By Kristin Schwartz | Echo
What would you do if you weren't afraid? Women's Programming (WoPro) asked this question to the women on Taylor's campus this week. Every year, Capture Beauty Week focuses on an aspect of true beauty and encourages women on campus to live it out. This year's theme was Flourish: Conquering Fear with Passion and Courage.
"I think it's so important to have a week dedicated to women and tackling what may be a hard issue for most, something that really provokes a lot of thought and a lot of discussion within the female student body," said WoPro director Amy Nicols.
The week's activities began with a worship night on Monday in Rediger. There the cabinet shared the theme verse for the week, 1 Timothy 1:7, "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
One of the goals for the week was to foster vulnerability among the students.
"In that authenticity, we are able to really act as the body of Christ and come alongside those who need to be encouraged," said senior WoPro member Erin Pelko.
A series of workshops were held on Tuesday night with a variety of speakers. Rather than asking only Taylor faculty to be speakers in the workshops, WoPro chose three of the four speakers from the surrounding community.
The sessions all dealt in some way with fear. The topics included facing the fear of imperfection and how to fight fear effectively.
Wednesday night's keynote speaker, Jody Burks, addressed the women of campus. Burks is an author, mother, grandmother and teacher, among other things. She shared about how to fear God in the right way instead of fearing man.
"She was my English teacher in high school," said senior WoPro cabinet member Rachel Kramer. "When our theme of fear surfaced, my mind immediately went to her and her testimony…Overcoming fear has been a huge part of her life."
Capture Beauty Week ended yesterday evening with the Fancy Party. The Party is a joint effort between WoPro and the Alumni Office.
Every year Taylor University gives the G. Roselyn Kerlin Women in Leadership award to an alumna of Taylor who exhibits godly leadership in her personal and professional life. She is then honored at the Fancy Party. This year, 1957 graduate Joan Gilkison was given the award.
Gilkison shared her life and her poetry with the women of campus. She closed with her poem about beauty, emphasising that beauty is reflected in how life is lived, rather than in looks.
The WoPro cabinet wants to see the impact of the week extend into the rest of the semester.
"We hope that [Capture Beauty Week] can inspire women to be appropriately vulnerable and authentic so that we may act as the true body of Christ," Pelko said.
