Union University’s financial planning organization, CENFi, hosted its first women’s event, “Women of Worth: You Already Have a Seat at the Table,” featuring guest speaker Bethany Frymire, on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 3:15 p.m. in the Ethos Forum.
Frymire spoke on the value for women in learning to be competent and biblical financial stewards.
Union University’s first lady, Susie Oliver, introduced Frymire, who is a certified financial planner and certified kingdom advisor at Blue Trust wealth management firm, and her colleague Kim Eades, a private wealth advisor for the Blue Trust wealth management firm.
“You’ve been given a seat at the table — the financial table — that your grandmothers did not have,” Eades said, before turning the stage over to her colleague. “And so it’s so important for you to own that seat and learn about financial literacy, because we can really make a great impact in the world as Christian women.”
Frymire alternated between lectures, round table discussions and a concluding Q&A panel involving herself, Eads and two student CENFi coaches: senior marketing major, Bella Putt, and junior business economics major, Abigail Quinn.
Frymire led the room through content from her book “Women of Worth: a Faith-Based Guide to Financial Wisdom.” She encouraged an audience of about 30 women to live freely in their identities in Christ and have confidence in their seat at the table of finances.
“If we don’t believe in ourselves and believe in who God has said that we are, then we will never walk into some of what he may have for us, and a piece of that can be finances,” Frymire said.
Frymire explained that the Hebrew word for helper in Genesis 2:18 does not describe an unimportant, uninfluential helper, but rather someone who is strong, warrior-like and life-giving to those whom she supports.
She argued that women must fight the lie that being a woman in a helper role hinders them from fully leaning into their influence.
After hearing Frymire speak at a CENFi conference in the spring, Putt and Quinn were motivated to bridge the gap in students’ understanding of biblical femininity and biblical financial stewardship. They decided that a women’s event was the solution.
“We’ve been trying to spread the message for girls to take ownership in stewarding their finances,” Quinn said. “And so way back last semester, we wanted to create a women’s event so that it would be a non-intimidating way for girls to come start that conversation.”
Junior political science major Kayla Davis pinpointed the event’s value as an opportunity to show women that “stewardship is not a male calling but a Christian calling.”
Junior theology and English literature double-major Alana Williams found Frymire’s discussion of being a helper particularly valuable.
“The value of a helpmate not just being secondary, just meant to support, but to accomplish something unique for another person, was striking to me,” Williams said.
For 20 years, Frymire has been fulfilling Blue Trust’s mission of “[helping] Christians become financially free to assist in fulfilling the Great Commission.”
Putt and Quinn incentivized attendance through free copies of Frymire’s book “Women of Worth: a Faith-Based Guide to Financial Wisdom”, door prizes — including a HydroJug, a mini Nespresso and an ENewton bracelet and necklace set — and refreshments.
The mission of CENFi, Union’s Center for Biblical Financial Wisdom, is “To cultivate the habits of biblically wise financial stewardship that lead to a flourishing life.” They accomplish this primarily via peer-to-peer financial coaching for both women and men. Appointments are available online for students seeking to grow in their financial stewardship.
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