Women’s Connection 2024

Rates & Registration

Registration for the comprehensive package is open now. Registration for commuters opens on Thursday, February 15th at 10 am EST. Don't worry commuters, we have saved plenty of space for you! 

You are able to register for a comprehensive package which includes your conference fee, room, and meals, or if you have your own housing, you may register for the commuter rate.

Comprehensive Package

Comprehensive rates below include the Women’s Connection conference fee, room in Assembly Inn, Winsborough, or Glen Rock Inn, meals in the Galax Dining Room (Friday supper through Sunday breakfast), plus a $2 community services fee per person for public services provided by the Town and the fire district. Rooms are assigned on a first come, first served basis. After June 25, these rates will increase by $25 per person. Room check-in AFTER 3:00 pm on Friday. Room check-out BEFORE 11:00 am on Sunday.

*Please note that the Winsborough does not have central AC or elevator access. 

Commuter Rate

Commuter rates below include the Women’s Connection conference fee plus a $2 community services fee per person for public services provided by the Town and the fire district. This rate DOES NOT include room or meals. After June 25, this rate will increase by $25 per person.

• On or before June 25: $247 per person
• After June 25: $272 per person

If you are interested in registering a group of commuters, please use this link.

Refund Policy

Cancellations must be received by June 25 to receive a full refund less a $25 service charge. Cancellations received after June 25 but on or before July 26 will receive a 50% refund of the conference fee and payments made toward room and meal charges (if applicable) less $40. No refunds will be issued after July 26. All requests must be in writing and received via email, fax, or U.S. mail.

Contact the Registrar

Questions about conference registration, housing, or meals? Please email susana@montreat.org or call 828.419.9829.

Tentative Schedule*

*Please note this is a tentative schedule and is subject to change.

Lunch is on your own. Safe travels, and see you next year!

Workshops

Workshop registration will open on May 1st at 10 am EST. Current registrants will receive an email with a link to sign up.

Have questions about registering for workshops? Please email Sarah Akin at saraha@montreat.org. 

Sing to the Lord a New Song!

Led by: Betsy Homer & Camille Core

Calling all singers: we will enjoy making music together and work on a few choral pieces to sing in worship on Sunday morning. We will experience ways to bring out artistry and tone quality in our singing voices. Choral experience is not required, but each singer should match pitch and read printed music.

Offered in the AM session only. Limit: 50

Marbling

Led by: Hannah Ratliff

Join conference artist Hannah Ratliff to explore the medium of paper and silk marbling. An ancient process of floating paint on thickened water then transferring the designs onto paper or fabric, this technique has endless applications. Participants are encouraged to embrace the contemplative and surprising process that slowly reveals surprises as you work. You will leave the class with 3 pieces of marbled paper and a small marbled silk scarf.

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 25

Considering Our Mothers

Led by: Jeannie DuBose

Whether your mother is lovely or a challenge, affirming or critical, alive or gone, her influence leaves an enormous psychic imprint. In this workshop you’ll be invited to gain clarity on who you’ve been told to be — and see how that stands alongside who you’ve been born to be. We will use images, theological ruminations, and personal reflections as a conduit to deepening our presence to the Divine DNA embedded in us all.

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 50

The Promise: Story, Song, Study, and Blessing

Led by: Laura Jernigan

Engage your Biblical imagination through the lens of "The Promise," a new intergenerational musical based on God’s promises in Genesis 12-25 to the family of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and their children, Ishmael and Isaac. Using script excerpts, song selections, and discussion, we will follow this family’s journey toward the blessing: into faith and doubt, famine and fruitfulness, thirst and life-giving water, oppression and freedom, brokenness and reconciliation, and then we will ask how we might seek God’s promised blessing “for the all the families of the earth.” Designed as a follow-up to the Saturday morning Bible study plenary session, this workshop will provide ideas for exploring "The Promise" with your Bible study group, Sunday school class, music, or drama ministry.

Offered during the PM session only. Limit: 100

SoulCollage

Led by: Katie Warren

Creating SoulCollage® cards, you are invited to discover more about who you are and who God calls you to be in relationship to God, yourself, and others. The art in the gentle practice of SoulCollage® comes from your heart and the creative spirit—the Holy Spirit. The cards become a visual expression of your prayers.

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 20

The Power of Social Enterprise

Led by: Kathryn Norwood

In this workshop, Kathryn will share the story of Jasmine Kitchen, a social enterprise restaurant that she founded in Greenville, SC with a mission to heal and employ women survivors of sex trafficking, prostitution and addiction. We will look at how businesses with a social mission built into their DNA can transform lives and make non-profit work more sustainable.

Offered in the PM session only. Limit: 25

Hit the Trails

Led by: Susan Jumper

Enjoy an easy stroll by the creek walking on Elizabeth’s Path. We’ll start out by the Ranger’s Hut below the Lake Susan dam and walk almost a mile towards the Montreat gate. The path is shaded with a few steps and small bridge crossings. When we get to the meditation garden near the gate, we will return to campus by the paved walkway on the other side of the road. Wear sturdy shoes and bring a water bottle.

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 25

Take a hike, sister!

Led by: Sarah Akin

Join us for an intermediate 1.5-mile hike that will begin at the Walk Jones Wildlife Sanctuary and continue along a creek ending with a view of a small waterfall. We will trek, converse, and explore the Montreat wilderness together. This option is a moderate to challenging hike. It has some elevation gain and is intended to get your heart rate up a bit! Plan to wear sturdy, closed-toed shoes and bring a water bottle.  We will be carpooling to the trailhead. So, plan to have a car where a few others can ride with you or plan to carpool with someone!

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 25

Listening Within:  A meditative yoga practice

Led by: Martha Nelson

During this 90 minute workshop, we use yoga practices of breathwork, postures, and meditation to tune up our listening skills and connect with the still voice within. Martha Nelson's seasoned teaching techniques will guide you at your own pace into and out of poses to gently open the heart and mind in preparation for inward listening. Come prepared to relax and open through movement and self-inquiry! 

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 25

Gentle Flow Yoga

Led by: Heather Wallace

An all-levels, slow flow yoga class using gentle stretches to target strengthening, flexibility, and relaxation. Modifications will be given for easier and harder versions of the poses so each participant can tailor their yoga experience to their desired level. All are welcome.

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 25

Pickleball Fun

Led by: Shannon Guse

Want to try out the fastest growing sport in the US? This workshop will be open to those new to the sport, those trying to understand how to keep score, and those who are well versed on "the kitchen." We'll review rules, scoring, and basic strategies of pickleball. Prepare to laugh and play with others! (Please bring your own paddle and ball. Workshop leader will have a few extras.)

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 20

2024-25 Presbyterian Women/Horizons Bible study, Let Justice Roll Down

Led by: Joyce MacKichan Walker

Environmental justice—healing ecological damage that harms neighbors—occupies the overlapping space between social justice and earth care. This workshop will introduce the 2024-2025 PW/Horizons Bible study, Let Justice Roll Down, God’s Call to Care for Neighbors and All Creation written by Patricia K. Tull. The study invites participants to ponder fair use of land, food, water, and air; climate justice for neighbors and descendants; and the mended world we long to see. Everyone, not just Presbyterian women, will learn from this study on scriptural, theological, and ethical dimensions of environmental justice!

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 35

Proclaiming Radical Hospitality

Led by: Jill Isola

How do we practice radical hospitality during a contentious political election when so many of our communities are marked by enmity and division? It's hard to welcome those with whom we disagree or don't understand. Can we connect and build relationships with people when we have fundamental disagreements? This workshop will be a time for discussion, fellowship and resource-sharing for individuals and worshiping communities to work out ways to proclaim the radical hospitality of God's open arms while also embracing good mental healthcare, setting boundaries, building resilience and being mindful of the ways sacred texts and theologies can be twisted to cause religious harm. This is a safe space for all.

Offered in both the AM and PM sessions to different participants. Limit: 35

The Embodied Enneagram: Nine Sacred Energies 

Led by: Ali McGhee, PhD, IEA Accredited Professional

Explore how you can use the Enneagram to uncover deep truths and develop compassion for yourself and others. We’ll meet the nine types through the Embodiment Tradition, which gives us a felt sense of the unique energetic signature of each type and allows us to experience type in our own bodies, building empathy and cultivating our sense of sacred connection. Includes an overview of the nine Enneagram types with a demonstrated embodiment of each, suitable for all levels of experience of the Enneagram.

Offered in AM session only. Limit: 125

Holy Essence: The Enneagram's Sacred Source

Led by: Ali McGhee, PhD, IEA Accredited Professional

Inside each of us, the perfect light of our highest selves shines bright. We'll explore how the Enneagram, a powerful tool for self-exploration and self-acceptance, is a doorway into this Essence: our most sacred quality that connects us to the divine in everything, and in which we are always held and loved. Participants will learn the essential nature of each of the nine types, and will connect to these qualities in themselves. Some basic knowledge of the Enneagram (available via the morning session) will be helpful, but is not required.

Offered in PM session only. Limit: 125