New to this year’s Abide, the popular women’s conference on campus that draws in more than 1200 women each year, is a pre-conference event that gives a “taste” of NOBTS that is sure to please.

Special breakout sessions, opportunities to network with others on campus, and exclusive time with Abide speakers in a smaller-group setting highlight the new event, Friday, Feb. 23, noon to 4:15 p.m.

“Women love coming to Abide each year,” said Tara Dew, president’s wife and adjunct professor of ministry to women. “Whether they are bringing a group or coming by themselves, the encouragement and fellowship refresh the soul." 

Dew said the new pre-conference event gives attendees a “taste” of NOBTS and Leavell College as they sit under the teaching of faculty, get to know faculty wives, and learn of different mission opportunities.

The pre-conference breakout sessions are: Mary, the first Christian Theologian, Dr. Tyler Wittman and Jessie Wittman; Mental and Emotional Health for Families and Women, Dr. Kathy Steele and Tsumainla Jamir; Reading Psalms in an Age of Screens, Dr. Ethan Jones and Emily Jones; and Reclaiming Biblical Worship in a Secularized Culture, Nate Jernigan and Meredith Andrews.

Following the breakout sessions, attendees can visit the NOBTS Global Mission Center with Michelle Chitwood, wife of IMB president Paul Chitwood, and the Church Planting and Send Relief Center with Catherine Renfro, National Director of Women’s Evangelism, NAMB.

Tours of the Archaeology and Bible Museum will also be available and the exhibit hall in the LSC Atrium will be open.

Jamie Dew, president, will speak to the group following the networking time. The event closes with a booksigning with Tara Dew and her soon-to-be released book “Overflowing Joy: What Jesus Says About a Joy-filled Life,” Jamie Dew and his book “Let This Mind Be in You: Exploring God’s Call to Servanthood,” and Emily Dean, “Women Leading Well: Stewarding the Gift of Ministry Leadership.”

This year’s Abide, Feb. 23-24, returns with a schedule filled with worship, breakout sessions, fellowship, and plenaries with well-known Bible teachers and women’s ministry leaders. The plenary speakers are Tara Dew, president’ wife; Donna Gaines of Bellevue Baptist Church; Heather Johnson, assistant director of Thrive; and Andrea Lennon, Arkansas Baptists, Women’s Ministry Specialist. 

The theme this year is “Women of Prayer.”

“Each plenary and breakout session will focus on a different aspect of prayer and is sure to bring clarity, conviction, and encouragement about this vital spiritual discipline,” Tara Dew said. “It is our hope that we will truly become women of prayer.”

Check-in for the pre-conference event begins at noon, Feb. 23. The cost is $20. Registration opens for Abide at 4 p.m. in Legacy Plaza, in front of Leavell Chapel. For information on both events, visit https://prepareher.com/abide/pre-conference/.

“The ladies love the conference schedule which includes some fun breaks and giveaways, plus time to shop at the Lifeway and Worldcrafts stores,” Tara Dew said. “And the teaching is straight from the Word of God, with lots of ‘meat’ and no ‘fluff.’ Ladies come back year after year because they know the quality of every aspect of this conference.”