Women of all ages gathered at Crossway Church Saturday to attend “Rooted” 2024, a transformative conference geared to deepen their faith and enhance their understanding of God’s word.

Led by speakers Kelli Lafferty, Adrienne Simms, Andrea Arruda, Jessica Gain and Evelyn Johnson, sessions delved into a deeper knowledge of the Holy Trinity.

“This is the first year of a three-year series,” women’s ministry leader Christy Wilson said. “This year was about foundation. ‘Rooted,’ it’s the soil we plant our roots in, like a spiritual soil. It’s learning about the Biblical foundations of our faith. (The conference) described the Holy Trinity more in depth.”

Speakers focused on the Holy Spirit, God and Jesus, the three components of the Holy Trinity.

“We had one speaker that took God, one that took Jesus and one that took the Holy Spirit and they really dove deeper into how they are tied together in the trinity . . . that’s what we focused on,” Wilson explained.

The conference was divided into sessions. After addressing the group, speakers broke off into group sessions with smaller groups of women for more intimate discussions about faith.

“We had two breakout sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon (with the speakers),” Wilson said. “It was a time for one-on-one question time with speakers. It gave attendees a little more time to spend with the speaker they were most interested in.”

Wilson said women of all ages were encouraged to attend. She estimates around 110 women between the ages of 16 to 70 attended. She said even teens are encouraged to participate.

“We really love to acclimate (young women) to women’s ministry.”

The event was open to all women in the community, Wilson said.

“We work with all churches across Vicksburg. We had at least six churches that I can think of this year.”

Teamwork makes things easier, Wilson said, adding a group of women plan and decorate, and male volunteers help move the heavy items.

Lunch was provided, as was child care. BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, chips and coleslaw were served at noon. In the afternoon, a cake dessert bar was available.

Planning for the next conference, which will take place in August, 2025, is already in progress.

“The second year will be more about growing your faith,” Wilson said. “Now that you know what your roots are planted in, what is your faith going to grow into? What are your spiritual gifts? The third year will focus on how to help others grow in their faith.”

Wilson emphasized that anyone who is interested in the next conference is invited, even if they missed this year’s conference.

“You do not have to have attended year one to attend years two and three,” she said. “This is available to anyone who wants to come and grow their faith. We’re committed to the next two years. We have a great speaker pool we can pull from. We’re really blessed.”

In keeping with the “Rooted” theme, each attendee was given a small plant at the end of the conference.

“At the end, we gave everyone a root cutting of a plant so they could take it home and propagate their own plant.”

Wilson explained the root was to help attendees remember what they learned at the conference and focus on growing their faith a little more each day.