The Legacy Grandparenting Summit, billed as “the only national Christian grandparenting conference,” will draw a crowd of middle-aged and senior citizens to Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas on October 19-20.
But papaws and memaws don’t need to travel to the Lone Star State megachurch to attend convocation; they can watch the proceedings at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock or at one of several other central Arkansas locations.
Bill Parkinson, one of the founding pastors of Fellowship Bible Church, says engaged grandparents can make a huge difference in the spiritual lives of their grandchildren.
With eight grandchildren, ranging in age from 8 to 24, he has more than an academic interest in the subject.
“There are so many young people today, when they go to college or go into the workforce, who don’t take their faith with them,” Parkinson said. “If you want your children and grandchildren to have what (researchers) call ‘tenacious faith,’ you need to have five or six mentors in their lives.”
This is a role that grandparents can play, he stressed.
Parkinson is among the Arkansans traveling to Dallas to attend the conference, but he made sure his congregation was one of the remote locations from the summit.
Other locations include Calvary Baptist Church in Little Rock, Fellowship North Bible Church in North Little Rock, Lake Valley Community Church in Hot Springs, Central Baptist Church in Conway and Connect Church in Russellville.
Nationwide, more than 100 congregations participate.
In many locations, the sessions will be broadcast on October 20 and 21. In Conway, they are scheduled for October 27 and 28. At Calvary Baptist Church in Little Rock, an abridged version will be shown Nov. 11, according to organizers.
Times, addresses and additional details are available at Legacycoalition.com/summit/sites. Regular registration, for remote participants, costs $62.59 per person.
The speaker list includes Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship; Mark Yarbrough, president of Dallas Theological Seminary; and Chicago Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary; as well as a number of authors and experts.
Dr. Larry Mendelsohn, a member of Fellowship Bible Church and active in grandparents ministry, says the goal is to “mobilize an entire generation of grandparents to become spiritual leaders where possible for the grandchildren.”
In many cases, “children are not exposed to a true spiritual life, and grandparents have an obligation to fill that void,” he added.
The bonds between grandparents and grandchildren are often powerful, Parkinson said.
“Grandparents, studies have again shown, are the second most influential person in a grandchild’s life,” he said. “They have even more influence than teachers and coaches because they are with them for a very long period of time.”
Adults are much less likely to convert to Christianity than children, he said.
“They are very open to the gospel and the truth when they are young,” Parkinson said.
Twenty or thirty years ago, researchers emphasized the importance of reaching young people before the age of 18.
Today, they say “the vast majority” of Christians acquire faith before the age of 12, he said.
Parkinson attended the first Grandparenting Summit, held in 2016 at Bible professor Chuck Swindoll’s church in Frisco, Texas.
The message resonated with him.
“That was the first time I was exposed to this concept of intentional Christian grandparents,” he said. “I’ve been a pastor here at this church for 46 years and I’ve never preached a sermon on grandparents.”
Today, Fellowship Bible Church is trying to shine a light on the subject.
“We have four or five meetings a year … (in which) we teach different lessons about grandfathering,” Parkinson said.
Congregants can also listen to a weekly Intentionally Christian Grandfathering webinar called Grand Monday Nights.