Gospel influence at 'weekend for girls'

There was a full house at the Marlborough Convention Centre over the weekend, for the Women of Influence conference.

Marketed as "a weekend for the girls", the event opened with a gospel-style launch.

Featuring Elim pastor Tom Hatch on vocals and keyboard, this was a holy roller-style launch complete with electric guitars, an all-girl chorus and song lyrics projected on to giant screens. Some of the gathered "girls" at the all-age gathering waved their arms worshipfully. Others, for whom the Christian "flavour" of the conference was overpowering, at this point, looked a little uncomfortable.

Annie Cameron, a pastor at the charismatic Arise church in Christchurch, continued the hype with an impassioned message of loving others and ourselves. Formed seven years ago in Wellington, the rapidly growing Arise church is active on university campuses and halls around New Zealand.

"Baptism by fire" was how television personality Petra Bagust later described the full-on conference opening. She struck home with a straightforward message of accepting yourself and taking control of your life. Seek feedback from others, she said, but realise they could be wrong.

Also popular with delegates was "pastoral therapist" David Riddell who filled the room with a preacher-like presence and a message of trust. A central theme of Mr Riddell's workshop was that mistaken beliefs could cripple lives. The most damaging of these was "if I feel it – it must be true"; a premise that often led to depression, he said.

"Some feelings lie to us. They have to be told to sit down and shut up," he said.

Mr Riddell's solution was that people with mental illnesses such as anorexia, alcoholism and bipolar disorder needed to learn to trust him as a counsellor rather than their instincts.

Asked by The Marlborough Express how people could discover objective "instruments" that could guide them through life more reliably than their feelings, he said that his Living Wisdom School of Counselling could be accessed throughout New Zealand.

For a conference which celebrated powerful paragons of womanhood from Princess Diana to civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks, men were prominent.

Obstetrician gynaecologist Helen Crampton was an inspired choice as workshop facilitator and Blenheim Baptist Church worship director Wendy Salisbury "hit the heart" in the words of one delegate.

But two of three workshops were run by men and Mr Hatch not only led gospel songs but was conspicuous throughout.

A highlight for many was a "fashion extravaganza" on the Saturday night, where local models were applauded as they walked the catwalk with elegance and ease. This was a full-house event with an audience of about 400, organiser Jan Borland said.

It was planned to repeat the Women of Influence conference in Blenheim in the winter of 2012, she said.

- The Marlborough Express