ALABASTER- Westwood Baptist Church held their inaugural “It’s Just a Phase, So Don’t Miss It” parenting conference on Saturday, March 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Westwood Baptist Church Pastor of Families Ric Callahan said, to his knowledge, this was the only parenting conference that recently happened in the area.

“The idea is that we don’t want kids to miss the phases in life that are so important,” Callahan said. “They need to embrace the phases, enjoy where their kids are and help their kids learn as much about themselves and about God.”

Previously, Westwood Baptist held parenting classes that led up to the conference. Classes and the conference were open to all members of the community who had children from infancy to 18-years-old.

The event began with a presentation by keynote speaker James Spann, and ended with a challenge from Brentwood Baptist Church pastor Linc Taylor.

“Wherever you are as a family is the best place to start,” Taylor advised. “You have to separate how you parent from the way the world says you have to parent.”

Callahan said the church originally got the idea to do a parenting conference as part of an increased initiative from family pastors around the U.S.

“There’s a big movement among pastors to educate parents on how they are faith partners with church ministers. Additionally, they are the faith leaders in the homes,” Callahan said. “We need to teach parents how to handle their homes from a scriptural standpoint.”

Callahan said he hopes the parenting conference will help local parents find the best ways to parent their kids.

“Our hope is that the parents that came today will take the role of parenting their kids more seriously. I really want dads to take the lead role in that, and moms to help their kids understand more about God,” Callahan said.

“Good parenting is leading kids to become godly kids who honor God in all their decisions, make wise choices and help kids know that they can trust God, no matter what.”