Citing Romans 9:25 as her inspiration, Marsha Reeder, the founder of Beloved Ministry, says that the ministry was “a vision from the Lord.”
“Beloved is a ministry with a vision to bring girls to a life-changing, defining moment by experiencing God’s love through authentic worship, hearing Beloved stories, opportunities to respond and teachings on how to live a life defined by truth,” Reeder says on the Beloved Ministry website.
Beloved Ministry was created for high school and college-age girls because that’s when Reeder felt she would have most benefitted from the teaching.
“So much of my identity was lost through my high school and college years, because I forgot who I was, and I forgot to seek where my identity truly lies,” Reeder explained. “If I could go back and redo high school and college, knowing I am His Beloved, I would have a thousand times less regret.”
This past fall, Reeder and a team of other committed members began planning for the Beloved conference, which is taking place this weekend at Madison Park Church of God. The conference begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, and wraps up at 4 p.m. on Saturday with a group send off.
Throughout the weekend, there will be various talks, lectures, worship and time for fellowship with other attendees. Some of the talk and lecture topics are what Reeder describes as true issues of female culture: self-worth, perfectionism, abandonment and relationships.
In addition to meeting the girls who will be attending the conference and seeing how God works in their lives, Reeder says that she is excited about “The worship leader, Karen Shea, [who] is an up-and-coming Christian artist in Nashville, and was once a student in my youth ministry. She has an inspiring story of her own.”
Laura Davisson, a senior Christian ministries major and one of the interns working with Beloved, says that she is most looking forward to “the way that The Holy Spirit will move in all of us at Beloved and the life change that will happen. I am excited to see how God continues to draw girls and how many will show up at the door. I know this weekend is all about life change and I can’t wait to see what happens in the lives of my friends and girls from all over.”
Registration began in January and will continue until the event begins on Friday. The conference is open to all girls who are in high school or college, and registration costs $25. “This weekend is life changing and you don’t want to miss it,” Davisson said.
“One hundred girls have signed up so far. We expect more to sign up during the Blitz that ends April 6 and just as many to show up at the door,” Reeder said.
“This isn’t just another girls event where we just talk about being pretty and being loved, this goes deeper to who we truly are and Who loves us,” Reeder said. I believe that changes everything.”