118WINTER STUDENT LIFE EmpowHER The Student Association Spiritual Life committee creates Empowered for women on Harding’s campus. THE STUDENT Association (SA) Spiritual Life committee held its first Empowered meeting at the Midnight Oil Coffeehouse stage on Oct. 7, 2021. The intention of Empowered was to empower women on campus to use their spiritual gifts in worship together. Senior Haylie Douglas, one of the organizers and participants of Empowered, believed that if the meeting sparked inspiration or change in even one person, that was enough. “The one thing I want to come out of Empowered is for the women on our campus to know they are fully capable of the same kinds of spiritual gifts men are,” Douglas said. Douglas credited the idea for the meeting to the SA Spiritual Life officer junior Malachi Brown. Brown was passionate about equal ability and equal call to women’s leadership in worship settings, so he believed Empowered was a step in the right direction. “Really, my only involvement was encouraging the women on my committee to put it together,” Brown said. “After I brought it up to them, I let them take over. We wanted to make a space where women could exercise their spiritual gifts like preaching and liturgical prayer.” Empowered consisted of women-led sermons, poetry readings, musical worship and a prayer. Sophomore Emma Myhan, the song leader at the meeting, believed the purpose of Empowered was not solely to lift up spiritually gifted women. “I believe as Christians, whether male or female, our goal should be to glorify the Lord with a heart of humility,” Myhan said. “Therefore, Empowered is about encouraging women to embrace their spiritual gifts by giving them the opportunity to practice those gifts in hopes that our campus will continue to move forward in our love for Christ and for each other.” Additionally, Myhan spoke on the difficulty in finding internal peace while torn between the University’s policies on women’s leadership in worship and the spirit of kingdom-oriented leadership within itself. The SA Spiritual Life committee decided to take Empowered to the Midnight Oil Coffeehouse stage because of this. “For this reason, we felt that taking women off campus was the best option in order for the event to achieve its desired purpose,” Myhan said. While taking the meeting off campus was desired by the committee, Myhan emphasized that it was not required or suggested by the University. Brown added that he enjoyed Empowered because of what he witnessed. “I got to sit and see the Holy Spirit use those women in ways that I hadn’t seen her able to in a Harding setting before,” Brown said. WRITTEN BY BONNIE SPANN
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