The First Baptist Church of Thomson is playing host to an informative program for all adults who will be involved with teens. Help! I'm a Parent is a free program planned for Sunday, Aug. 22, from 3-5 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall at First Baptist Church in Thomson. Parents with pre-teens and even younger children are also urged to attend. It's never too early.
David William "Duffy" Robbins will be the speaker for this program. He is associate professor of Youth Ministry at Eastern University, St. Davids, Penn. He is a 24-year veteran of youth ministry, having gained extensive experience as a youth minister in both para-church and local parish positions. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Duffy graduated magna cum laude with a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass.
Duffy has spoken across the country at youth retreats and conventions, conferences, and workshops for youth workers, and at major Christian music festivals like Creation, Cornerstone, ICHTHUS, and Blackstump (Sydney, Australia). His international ministry has ranged from youth conventions and training conferences in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and all over North America to a national pastor's conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and a lectureship at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
During the seminar Duffy will focus on two general areas: helping parents better understand how to set limits for their teens in an increasingly permissive society without becoming "the enemy" and doing this within the context of their Christian values.
"Our goal is to help parents know how they can pass on their morals to their children," said David Lambert, Minister of Students at First Baptist Church. "The workshop hopefully will help children and parents understand how to bridge the gap between them and how to live in this culture."
Mr. Lambert said that if this town was holding a baseball clinic and John Smoltz was the scheduled speaker the line to sign up would be backed up for miles. He compared Mr. Robbins with Smoltz.
"He is the John Smoltz of parenting workshops. To get someone of his caliber is a great accomplishment," said Mr. Lambert.
The workshop is free and open to the public.
