Last Friday local protestors gathered at both West Seattle and Ballard campuses of Mars Hill Church to protest author Ted Tripp who spoke at a Biblical Parenting Conference over the weekend.

The conference was designed to give practical advice to parents in the congregation from Tripp, senior pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Hazleton, Pa., whose book "Shepherding a Child's heart," Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll calls "the best book I've ever read on parenting."

It was specifically Tripp's advocating of spanking that got concerned citizens like Joanne Brayden, a West Seattle resident, involved.

After reading about Tripp's visit on a blog she helped organize the protests. Brayden explained that she came from a family that was abusive and feels uncomfortable with Tripp's notion of submission

Brayden and two others protested the West Seattle campus on Friday. From across the street on 35th Avenue Southwest they held signs and handed out leaflets on alternative means of discipline for children.

As families entered the church they yelled to them, asking parents not to spank their children. The parents called back that how they raised their children was their choice. Still, some who drove by slowed down to wave at the protestors on honk in approval.

"I think Christian families deserve to get more information than they're getting inside the church tonight," Brayden said on Friday. "The shepherd's rod is for guiding, not hitting."

On Sept. 13, a week before the conference, Brayden and others put flyers about child abuse on cars around the West Seattle and Ballard campuses.

Greg Larson, a Capitol Hill resident involved in children's rights issues, said he chose to participate not to attack Tripp or the church, but to educate parents.

"As a parent who's raised two sons without ever having to spank them, I believe that children are far better off without physical punishment," Larson said.

In fact Larson said that he does respect some of Tripp's teachings, but fears that the author has misinterpreted the Bible. Larson emphasized the importance of giving parents other options for discipline and introducing them to alternative Christian texts on parenting.

"He seems like a very reasonably nice man but I'm very concerned that he's teaching impressionable young parents looking for a biblical answer," Larson said.

Mars Hill Church chose not to participate in interviews on the subject but released a statement and invited media to attend the conference for free.

"We acknowledge that each parent has at their disposal a variety of methods for instructing and correcting their children. We expect Dr. Tripp to examine each of these various methods and we leave the final decision to each parent as to which loving and legal methods they will use for their own children," the statement said.

In a conversation with Ian Sanderson, Mars Hill's public relations coordinator, he mentioned that Mars Hill even has a ministry that serves victims of all kinds of abuse, including child abuse. Those that watch children during services are also trained to watch for any signs that a child has been abused.

In Tripp's book he emphasizes that if parents take God's word seriously then they must spank their children. He quotes Proverbs 22:15 "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him."

One aspect of the book that has made readers most concerned is the age at which Tripp advocates spanking. He writes that as soon as a child is old enough to demonstrate resistance, he is old enough to receive a spanking. For his oldest son, this happened when he was eight months old.

Tripp clearly explains exactly how parents should go about spanking. The author emphasizes taking them to a private place to preserve their dignity and making sure that they understands what they have done wrong. He also teaches that the action should not done out of anger and that afterwards parents should communicate love for them.

"You have no right to hit your child under any circumstance other than biblically sanctioned disciple," Tripp writes.

Rose Egge may be contacted at 932.0300 or rosee@robinsonnews.com.