Ellen Redman

Women get Fierce in Cardiff

500 women attended the launch of Fierce, a new Aspire regional conference for Wales, as Ellen Redman reports.

Have you ever experienced one of those sweet moments in life when you’ve stepped into a room and almost immediately felt at home? For me, this is what Fierce conference felt like. Following International Women’s Day this spring, Aspire’s regional women’s conference, Fierce, took place in the heart of Cardiff at City Church.

The room was filled with 500 beautiful women of many backgrounds, generations, nationalities, personalities and styles – teens, young adults, nanas and even great-grandmothers – celebrating together, praying together, standing together and worshipping together in one house for the purpose of one name. I believe that there is something uniquely profound about the power, potential and the ‘fierceness’ (in the best kind of way) of a multitude of God’s daughters gathering together in such a way.

As worship began, the atmosphere of the room was electric as arms were outstretched, hearts were on fire and the presence of God was thick in love and affection for each woman present.

To describe just a handful of things, the conference consisted of some amazing and passionate teaching from Kate Martin and Becky Murray, vibrant worship, ministry time, performances that had us all on our feet, honour moments, testimonies and seminars.

‘Miss Fierce’ and ‘Young Adults’ seminars were run throughout the day, giving the younger girls in the room an opportunity to hang out, learn and pray together.

So you may be wondering why ‘Fierce’? My dictionary puts it like this: ‘Having or displaying a heartfelt and powerful intensity. Synonyms include powerful, strong, bold and passionate’.

The name Fierce was selected in order to express the heartbeat of the day – to celebrate all that is fierce within us.

As God’s daughters, there’s no doubt that we’re living in days of real warfare. There’s a prevailing battle against our identity, a battle that wrestles against all who represent God’s light and life.

It seeks to divert and distract us from who we are, persistent in its pursuit of disqualifying, devaluing and diminishing us. We, however, as God’s daughters, are an army of women, young and old, marked by heartfelt zeal. Neither angry nor militant in approach, we’re set apart by an ever-so-mighty, wild and fierce love.

We are commissioned and compelled to be fierce in love for our families, our friends, our neighbours and our communities.

Embracing the noticed and the unnoticed, we’re fierce in our lifestyle of love.

We are fierce in our response to injustice, fierce in our love for humanity. So, as bold warriors do, we must put on our armour, rise up and wage our war of love – fighting for all that is good, true, noble and honourable. This is why we are fierce.

I can surely say that as we left the four walls of the church that evening, we were equipped, empowered and deeply excited to go forth as the peace-bringers and peacemakers of our generation, eyes fixed on the greatest role model of ‘fierce’ that there ever could be: Jesus.
 

Ellen Redman is from Cardiff and attends City Church. She has been studying English Language at Reading University and has just finished her final year

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