NASHVILLE—Christ-centered parenting will be the focus of a two-pronged effort in August by the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

The ERLC’s 2017 national conference—”Parenting: Christ-centered Parenting in a Complex World”—will be held Aug. 24-26 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville.

At the conference, the ERLC will unveil a new, small group study in collaboration with LifeWay Christian Resources—”Christ-centered Parenting: Gospel Conversations on Complex Cultural Issues.”

ERLC President Russell Moore expressed his excitement about both projects.

“Many Christian parents feel lost in a rapidly transforming culture,” Moore said in written comments for Baptist Press. “Our aim for this parenting focus is to encourage and empower parents to shepherd their children in the gospel, within the context of the local church. It takes more than a village to raise children; it takes the church of Jesus Christ.

“My hope and prayer is that these new resources would point us toward becoming cross-shaped, kingdom-oriented families,” Moore said.

The conference will seek to help Christian parents apply the gospel in rearing counter-cultural children by addressing such issues as sexuality, pornography, technology, media, sports, school, adoption and foster care.

Registration and further conference information is available at http://erlc.com/upcoming-events/erlc-national-conference-2017. The conference’s plenary addresses will be live-streamed at erlc.com.

The ERLC’s new “Christ-centered Parenting” study is designed to equip parents to guide children of various ages in facing today’s difficult cultural challenges. It will address the following topics in six sessions: gospel-shaped parenting; human dignity; identity; sexuality; relationships; and technology.

Each session will include a 30-minute panel discussion on video hosted by an ERLC staff member to be followed by a group conversation. Among the panelists is David Prince, pastor of preaching and vision at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky.

Other panelists include Ray Ortlund, lead pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville; Trillia Newbell, the ERLC’s director of community outreach; Ben Stuart, Passion City Church planter in Washington, D.C.; and Jackie Hill Perry, poet and rapper. (BP)