday, April 5. I taught one session at each conference: Mark and Avoid the New Apostolic Reformation. I also had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion, and be interviewed for the Zero Compromise podcast. And, of course, it was a joy to spend time with my podcast partner and fellow speaker, Amy Spreeman.

I’ll share the podcast episode when it drops on the Zero Compromise channel. The conference video will be available in the future on Answers TV, but Amy and I took our respective teaching notes and turned them into podcast episodes. Amy taught on Progressivism…

…and, as I mentioned, my topic was the New Apostolic Reformation. (It’s also in article format here: What Is the New Apostolic Reformation?)

While at the conference, we also had the opportunity to interview two of our fellow speakers. Angela Mitchell…

…and Doreen Virtue:

When my husband and I arrived Sunday night at our hotel, it was dark, raining, we were under a flood watch, and the doors of the Ark were already shut. But we weren’t worried because we’re cessationists and we’re not in the New Apostolic Reformation, so we knew this wasn’t a sign from God, just His humorous Providence.😀

  • What if you’re in room 421?
  • Hotel art work

But our kind hosts had left a lavish welcome basket for me, and that brightened things up a lot.

Just a few of the goodies we speakers were so graciously provided.

Monday morning we had a little time before things got kicked off, so we enjoyed the Truth Traveler virtual reality exhibit at the Ark…

Then it was time to get the show on the road!

Teaching sessions…

Backstage before my session…

My sessions…

There were some great speakers at this conference!

L-R: Georgia Purdom, Avery Foley, Michelle Lesley, Amy Spreeman, Costi Hinn, Jessica Smith,
Doreen Virtue, Angela Mitchell, Patricia Engler

Other speakers’ sessions…

  • Georgia Purdom
  • Georgia Purdom
  • Worship with Michael O’Brien
  • Doreen Virtue
  • Doreen Virtue
  • Costi Hinn
  • Costi Hinn
  • Amy Spreeman
  • Amy Spreeman
  • Amy Spreeman
  • Amy Spreeman
  • Amy Spreeman
  • Worship with Michael O’Brien

Panel discussion…

Ken Ham kindly invited the speakers to his office for lunch and fellowship.

  • Ken asking the blessing before lunch.
  • Ken has a great view from his office window!
  • Michelle, Ken, Amy
  • Michelle, Ken, Scott Lesley (Michelle’s husband)

The conference kept me so busy that I didn’t get to spend much time at the Ark itself, but Providentially, my husband and I visited the Ark and Creation Museum about 18 months ago, in the fall of 2023 (You can see all of our pictures and stuff from that trip here.) I hoped, on that trip, that I’d one day get to meet Ken Ham in person. Now I can check that little item off my bucket list.😀

  • 2023- I got to meet Ken Ham! (Or a reasonable facsimile thereof.)
  • 2025- Meeting the real Ken Ham.

It’s always fun to get pictures with friends and followers! All of the speakers had “meet and greet” lines after our sessions and Amy and I had a booth in the exhibit hall where we got to meet lots of A Word Fitly Spoken listeners and other friends!

Sweet gifts from conference attendees…

Some parting shots with my favorite people…

  • Michelle and Amy Spreeman
  • Scott and Michelle Lesley
  • Amy and Bob Spreeman
  • The very last picture I took at the conference, and I think it’s my favorite. :0)

What a fantastic week with new friends and old! Many thanks to Georgia, Avery, Stephanie, Lalo, and all of the wonderful staff at Answers in Genesis and the Ark Encounter who treated us like royalty the whole time we were there and worked so hard to host a fantastic conference! It was truly an honor and a privilege to serve the ladies who attended Answers for Women 2025.

If your church or organization is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information, or to find an upcoming event near you!

Photo Credits

Thank you to Answers in Genesis, conference attendees, and my wonderful husband, Scott, for taking most of the pictures above.

All other photos by Michelle Lesley.

Please forgive me for looking weird in many of the pictures above. Normally, I would say, “That’s just my face,” but I actually had an eye infection during the conference, and it was swollen most of the week.

Speaking Engagements

Report Back: Rock Your Role Conference

Michelle Lesley

Ready to schedule your summer or fall 2025 women’s event? I’d love to come share with the ladies of your church or organization. Click here for more information,
or to find an upcoming event near you!

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.

If your church or organization is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information, or to find an upcoming event near you!

Photo Credits

Thank you to Haley and other conference attendees for contributing some of the photos above.

All other photos by Michelle Lesley.

*I’m aware that a lot of people have peanut allergies. I’m sorry if that’s the case for you.♥️

Speaking Engagements

Report Back: FBC Livingston Women’s Conference

Michelle Lesley

Ready to schedule your spring, summer, or fall 2025 women’s event? I’d love to come share with the ladies of your church or organization. Click here for more information,
or to find an upcoming event near you!

What a pleasure it was to teach at a wonderful sister church right in my own back yard, sleep in my own bed, and have a great group of dear sisters from my own church join me! I loved fellowshipping with the ladies of Livingston, Louisiana, and the surrounding area at First Baptist Church of Livingston’s annual women’s conference!

Attendees were warmly welcomed to the conference in the registration area with swag bags and helpful information.

Next, it was time for an energizing breakfast, with plenty of time to visit.

The conference proper started off with a worshipful time of singing led by these sweet brothers and sisters, and introductory remarks from Vickey, our emcee for the day.

Session 1 was God’s Word, Our Foundation. God’s Word is the very foundation of our lives as Christian women. It is all sufficient, our ultimate authority, and an absolute necessity for our growth in Christ and our wellbeing in life.

Session 2 was all about prayer. In Sweet Hour of Prayer, the ladies learned about biblical and unbiblical prayer practices, using the Lord’s Prayer as a model for our own prayers, praying Scripture and so much more!

After a delicious lunch of deli sandwiches with all the trimmings, the afternoon session got off to a fun start with door prizes!

Discernment 101: Learn to Discern was our topic for session 3. What is discernment, and why is it important? What makes someone a false teacher? Who are some of today’s popular false teachers? It’s so important to be a good Berean.

Finishing up the day was our Q&A session. Wherever I go, I’m always so encouraged and sharpened by the questions my dear sisters ask, and these were no exception!

Big thank you’s to my precious sisters from my own church who took a day out of their busy lives to attend and support me at this event. It meant so much to me, and I deeply appreciate and love you all.

It was such a fantastic day with the ladies of FBC Livingston. Thanks so much to Pastor Brian for trusting me to teach these incredible women. Thanks to Joyce for being such a great event planner, and to all the other brothers and sisters of FBC 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.

If your church or organization is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information, or to find an upcoming event near you!

Photo Credits

Thank you to Anna and Sarah for contributing several of these photos, including the ones of me.

All other photos by Michelle Lesley.