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"For Ladies Only" kicks off Thursday as one of the largest spiritual retreats specifically catered to inspiring and confronting the issues of women today.
Hosted by influential preacher Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter's House in Dallas and his wife Serita, the three-day conference is designed to propel women as mothers, wives, professionals and companions to experience every benefit of God's blessing under the banner "He's just that into you."
The ladies conference comes off the success of Jakes' “For Men Only” Conference and Retreat which marked its annual celebration earlier this year. Jakes has also drawn hundreds of thousands of women to previous women-only conferences based off his book "Woman, Thou Art Loosed" since 1996.
The first For Ladies Only conference, held at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, will help women better understand God's plan for their lives, improve their relationships, recover every setback and revive their spirits.
The conference comes as Jakes recently spoke out on domestic violence and divorce, commenting on televangelist Juanita Bynum who separated from her husband Bishop Thomas Weeks III after alleging he assaulted her.
"Those most familiar with our ministry know that I have been a longtime advocate and tireless fighter against domestic violence," said Jakes in a letter to the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the Bynum case. "However pained we all may be, perhaps this is a teaching opportunity to awaken us to the fact that thousands of women are beaten and many killed by someone who says they love them. I have personally lost many women in my city, some in my church and several in my family to this heinous problem."
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The megachurch pastor noted that the statistics for women who are abused in this country today by a partner or someone close to them are "staggering." But amid debate among Christians on whether Scripture allows divorce, Jakes cautioned against the church passing judgment, particularly in cases of domestic violence.
"As difficult and as painful as it is to realize, both the victim and the perpetrator are souls that God loves," he wrote in the letter. "We must realize that the church's job is not a judicial one. The courts will do that. The church is the place where people can find redemption even when they have made bad choices or been victims of those who did."
And regarding divorce, Jakes stated, "Divorce does not have to be the end of your life," said Jakes in an interview with the NNPA News Service. "[Y]our life doesn't have to end because your marriage did."
In the same week that the Bynum-Weeks case made its way into the media spotlight, another power couple, Paula and Randy White, former co-pastors of megachurch Without Walls International in Tampa, Fla., announced their divorce. The split was amicable.
"[High-profiled people in ministry] are having a human experience with a divine mantel on their lives," said Serita Jakes.
The For Ladies Only conference on Oct. 18-20 features speakers Joyce Meyer, Susie Owens, Gloria Gaither, Bridget Hilliard and gospel entertainers among others.
