Strong women. Smart policy. Sound theology.
Young Women for America (YWA) is a unique organization—one that focuses on Christian faith as the motive for engaging in politics. We are the college chapters of Concerned Women for America, the largest women’s conservative policy organization in America.
YWA focuses on seven core issues: family, sanctity of life, religious liberty, education, sexual exploitation, national sovereignty, and support for Israel. At our biweekly meetings, we talk through these issues from a Biblical perspective and discuss how to engage in politics in God-honoring ways. From our “SanctiTEA of Life” night to “What is a Woman” movie event, we try to address serious issues in a low-pressure environment that is engaging and informative.
I did not truly understand what differentiates YWA until attending the organization’s Leadership Summit this September with a few other members of our chapter. Every day of training opened with a time of worship, and nearly every speaker emphasized the importance of being a Christian before being a conservative. Scripture and prayer saturated the entire event in a way that I have never seen from a political organization before.
People often criticize Christians for giving Biblical defenses for their political stances because an atheist will not change their vote “for the Bible tells me so.” However, for the Christian, faith should be our “why” for engaging in politics.
Political activism can easily become a self-glorifying endeavor where the sole goal is to prove ourselves right or find purpose in a political issue de jour. Christians must continually reevaluate whether we are engaging in politics to win debates or to wisely influence our elected leaders to make decisions that align with our values. YWA chooses the latter.
Politics is just another sphere of influence where Christians have a duty to plant seeds of the Gospel. We are called to address divisive topics gracefully and boldly, in a way that brings glory to God rather than ourselves.
YWA meetings are not grievance-airing sessions where women bond over mutual hatred of leftist ideology. We form friendships, we write letters to encourage our legislators, we discuss the hard questions about how to uncompromisingly speak our values in a loving way.
Young people need to discuss public policy in outlets that are free from the hollow rhetoric and social pressure of the internet and mainstream media. YWA is this outlet for young women. Members of YWA do not find identity in the (F) on our birth certificates or an (R) on our voter registrations. YWA seeks to form a tight-knit community of shared values so women can uplift each other in their faith and everyday lives.
YWA’s guiding verse is Esther 4:14—encouraging women to consider whether they were placed in their spheres of influence for “such a time as this.” YWA gives women the tools and confidence they need to advocate for conservative values and Biblical truth in a society that shuns both.
