In Bloom

Stories of Adventist women changing the outcome.

• "Over Under" - When he was in college, Adam and his friends came up with an idea for a tournament that was never going to happen. Now, as a professional, Adam decided to give it a try. (9 minutes)
• "In Bloom" - The experience of teenage girls in the Adventist Church varies widely. To some, it's something that deserves a fresh start. The story of one teen girl who became a leader that wanted to create a new opportunity--and the team who eagerly surrounded her. (30 minutes)

To learn more, including guest profiles and episode transcripts, visit our website adventiststories.buzzsprout.com, or follow us on Instagram @AdventistStories. Thank you to Blue Dot Sessions, Stellwagon Symphonette, the Pacific Union Conference, and Growing Young Leaders. Please subscribe to our show and leave a rating and review to help us reach more people. We appreciate your support.

Transcript

“Over Under”

This is Adam. He’s an academy Bible teacher. 

Adam I teach four religion classes, religion 1, 2, 3, and four. And then I teach a praise band class, and I also teach an intro to Christianity class.

Aren And you attended Adventist schooling yourself?

Adam Yeah, so I'm currently working at the school that I attended.

Aren Wow.

Adam Yeah, it's been great. And yeah, I went through K through college in Adventist education.

I’m talking with Adam today because he’s got a story. But before that–he asks a question that I, frankly, do not want to hear.

Adam Pastor Aren, did you know that there is a proper way to wrap a audio cable, an audio cable?

Aren So, yes. [Sigh]

You hear that sound?

Aren [Sigh]

That’s the sound of someone who’s been to many church events, and been told many times about the importance of proper audio cable wrapping technique–but still doesn’t know how.

Aren Yes, I have been told that many a times by various media and tech people, and I still have not learned how to do it correctly.

But Adam, he’s got a solution for people like me. A method and a tradition in his praise band class that makes this important skill not only more learnable–but actually fun.

And that method is called:

Adam The over under technique.

[“OVER UNDER" MONTAGE]

Adam And so every year in our class, we learn that, and then later on in the year, we have a competition, a cord winding competition, basically.

That’s right. An official cable wrapping tournament. Adam and his friends came up with the idea in college. Here’s how it works: Each year, he makes a bracket. Newer students against newer students, class veterans against class veterans. Then they race, head to head.

First leg, they wind the cable as fast as they can. But second, it’s inspected to meet a certain standard of neatness. And then third, they have to toss the cable across the room and have it land without any kinks or knots. Whoever wins based on both speed and performance advances to the next round until there’s only one student left

Aren And then you are the final boss to beat?

Adam I'm the final boss, yeah, because I, you know, I've had the most experience. I do wrap cables pretty quickly. So if they can, if they can make it to the final boss, and if they either defeat me, or if they get second place, because, you know, I just know it's unrealistic for them to beat such an experienced, you know, cable winder. Then they get a free lunch. We go out to lunch once a quarter as a celebration of the songs we've learned and the worships that we've done. And so they get a free lunch for their that quarter. If they, if they get first or second place.

Aren Before I let you continue…

Adam Yeah.

Aren You know, we have a lot of cables around us right now. Are you able to just tell by one look whether or not a cable has been properly wrapped and cared for or not?

Adam Absolutely. Yeah, especially over time, because there are, you know, they'll have some little kind of dings and dents in the cable and kind of kinks in the cable.

Aren So as we're doing this interview, are you kind of judging me for my lack of proper cable technique?

Adam You know, you're not too bad because your cable lengths are almost exactly where they need to be, so you don't have to overwind them. But as you can see on the floor right next to me, those are some relatively, a little bit hastily but relatively nicely wrapped cables.

Aren Oh, they're beautiful. I'm like, I'm like, admiring your work right now and hoping you don't look too closely at mine.

Adam I can teach you afterwards if you want.

Aren Well, as long as it's not a competition.

Adam [LAUGHS] You wouldn't stand a chance.

Aren No. [LAUGHTER]

Adam Yeah. So, you know, every year we have this competition, and this year we had our brackets, and we started going through the competition, and, you know, I try to take guesses in my head, of course, of who's going to win. I make some, you know, secret predictions in my head. But these predictions this particular year were not correct. 

One of the students was our second place winner from last year.

This student had made it to the championship round the year before, and lost to Adam. Now he was back as a senior, another year of training under his belt. Adam was fully expecting a rematch. But then…

Adam I started to notice that we have this sophomore who, just a year ago, was just the most shy, quiet. I mean, just she's one of our singers, and just getting her to hold her microphone up on day one was a challenge and something we've worked on. And she started kind of defeating some of these, these brackets, and defeating some of our more veteran members, or some of the ones that maybe surprised me a little bit.

Both the senior boy and the shy sophomore girl win all of their matches, setting them up to face off in the final student round. It’s a close match–but in an upset, the sophomore girl wins.

Aren And now she has to face you.

Adam Yeah. And so you know, on the outside, as a teacher, this is something you learn really quickly, is that you have to play it cool no matter what, even if you have no idea what you're teaching that day, or, you know, something didn't go right with the printer, you just got to play it cool. And so in my mind, I'm nervous. I'm like, I can't lose I can't lose this. My honor is on the line, right? 

Aren So there is no part of you that's thinking, Oh, I'll let the student win.

Adam [LAUGHS] No. No way. And that's actually part of my philosophy. It's like, if you're gonna win, you're gonna know it was fair and square, so that you can have that pride.

Aren Okay, sure. But also, you want to win. You want this.

Adam Totally. 

And then, it’s time. The students gather around. The lights dim. They play the music. Adam hears…

Adam Ready, set, go. I’m wrapping up the cables.

Instructional Thumbs together.

Adam I’m wrapping it well.

Instructional Thumbs apart.

Adam I’m in my zone. I’m like this is going great.

Instructional Over. Under…

Adam I’m feeling pretty good.

Instructional Over. Under…

Adam I could see that my student who was wrapping the cable right next to me hadn’t made any mistakes and they were kind of along the same speed as me.

Adam And then about halfway through the cable, something happens. And I make a mistake. I think I was just going a little bit too fast, and the cable actually slipped out of my hand a little bit as I was making a loop, which meant that I kind of had to redo that loop.

Aren What are you thinking at this point?

Adam I'm thinking, Okay, that was kind of rough, but I can catch up. 

Adam So I start winding a little faster, but being a little bit more conscious and careful. So we're getting to the end of our cables, and I'm seeing we're just about tied, and we both finish our final loop right at about the same time.

Adam And so now it comes down to the throw test. 3, 2, 1, we both throw our cables out the length of the chapel floor, and I see my students next to me, and hers is perfect. Just beautiful, beautiful straight cable line. I throw mine out at the same time, and it's a beautiful, beautiful straight cable line, until right at the end where there's a singular, tiny knot, and the students just go wild at this point. “Oh, Pastor! There it is! There's a knot right there. She won! She won!”

Adam You know, in my head, I was like, “Dang.” But I was like, yeah, they're, they're right. [LAUGHS] There's really no excuse. There was a moment of pause there where I was like, “Did I? Yes, I did.”

Aren And it must have been a funny thing of both disappointment in yourself but also pride in your student.

Adam Absolutely. And that's kind of why I wanted to share this story, to be honest. I think some of the most memorable, heartfelt and amazing moments I've had as an educator are those moments where my students surpass me. Because that's what I train them to do in all areas. In Bible, in music, and even something as mundane as wrapping an XLR cable. That's really, really what I want at the end of the day.

Adam And so even though I have this silly facade of competition, and, you know, wanting to win on my terms and that kind of stuff, when it does happen, and when I see that my students have come so far to the point where they can now teach me things, to the point where they have out-winded me with their cables or whatever that looks like, that is just the best possible feeling in education for me. That's why I love being a teacher.

Aren Sounds like you got to get back in the lab and practice a little bit man and kind of fix your form if you want to not embarrass yourself again next year.

Adam Yeah, I gotta spend some time in the chapel this summer.

Adam Washington is an academy Bible teacher in Southern California.

You know, just a few weeks after our interview, Adam texted me to say that his winning student had chosen a popular sandwich spot in town for her victory meal–and that while they were there, she told the senior boy that if he ever needed help with his cable winding, she’d be happy to offer lessons.

Well today on our show, we go from one story of a teen girl overcoming the odds, to another story of a group of Adventist leaders making it possible for more of them to do the same. That’s coming up right after this, on “Adventist Stories.”

Ad 1: Growing Young Leaders

Ad 2: Summer Camp

“In Bloom”

 Welcome back to Adventist Stories, Episode 4. Thank you so much for listening. We now go to our second story of the episode, In Bloom. Enjoy.

Our story begins one Sabbath, when Pastor Alexy Mondak was invited to use her voice. She was a singer with her church’s praise team, and now they were invited to lead worship for an upcoming women’s conference among Adventist churches. The date of the event did not work for her–but the idea certainly did.

To clarify, Alexy was not the pastor of that church. Just an involved member who would sing and even preach on occasion. She’s also been a religion teacher, a summer camp director, and served in the mission field. Her resume isn’t short.

And yet, when this invitation to the women’s conference came, it felt different.

Alexy I had just been thinking like, we don't have something like this at our conference, I don't think. And I remember, like, searching on our website for women's ministries director at our conference, and I realized at that moment that we don't have one. And then I thought, well, if we don't have one, then what can we do? What can I do in my position with the youth department?

Alexy I think at the very beginning I just thought, “I want to do something.”

Aren Something that would…

Alexy Empower young girls and be for girls.

To understand this need for “something,” we should go back to the beginning. Alexy grew up in Rhode Island, raised by her mother and a collection of other women: an older sister, a grandmother, aunts, cousins. Church was always a big part of the family, which Alexy admits she did not enjoy. She says it felt more like work than fun. 

When she was 13 her family moved to Georgia, but it didn’t get much better. For the first time, she started to notice her peers leaving the church. The difference was now, as a teen, she felt she could do something about it.

For her, that meant getting involved: Pathfinders, worship teams–she even created a drama ministry called “Seventh Act” that would bring the youth together to practice skits and then perform them for the congregation. You may remember that popular Lifehouse skit that was everywhere in the late 2000’s. Yeah, they did that one.

Seventh Act Skit [SINGING] “...and speak to me.”

Alexy It was like, my little attempt at keeping them there, but also trying to, like, keep the spark alive in my own faith. And when I tried to, like, push and try to do more, I would get stopped and not really supported, and it was really hard.

Another moment came when her church announced they were nominating five new youth ministry leaders–and would be prioritizing teenagers. Alexy prayed and decided she wanted to be one of those names, and maybe become a pastor one day.

Alexy And they nominated so many people, and my name was not on the list, and I remember feeling absolutely devastated. But I think that was one of the first times I truly felt rejected by the Church. And then I just thought, “They don’t even want me in this, so why would they ever want me as a pastor someday?”

Seventh Act Skit [SINGING] “Cause you’re all I want…”

Aren What had you seen up to that point of women being in positions of leadership in the church? Was was modeled for you as a young woman?

Alexy I think never having seen a female pastor growing up at all, no one maybe necessarily told me, like, oh, women can't be pastors, but I think I just learned that from not having that representation. And then just seeing the way that girls were picked apart in churches that I grew up in.

Alexy So, for example, if a girl was wearing a high heel that was just a little too tall, she would get asked to change her shoes. Or if her skirt was a little too short, God forbid, above the ankle, she would be asked to not even participate in song service or going up and reading scripture.

She recounts a memory of when her cousin got pregnant at 18, and was forced to stand in front of the church as members voted on whether or not she could stay. Alexy watched as each hand went up, removing her cousin from membership.

Alexy And instead of embracing this 18-year-old girl who needs help, they're like, “No, we don't want you here.” And so I think just like seeing the way that women were treated and kind of like held to a high standard, even though they weren't given all kinds of leadership roles, I think was kind of unfair. And it just made you kind of believe, made me believe that either we're not good enough or we have to work so hard to kind of feel supported and loved, and it just felt like these unrealistic expectations.

When college came, Alexy majored in psychology. But then, in her third year, the university hired a female as their associate chaplain. It was the first time Alexy had ever had a woman as her pastor. The familiar pull she once felt towards ministry grew stronger. For her senior year, she decided to serve as the women’s student chaplain.

Alexy It was in that moment where I feel like my relationship with God was so rekindled, like, I felt like I was on fire, and I loved that I was getting to help other girls. So I would go to the dorm and meet with girls, give Bible studies, check on them, and it was so cool, like my first little glimpse of ministry. And she really helped me kind of see that this is a calling I have.

Aren How important do you think it was that the chaplain and mentor you were talking about this with was a woman?

Alexy You know, it's funny, because I hadn't even really thought about that, but I'm sure it was. It is very important. I mean, the reason that her and I had built such a close relationship was because I was going through a breakup at the time, and I'm sure I wouldn't have felt comfortable talking to a male chaplain, but she was there. And I think it was just very helpful to see it's possible.

Alexy graduates, gets her masters, and begins her ministry career. And this is when she hears about the women’s conference, and is reminded of how making space specifically for women, can change everything. She decides she wants to create a weekend event for teen girls–with no idea how.

Step one, she figures: Get permission.

Alexy Basically just kind of seeing, is this possible? Can we do this? Will we face backlash? Will it be impossible to do? Just so many different questions, and then…

Step two: Get help from her conference youth department.

Alexy Because I honestly had no idea where to start. I had never done this before.

Step three: Build a team…

Alexy I contacted several different female youth pastors, young adult pastors, children's pastors, and I just wanted to see who would bite. And honestly, it was like such a God thing, because I think the right women for this kind of specific retreat that we're trying to create were the ones that responded.

Aren Okay, so can each of you introduce yourself?

Kalmani I’m Kalmani and I teach junior high and high school.

Elizabeth My name is Elizabeth and I’m a children and family pastor.

Lindsey I’m Lindsey. I’m a youth pastor. Did that sound sad?

Kalmani Arguably sad. [LAUGHS]

Aren A little bit, let’s go again.

Lindsey I’m Lindsey and I’m a youth pastor.

Aren Alright, so tell me how this happened.

Lindsey Alexy emailed all the women pastors in the conference one day a couple years ago and was like, do you feel like we need something for teen girls? Like, I don't know what, but something. And basically, long story short, we were all like, yes. 

Aren And why? Why did each of you say yes?

Kalmani Um, I just like helping out, but I feel like for me, I didn't have the opportunity when I was in high school. So like these events and like these things that give people and then girls specifically spaces to hang out and know that they're in a safe space and they can talk about God. I just think it's really important. 

Elizabeth I remember when I was younger, my mom would go to these women's retreats and they would have like a side “teens” section, and it was just like, to keep us busy. But this is an intentional space for community and relationship.

Aren Mhmm. Why did you say yes, Lindsey, when Alexy asked you?

Lindsey I just think it's a huge need for women and girls to have strong female friendships. Especially when it comes to faith, and I think we're at a pivotal place in the church where girls and women, um, what faith is is kind of shifting. And so like, I really want to be in those conversations and help girls navigate that. 

Aren Can you keep going on that thought about the place that teen girls are in right now? 

Lindsey Well, something we talked about initially when Alexy called us all together and we all said, yeah, we do want to do something for these teen girls is we kind of started getting into what women in the church or women's faith traditionally has looked like. You know, a lot, a lot of shaming, whereas there's not as much shame leveled on men in the church. It's more like being bold and being courageous, and those are traits that are inherently feminine.

Lindsey And so, um, we just kind of wanted to reclaim that and say like, what would it look like if we are pulling our definition of femininity and womanhood from responsible readings of scripture. You know, what we feel like God has called us to be as women in the church and as female leaders.

Elizabeth Absolutely. I think of when I was younger growing up, when it was mainly talked about you becoming a woman of faith, it was definitely centered on like purity and like what you can give to other people. And I think what we're trying to, like you just said, reclaim is that like you are more than what you can give other people. You are like what God created you to be. 

There was one more person that was asked to join the team. Not a pastor or teacher, but somebody Alexy knew she needed.

Valerie Hi, my name is Valerie Sigamani and I'm an immigration attorney.

Aren Can you tell me the story of how you got involved with Bloom?

Valerie Yeah, so Alexy is a good friend of mine. And when she reached out to me, I was like, uh, I would love to help out with something like that. She knows that I'm passionate about things geared towards women. So when she reached out to me, I was very honored.

Aren So talk a little bit more about what you said that you're passionate about this kind of thing.

Valerie Yeah, so I have loved being able to minister and pour into women. It's just, I think it's just a part of my calling in life. I feel like women sometimes can be a little bit ignored. Um, as far as like equipping them with biblical knowledge, um, sharing Jesus with them in specific ways and just really empowering them and making them feel seen and that they could be a part of God's kingdom work. I feel like that's something that I've always really had a passion for, and that's the reason why I was so excited to join, because I haven't been doing anything like that for a while. It really hurt my heart. So her reaching out gave me the opportunity to come back into ministry and to help in any way that I could. 

Aren So, so it sounds like you did have some ministry experience prior to going into law school.

Valerie For sure. Yeah. I actually had a degree in theology 'cause I was gonna be a pastor, but I ended up not becoming one, but it's all good. [LAUGHS]

Valerie got her degree in 2015, the same year the church struck down a resolution to allow for the ordination of women. Suddenly, her career path felt shaky. She says the fallout of the vote affected a lot of her fellow female graduates. She even heard rumors of conferences becoming hesitant to hire women, or rescinding previous offers.

Valerie It was a complicated time for me trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I knew I love Jesus. That's all I knew. So that's why I wanted to work for him.

Valerie So that has been my journey a little bit. I don't know if I really like talk about it very much, but it’s something that I've experienced myself.

Valerie decided she had to find another way to help people. Eventually she thought, “Well, I guess I could become an attorney.” She excelled in law school and now works for an immigration firm in Southern California.

Valerie I wanted to, it's not that I wouldn't, didn't want to, I wanted to do ministry. Um, but now I have my own way of doing it.

Aren But I can also understand better now why when you get this phone call from your college friend, your college friend, Alexy, saying, I wanna do this thing. You're like, oh yeah, this is right up my alley.

Val One hundred percent.

Alexy’s team was complete. From there came many hours of planning. They decided it would be a two-day event in the mountains, open to every high school-aged girl in their conference. And it would be run completely by women. The speaker, the praise team, the breakout sessions, even those running the AV. Of course, they also had to pick a date and a name. They chose the second weekend of March, which coincided with International Women’s Day. They would call it the Bloom Conference.

The next few months were filled with logistics and invitations. By March, over 100 girls had signed up from about a dozen churches, despite nobody quite knowing what this was or how it would go. Especially the people in charge.

Alexy I remember the first day still not knowing exactly how it's actually gonna pan out to look like. But we had registration, and so all the girls were checking in

Elizabeth And each girl receives a welcome back, and in the bag it has like a whole bunch of goodies. 

Alexy Tote bags with, like, all these cool little things in them, like hair clips, notebooks,

Elizabeth Face masks, Branded stickers

Alexy Pads, tampons, chapsticks.

Elizabeth All of these like cute little things that like girls would love. And as we were handing them out to the girls as they were checking in, they were so giddy and excited to get them and they were like, wow, we get welcome bags. And they were just so excited to be there.

Alexy And just seeing the joy they had in their faces. Like, I think for me, I was just shocked.

Elizabeth And, uh, towards the, the end of the registration time, pastor Alexy and I like, looked at each other and we were just like almost in

Alexy tears just came to my eyes, because I was like, 

Elizabeth We couldn't believe that something that was just like a fever dream a few months ago 

Alexy Like, it's actually happening.

Elizabeth Became like this reality. 

Alexy All this hard work is finally paying off, but you get to see the joy in their faces. I think that was really cool.

Later that night, the leaders had a surprise planned for the students.

Aren Tell me about this fashion show runway thing. I see photos. How does it work and why do you do it? 

Kalmani I mean like the toilet paper dress, I don't know when it dates back to, but literally every female ever, I feel like has made one. Whether like at a bridal shower or some event at school or something like that.

Lindsey Or youth group.

Kalmani Or youth group. And it's just really fun to see these girls paired in these groups that they have no idea who they're with. We made the groups for them, we just randomized their names and they come together and they create a dress on one of themselves and they design it and they show it off and they just become this team and it's, uh, really fun. And then we hype them up with runway music, of course. [LAUGHTER]

Lindsey It's reclaiming all of these really stereotypical female things like fashion and dresses. We're saying like, look at our creativity. Look at, um, the teamwork that it took to construct this dress out of colored tissue paper. It honestly, it's so much fun and they are so good at it. They always really impress us and blow us away. 

Here’s Val, the attorney, again.

Valerie We had a lot of intention with our breakout sessions, with the speaker, with the worship. And the conversations that we had were very intentional about including, just infusing God into every conversation that we had.

Elizabeth By the end of the weekend girls had their hands around each other and were swaying back and forth to music together. I just remember us being a little like teary eyed that weekend like, wow, like this became like a reality and like this is exactly what we envisioned.

Student 1 Hi. So I really enjoyed the Bloom retreat. I liked how there were lots of different activities, but at the same time there was a lot of free time where we could rest, walk around and do whatever. I really liked all of the breakout sections. They seemed really well thought out, and were really fun.

Student 2 Bloom was a super fun and memorable weekend where we got to explore sisterhood in Christ and what it looks like to help each other in our faith journeys and just be there for each other. We also got to explore different topics in our breakout sessions. Things such as mental health and how to cope with those emotions that you are unfamiliar and you don't know how to address.

Student 2 We also learned other things such as navigating relationships in your day-to-day life and things such as just making friendship bracelets and flower crowns. We also learned, how to build our confidence in Christ and learning what our identity and purpose is and what God has planned for us in our general session. Just overall a very memorable experience.

What began with an idea that required permission–had now blossomed into something much more. After the first year, the Bloom leadership team knew they wanted to do it again. But this time, bigger and more bold than before. And thankfully, I was given the opportunity to see it for myself.

Ad 3: Adventist Education

Ad 4: Growing Together Curriculum

Aren Okay I am here at the second annual Bloom Conference. I was given permission to attend for one hour to just see and observe this special event within Adventism. This year Bloom has grown to more girls and more sponsors and more churches. Right now the students are having worship and will hear a message from the speaker, and then head to their breakouts. There is also some snow on the ground which is an added touch, and I’m excited to see what this is about.

[SINGING “CHAMPION” BY BETHEL MUSIC]

Pastor Sam ...with just your one yes. So don’t let fear get in the way. Don’t let the worry of what people are going to think of you or all the ways you could possibly fail, keep you from saying your best “Yes” to God. Our verse for this week: ‘So we can say with great confidence…’”

Kalmani I really valued being able to sit down and listen to Pastor Sam share her messages. And I could just see all the girls sitting in front of me, very engaged in all her stories. And I know for a lot of them, experience like a new lens of how to see Jesus work in their lives. And that was really cool to see. 

Kalmani Okay I’m going to give some important announcements. And hopefully you remember the breakout sessions that you signed up for. If you completely forgot, Pastor Alexy is in the back and she’s going to help you out…

Elizabeth And what's really important is that they are allowed to pick these spaces. It’s an opportunity for girls to say, man, I really wanna work on like my devotional life. Okay, let me choose devotional life. I really wanna work on like, oh man, I'm having a lot, a hard time with like friendships right now. Okay, let me go to the friendship bracelet breakout and learn about how to manage friendships better.

Self-Defense Instructor Another thing to keep in mind, try not to make sure your knee doesn’t keep in. You want to try to keep it in line with your footing…

Elizabeth When we talk about keeping our bodies safe, we have a self-defense breakout. And so we talk about how we can keep our bodies safe in different scenarios where we may not feel safe.

Self-Defense Instructor …and the second part of this technique that we’re going to do is the pushing part. So you’re going to be just standing there like Rosie, like if you’re pumping your gas, or, yeah [LAUGHTER] and your partner’s going to come to the side and…

Val My favorite moment was walking into the self-defense session, and when I walked in there, all of the girls were like so happy they were over there like practicing different self-defense things on one another. And, uh, one of the things they wanted me to do was they wanted to flip me over. So they decided, they said, “Hey, Valerie, like, just come over here, we're gonna do something real quick.” And then they flipped me over. [LAUGHS] 

Aren The teen girls flipped you over?

Valerie Yes, the teen girls flipped me over. Yeah. 

Aren What was that like?

Valerie It was amazing. Amazing. I loved it. I was like, wow, can you teach me? And they taught me.

Valerie They loved that. Absolutely loved it. And she had everybody sit down and she gave him a very, like, I don't wanna say stern, maybe just direct talk about confidence, about learning your identity in Jesus. And I literally was like sitting there crying because I was like, this is amazing that these girls were just sitting there silently watching, listening and taking it all in.

Elizabeth This year we did it, uh, Friday through Sunday, and that gave us an opportunity for a sleepover event on Saturday night, which I think was one of the coolest things of the weekend in addition to everything else. But it was an awesome opportunity to embrace girlhood. 

It wasn’t technically a sleepover, more like a slumber party where the girls were told to bring their blankets, pajamas, nail polish–and be ready for a fun night. I asked them to record some of the party for us…

Kalmani …going to

Lindsey Have a…

[Together] Lip Sync Battle! [CHEERS]

[SINGING “YOU BELONG WITH ME” BY TAYLOR SWIFT]

Aren What was the goal?

Elizabeth The goal was to create a sense of community and to embrace girlhood. Um, to say like this is a space where you can be authentically yourself, that you can embrace the femininity that you have, that you can embrace the artistic, uh, ability that you have to be who you are freely and openly.

[CHEERS]

Lindsey I was helping clean up after the program and we got done pretty late. And so I came back to the cabin and I thought, you know, the girls would be asleep. Um, this is quite a bit after the program had ended. And so I come up to the cabin and I'm trying to be really quiet. I tiptoe in, you know, and the girls are all awake. And as soon as I see the lights on also, I'm like, Ugh, they're gonna be so chatty, like they're never gonna fall asleep. Like, I'm just thinking worst case scenarios, I guess.

Lindsey And, um, but no, I come in and the lights are all on and that it's silent and there's actually, I, I hear like just soft classical music playing, and I'm like, what is going on in here? And I come in and all of my girls are in a circle coloring on the floor. And it was just such a moment of like, this is purity and this is just authentic friendship and joy and peace and safety.

Lindsey At its core, like this is what this conference is for. It's opening up spaces for girls to just like be in community with each other and feel safe. 

Student 3 What I loved about Bloom was being able to connect with my friends more because of the breakouts we did together and because I could hang out with them at the slumber party and just really spend quality time with the people I care about.

Student 4 I really enjoyed attending the Bloom Retreat this year. One of my favorite breakout sessions that was there was the journaling session. Another thing that I liked were the little craft stations that they had at the slumber party.

Student 4 And finally, I really, really loved Pastor Sam's sermons. I liked how she told stories about her own life that connected with the lesson that she taught us each day. They were very meaningful and she did such a wonderful job. It was so inspiring.

Student 4 And I'm also happy that it snowed at Camp Cedar Falls. It was so pretty to walk through and it was very beautiful. So thank you so much for putting the Bloom retreat together this year. I really, really loved it. Bye.

Aren What is it you want our teen Adventist girls to know above all else?

Kalmani I think I want Teen Adventist girls to know that they are already valued as they are just right now, whatever moment it is. And that if there's not a space for them, they can make it.

Elizabeth So I work with children and family. So I not only think of teen girls, but I think of the first and second graders who come through my Sabbath School rooms. And if there's one thing that they always walk away with knowing is that they're so loved and valued. Their, their voice and their presence is so, so important. I think that’s one thing that I would hope that any teen girl and child could know and remember, that they are so significantly valued because they are a creation of God.

Elizabeth Sorry, one other thing I think is that the community you have around you is so important. And I think that goes back to like why we created Bloom. If a teen girl is listening and, uh, they are struggling in their relationships or friendships to, to know that seeking community is so important with other girls, it's so, so valuable.

Lindsey I would want teen girls to know that it's a lot of work being a woman. Um, but it's really worth it. You have to earnestly unlearn a lot of things that are told to you. The things that the world says about women are not all true. And that's important to know. And the truth is, and what you have to keep coming back to is that yeah, you're loved and valued exactly as you are, and truly exactly as you are.

Student 5 I think my favorite part from Bloom in 2025 was probably just the space that was created. Um, being able to go up to an all girls camp and going up with all of your little girlfriends and just having fun for like three days. Um, it's really fun, especially with, um, events like the sleepover slumber party. I think it was just a really great experience for bonding and just getting together and helping girls like feel like they have a safe space. I think all of it was just an amazing experience altogether.

Aren How rewarding has Bloom been for you?

Alexy Bloom has been so rewarding. I remember, I've cried both times now both retreats, and this year we just had our second one, and I felt the exact same way. And it looked so different this year and yet it still brought tears to my eyes. And I think this time I thought about my future daughter, and just thinking like, man, I hope this is still around when she's a teenager. And, yeah, it's such an honor to create something like this for girls that I don't even know. Just really brings me so much joy and gives again, motivates that purpose.

Aren We hadn't mentioned that you are eight and a half months pregnant right now…with your daughter on the way. What do you want her to know about the church and and the possibilities that do await her in the future that maybe weren't possible for the women who have gone before her?

Alexy I want her to know that church is a safe place, and I am so privileged to work with so many incredible pastors in the area, and I know that they're working hard to make church a safe place. So I have a lot of hope for my daughter here within the Adventist Church, and I hope she grows and knows that she can do anything she wants. I hope she has an incredible pastor, youth pastor, children's pastor, young adult pastor, female or male, to help guide her along the way. And I hope she knows that she can count on the church where if she does make a mistake or something does happen, she knows that she won't be pushed out. She'll be embraced, she'll be loved on. She'll be supported.

Aren Alexy, thank you for your leadership and for your ministry. You are a gift to our church. And thank you for your time today, I really appreciate it.

Alexy Thank you for having me.

[SOUNDS OF ELENA]

Episode Outro

            [“Breathe” by Genevie Perez]

Adventist Stories is a production of the Pacific Union Conference and Growing Young Leaders. It is hosted and edited by me, Aren Rennacker, with the support of many. Cover art designed by Taji Saleem. Music provided by Blue Dot Sessions, Stellwagon Symphonette, and Genevie Perez–you are listening to Genevie’s brand new single, “Breathe.” You can find her on Instagram @ hiitsgen_ (that’s gen with a G), where you can find links to Breathe for wherever you stream music, as well as new and upcoming projects. We can’t wait to hear more, Gen.

Congratulations are also in store to Pastor Alexy, who we just heard from. In just three weeks, she will be marching across a stage and receiving her doctorate in Ministry. We know your church community and your daughter will be very proud.

To learn more about the show, please visit our website, adventiststories.buzzsprout.com, which now includes episode transcripts and guest profiles, and follow us on Instagram @AdventistStories, where you can see posts and photos related to our episodes. Most importantly, please subscribe to the show on your podcast app, and leave a rating and review so more listeners can discover our show. We really appreciate it.

Last but not least, a big thank you to our Union president, the man in charge, Bradford Newton, and his support of our show. You know, something I really appreciate is how Brad is always teaching us important things in the office. Like this last week, when he was giving a lesson on Adventist Church structure. He told us that first, there’s a church pastor. Then there’s a conference president. And then…

Adam I'm the final boss, yeah, because I, you know, I've had the most experience.

Thank you all so much for listening, we will back in one week, next Sunday night with a brand new episode, and we hope you join us then for more Adventist Stories.

End