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Shelley Breen and her younger sister Robyn are pretty much like best friends these days. But it wasn't always that way.

When Shelley, now one-fourth of the supergroup Point of Grace, was a teen-ager, she wasn't always very nice to Robyn, who's eight years younger.

"Our relationship wasn't that great," says Shelley. "And it was totally my fault. Robyn wanted to go everywhere with me. But when you're 14 or 15, you don't exactly want your 6- or 7-year-old sister tagging along. For me, it was like, 'Bye bye.'

"There were times when I was just so hateful," Shelley says, "and it kills me to even think about it now. I don't know why people sometimes feel like they

can treat their siblings like dirt. If we treat our friends like that, they won't stick around. So why do we treat our siblings like that? Is it because we know they're not going anywhere?

"Now I realize that's the very reason we should treat them with respect, because they are going to be with you for the rest of your life."

That's just one of many lessons Shelley has learned through the years—and one of many lessons she and her fellow members of Point of Grace want to share with teenage girls today.

So, they've organized a series of conferences just for teen girls. The Girls of Grace conferences kick off on October 4-5 at the Carpenters Home Church in Lakeland, Florida. Other dates this fall include October 25-26 (Dallas), November 8-9 (Denver) and November 14-15 (Grand Rapids, MI). More conferences will likely follow in the winter and spring.

The two-day conferences (Friday night and all day Saturday) will include seminars led by all four girls in Point of Grace—Shelley, Denise Jones, Terry Jones and Heather Payne—covering such topics as family relationships, sex and dating, friendship, self-esteem, quiet times, journaling, and growing in your faith. There will also be a time of worship, a keynote speaker, and a mini-concert from Point of Grace.

Some girls at the conference will be picked for a fashion show on "how to dress classy, not trashy," says Shelley.

The singers won't spend much time on stage. They want to mingle with the crowd, spending time being honest and real.

"We'll get to talk about a lot of the things we don't have a chance to talk about in a regular concert," says Terry. "We're going to be real with the girls. We want to go deeper with them. They see us on magazine covers and in magazines, and we might look perfect to them. But we are so not perfect. Just spend five minutes with us, and you will find out for yourself!

"We're looking forward to spending time with girls, talking with them, sharing our struggles. And we want to give them a life-changing message. We want them to learn how to be godly."

"Being a godly girl in the new millennium isn't easy," adds Heather. "There are more pressures and temptations than ever before. The answer is found in Psalm 119:9, which tells us the only way to remain pure is to keep God's Word."

"This isn't going to be just a pep rally," adds Denise. "We want it to be something of substance. We want to encourage girls that they're not alone. We want to say, 'I know sometimes you feel like you're the only one in your class who's a Christian. But you are not alone.'"

Read more from 'Bands & Artists'

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