Men's Ministries - On Life Support?

My first experience with a men's ministries group was shortly after getting married, while attending a Long Island church. It was over 35 years ago, but I still remember it. The pastor brought out a family heirloom, a Rev. War-era flintlock rifle. It was a real treat to be able to hold it. He talked about the sacrifices made by our forefathers, in order for us to have a free country in which to worship God.

In the years since, I have attended a lot of MM functions, some good and some not so good. I've seen them re-brand under the AG's "Honor Bound" program, which to me felt like a copy of Promise Keepers. I've seen a lot of church MM programs go under, including 2 years ago at my current church. It was a monthly breakfast gorge, followed by a testimony from one of the attendees. Very predictable. Just like you could feel the cholesterol building up, you could see the average age going up.

At a recent leadership retreat, reviving MM made it onto the short list of things to work on. One guy volunteered to start working on it. A month later he quit. So, in between soccer games this past weekend, I prayed and thought about MM. I came up with a name, it's mission, and what to do for the first year. Haven't shared it with anyone yet, but I know I need to have some kind of inner team to make it happen.

What are your experiences, thoughts and suggestions on a MM program?

The only real experience that I had with A/G Men's Ministries was at my previous church in Milwaukee.

The only thing that I really saw was their monthly Fellowship Breakfast. I think that they were supposed to support Rangers also, but I never really noticed that. However, I was only Senior Commander there for a year.

Totally support the concept, but my experiences have been that everyone does . . . and then listen to the crickets.
I think a major problem is it's been a few decades since growing "men" was the norm. We have a good generation or two of "sensitive new age guys" or just let boys grow old enough into guys.
Manhood seems an antiquated or sexist concept.
If you have been called to then do it, and if you have thoughts ad ideas please share.

strods wrote: If you have been called to then do it, and if you have thoughts ad ideas please share.

Okay, I'm going to lay it out here. Let me know if the concept would entice you to show up, or if it needs more work. The group's name would be "Full On", and use John 10:10b as it's scripture. "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Not stated would be an underlying push to help men to grow spiritually, mentally, physically and socially. Sounds kind of familiar, huh? I don't like things that just preach to the choir, so we would push for men to invite their un-churched friends and co-workers.

It would start off with a light Continental Divide breakfast, followed by a devotion. Each monthly get-together has a different flavor with guest instructors. For example:

- Wheels and Deals. Learning how to do auto troubleshooting and using internet research to avoid big repair bills; learn how to buy a new or used car; compete in a radio-controlled car race.
- Royal Flush. Learning how to repair a toilet or sink; compete in speed poker (no money).
- Keeping Your Edge. Learning how to sharpen a variety of knives and tools; compete in knife and hawk throwing.

I've got a year's worth of these planned out, but you get the idea. Your thoughts?

i like, I like... very much I like

It would be cool if you could plug these men into a Ranger program and they and the boys could learn this stuff together. That would be really cool.

Mark Jones

It would be novel idea to plug boys into related skills mentioned above that relate to Royal Rangers. The concept sounds like Royal Rangers for the 18+ crowd of men. Royal Rangers was meant to be spearheaded by MM's. We are not A/G but we have men's prayer every Sat with a devotion and breakfast once a month. We also attend several men's conferences including Men's Advance since men don't retreat we advance. Its held in gun country of KY they have prizes including Henry Golden boys to coach guns to power tools and musical instruments.

We had .22 rifle competition and trap shooting. Many of us open carried pistols on the grounds since KY is the most open carry friendly state and there is no restriction on carry in places of worship.

Some of our AR and ER boys are plugged into the oil change ministry at church. We also had them sharpeing hawks and knives. We forget that 80 years ago a 12 year old boy often did the work of a man. They are able to do a lot more than we think but it does take supervison to keep the quality up.

The Ranger boys AR and up can actually use tools and machinery. It's a good idea to involve them in basic things as these things. I had them using the table saw but I made

it idiot proof and kept them out of trouble.


Takeing these boys floating...the first few miles they are pretty rough boucing off one side of the river to the next..but after a few more miles....they get pretty good at it. The 25 mile float...made those that didn't have the nack...on the wet side of the boat...GRIN!

Mark Jones

Our Church has not had a men's Ministry in the 7 years we have been attending.
There has been talk about wanting to start one 4 or 5 times, but its always died at "who's going to lead it?"

ccm2361 wrote: but its always died at "who's going to lead it?"

I've got the plan, but at this point I don't know if I'm the guy to lead it. Probably would if someone else teamed up with me. A couple of churches ago, one other guy joined me in wanting to restart MM. Had a catchy name and a plan, but the associate pastor delivered a message from the senior pastor. "He wants you to call it Honor Bound and you have to use the AG curriculum." Died right there on the spot. My wife and I left within a year, due to an accumulation of roadblocks, etc. But our next church (non-AG) was heaven-sent. Great years there until moving to Montana.

joecool wrote: I don't know if I'm the guy to lead it. .

Let's see............

If you could command a Wasp-Class Landing Craft Carrier worth $750,000,000.00, I'll bet that you could probably manage a Men's Ministries Meeting.

Which just gave me a Revelation............

Maybe Department of the Navy figured that Mustang Officers were better for commanding Landing Craft Assault Ships, because you were capable of working with the Marines that you had on-board.

Don't want to get too far off topic, but I stumbled across a commercial for a new series on TNT/Sunday nights. "The Last Ship" is about a naval destroyer (with the timely presence of a few scientists) trying to find a cure for a viral disease that has wiped out 80% of humans. Missed the first 3 episodes, but I'll find a way to catch up.

I'll have to temper my comments, though. My wife hates it when I point out errors in military shows.

joecool wrote:Don't want to get too far off topic, ........

My wife hates it when I point out errors in military shows.

Well, since we're chasing rabbits:

While watching TV the other night, I made a comment to my wife that, on the Drug Entry Team, we NEVER wore our ballistic vests exposed with the velcro "Police" placard on it.  We always covered our vests with a Police Jacket or Raid Shirt with Police markings on it.

Reason being: Showing the Bad-Guys that you're wearing a vest is a great way to get shot in the face.

Now the Swat Apes wore their Heavy Armor outside, but they had Kevlar Neck Protectors that went up to their chins and Helmets to help protect their melons.

I would just assume swat is in armor whenever they breach the wrong address...

For discussion at next week's leadership meeting, I sent my men's ministries idea to the pastor. Said it was possible that I could lead it, but needed help. Like I mentioned earlier, at last month's retreat we all agreed that MM needed to be restarted. Now it's time for the others to put their feet where their mouth is. Will they help, or not?

joecool wrote: Will they help, or not?

As it turns out, they won't. So I'm taking my men's ministry idea and changing it to a monthly small group, calling it "Home Improvement."