Park Cities Presbyterian Church (PCA)

Mark Davis discusses upcoming parenting conference

TIME: Parenting in the Present

By Stephanie Byrd

Published March 18, 2006 in This Week

This conference is for parents of any age—from cradle to college and beyond. Assistant Minister to Youth Mark Davis encourages even those who don’t have kids to come and learn more about how to relate to kids: “There’s a greater call to shepherding our children than just to Mom and Dad.”

THIS WEEK: Why is the conference called “TIME”?

Mark: Every parent feels the pressure of time, whether it’s just the busyness of carpooling and managing the house or “I feel like I’m running out of time. My kid’s about to go to college.” When we feel that pressure, we tend to grow anxious about the future or feel guilty about the past. What we want is to encourage Mom and Dad to find hope in Christ at the moment and begin to parent in the present.

What brought this conference about?

Kids are growing up in a very different world than we grew up in, and learning how to navigate it as parents is very challenging. We want to expose parents to the world that their kids are living in, encourage them with real hope, and equip them with real help for real issues.

Who are the seminar speakers?

The seminar speakers come from across the country. Our planning team began with, “What are the needs that we think are most significant for parents in our community?” And then we looked at the kids in our community—same thing—“What are the needs?” So we went after speakers that we thought could bring a biblical perspective on how to address these issues. Our speakers are genuine and authentic, and their heart beats to help moms and dads deal with issues of parenting.

Tell us about keynote speaker Len Teague.

Len has been in youth and family ministry for probably 30 years. He’s somebody I admire greatly for his wisdom, his godly character, and his expertise—as a parent first, and then as a pastor.

What’s unique about the conference?

It’s not just “Here’s how to communicate with your kid,” or “Here’s how to resolve conflict”—we want to expose parents to what God’s call is to us as parents, encourage them with the hope we find in Him, and then equip them with specific skills for specific needs.

I also think it’ll be unique in the way in which we present the information that we believe can transform parents’ lives. People who attend the conference will hear from kids. They’ll hear from other parents.

What’s your goal in hosting this conference?

The goal for our ministry is to impact families with the truth of the gospel. We don’t believe this conference is the climax of that goal, but the beginning. We want to effectively and ongoingly encourage parents to parent according to God’s will, to seek His direction, and to be wise about the world in which their children are growing up. This is the beginning of a new focus in our children’s and youth ministries.

Anything else?

I just urge parents to make this a priority regardless of their stage of parenting. If things are going well, great! Come and encourage other parents, or learn how to be prepared for when things aren’t going well. I strongly urge parents to make this a priority, to come and experience what we’re talking about.