The one-of-a-kind event promises good fun and great formation in Texas this March.When Catholic speaker and writer Liv Harrison was asked to write the content for a women’s conference last year, she never imagined the event’s runaway success. Past attendees are rejoicing that the Genius Conference is back for a second year, especially given that it almost didn’t happen.
“The Genius Conference exists because last year I was asked to write a women’s conference,” Harrison says. “I named it after the feminine genius.”
Although Harrison had initially balked at writing “yet another Catholic women’s conference,” something special had happened at Genius. Something different.
“The intention was to have a conference where all women could come together,” Harrison says. “Not a moms conference, not a young adult conference, but a weekend all about women and drawing from St. John Paul II’s writings on the feminine genius.”
The weekend featured traditional Catholic prayer like Mass and the Rosary, but with a modern feel so that it lay somewhere between a conference and a retreat. The result stunned Harrison:
“An intimacy was formed that we never expected, that you don’t usually have at a conference. The Holy Spirit was working. It was really different, a breath of fresh air. It ended up being crazy successful and hit this niche that we almost didn’t know was missing.”
The presence of the Holy Spirit was surely felt, as four women came back to the Church after attending the conference.
Then Harrison found out that the company that had sponsored the Genius Conference was restructuring and would not be able to produce it again. For the conference participants, this was a crisis. They had seen such a positive impact in their lives from the weekend that they wanted it to take place again.
“It was the women who attended who asked for me to ‘make it happen’ again,” she says.
Harrison decided to take a wild leap of faith and draw from her own resources to bring the Genius Conference back again. “I’m now financing the conference completely on my own,” she says.
But she is trusting in God’s providence, casting out into the depths confident that the Genius Conference is His will: “This is a weekend that is powerful and legitimately changed lives.”
If you’re a Catholic woman available the weekend of March 6-8, consider traveling to Irving, Texas, for a conference that promises both a fun time with friends and deep spiritual formation. You can get tickets here or at GeniusWomensConference.com. Also the conference is still accepting sponsors, and anyone interested can reach Harrison at liv@thelivharrison.com.
Harrison has arranged the following speaker line-up:
- Mary Lenaburg, Keynote Speaker & Author: Lenaburg is a writer, speaker, wife and mother sharing her witness and testimony to groups of all ages about God’s redeeming love and that faith is the courage to want what God wants for us, even if we cannot see where the path leads. Mary’s first book, Be Brave in the Scared: How I Learned to Trust God During My Most Difficult Days was published by Ave Maria Press in May 2019.
- Kathryn Whitaker, Speaker & Author: Whitaker is a wife, mom of six, speaker, author, and self-proclaimed lover of a good Instastory. Her book, Live Big, Love Bigger was published in 2019 and shares how to live an authentically “hell yes” kind of life.
- Ali Hoffman, Speaker & Creative/Youth Director: Hoffman served with NET Ministries and upon graduating from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota with a degree in Catholic Studies and Family Studies, she moved back home to Texas and is now a co-youth director at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic church in Carrollton, Texas.
- Allison Sullivan, Speaker & Author/Podcaster: Sullivan is wife to Seth Sullivan and mom to five children. She has written a book (Rock Paper Scissors) and she hosts a podcast (Sinner Saint Sister). She travels to speak and teach for youth and women’s ministry events.
- Liv Harrison, Creator & Emcee: Liv is known for being a public speaker and an emcee with a gift for humor, storytelling and wisdom. She works with youth, in marriage ministry, and has spoken across the nation. She has been a frequent voice on Sirius XM and the Guadalupe Radio Network KSHJ 1430AM both as a guest and as a co-host. She is a wife and mother of two.
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