Men’s ministry is an integral part of any church congregation. There seems to be an alarming gap in the ages of men in the church pews today. At least this is the case at my church. We need to fill this gap and create relationships with eachother. It seems like my generation goes to church and pushes the “Cruise Control” button on the pew in front of them and then checks the time to see how much is left in the service. I want to try and find out why this happens. We need men to be on fire for God and leading our families and our churches.
It seems like God has put men’s ministry on my heart. I started a “Young Men’s Bible Study” last winter at my house. I tried to keep it focused on leadership at church, our jobs, and at home with our families. I am no pro at leadership at all. We all learned together. Each time we met, something was accomplished that wasn’t even intended for the night’s topic. Some of the men came with issues and went home with an answer or a comfort. It was awesome! We took the summer off due to busy schedules and time conflicts. God has totally been working on my heart and making me long for men’s ministry in the church.
I picked up a book called Why Men Hate Going to Church that I have heard good things about. I guess I am looking for ideas from all the men out there that are reading this blog. Women can have their say as well. B is always trying to help me out with ideas and she listens to me rant about my ideas. You know what they say…”Behind every good man is a better woman.”
What do you all think? What have you done in men’s ministry? What did you like to do/want to do? Feel free to leave a comment on this very subject. I want to make this blog entry a resource for other men who want to start a men’s ministry program at their church. I will joing into the replies. Men that are on fire for God are so important in our churches! It fires up our families and friends and coworkers for God! Let’s light that one match together to start a blaze of men on fire for God!
66 Responses to “Any Men’s Ministry Ideas?”
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I think one of the most important parts of a men’s ministry is to have accountability in our walk with God with other men. It’s good to follow a pattern of bible study, but I think more important is to follow a path of accountability. Men have a hard time going to the doctor. Men have a hard time confessing their sins. Men have a hard time looking in the mirror and saying, my walk does not resemble Jesus.
When you develop the relationships, then you can say, Hey Brother, you don’t look well. You look depressed. You look like your struggling, let’s stop and pray. As strong of a Christian as I might be, it is horribly tough to walk into a room and say, you know, I struggle with pornography. I need help because I am constantly yelling at my wife. We smile and say “I’m fine”, how are you?
That is my vision for a men’s group. I’m not there yet. Heck, I’m not even to the point where I say, that the group is more important, than a football game. *sigh*, But by God’s grace……
I totally agree with you!!! Bible studies give men the opportunity to walk those paths to accountability by spending time with each other in the Word.
The group should come over to enjoy the game and have good fellowship. Spending time with each other helps build accountability. What fellowship ideas do you have or enjoy?
Saturday clean ups at the church have supprising spiritual attributes. Our church does a men’s breakfast one saturday each month. I think some of the buisness minded do a lunch a month, but lunch and breakfast enviroments don’t lead to much sharing. They mostly are a few good laughs.
I haven’t found the format that always works, but i think like bible study at night, either at the church or someone’s home is probably the best.
Sounds just like my church. I enjoy bible studies.
Risk. Adventure. Purpose. Challenge.
Guys need to be shown these things and how their lives can impact others simply by understanding “who” they are and “whose” they are.
It is a call to men to suit up and show up FOR OTHERS. To have that “band of brothers” that will have your back. To have a “fireteam” that will develop a close knit spiritual fathering and mentoring.
We are not perfect, but we are finding that our men are responding to aggressive leadership when they see that the greatest risk is to not respond to the Holy Spirit and the call each man has.
Peace my brothers
http://www.bandofbrothersomaha.com
I think that the single greatest failure of contemporary Christianity is our failure to make the faith relevent to the needs of men in today’s culture…We are failing them, and they are failing us…I salute you for your courage to try to reach out to those in your world. May your tribe (in Judah, as they say) increase a hundredfold! Surely our Savior — a MAN — will reward you, and all like you, who labor thus for Him…
Hi
We have a real need for men to have faith and to be able to come to a place to get the support that we need as men.
On the other hand i have been working with the men in the church i am in and have been asking them for ideas to have men come to the mens fellowship and the they say wate on the Lord and they will come.
Yes we need to wate for the Lord timeing on the other hand we as men need to get out into the community and get involed and let men know that we are here.
So do you have any ideas to get men in a church to be in the commuity? and yes i have the book why men do go to church, very good book.
thank you for your ideas God bless
Chase,
We do a big “Wild Game Feed” each fall. It is free to everybody. We have door prizes and all sorts of good food to eat. Nothing speaks louder to men then free food!
We have a cool speaker come….etc.
We have anywhere from 175-250 men come.
Anywho… Get the men together to help rake leaves for older folks…even shovel snow(if you have it). Men bond with each other when they work together.
Men’s fellowship is a growing ministry within many churches. The concept of relationship with God and with each other should be taken very seriously and nutured. The very fact that a man would be willing to be accountable to another man is a huge step toward understanding relationship. Men need other men in their lives to give them confirmation and a basis for all they are.
I too am in charge of getting a Men’s ministry off the ground at our church and have spent the first year just trying to get ideas. We have a strong local group called the Bluegrass Men’s Fellowship that is made up of men from several Christian churches in the area. They have been very influential in church planting. But they are primarily made up of older men. We have started with the prayer breakfasts but my challenge has been trying to get the younger men involved.
We have done a couple of community projects that we call Touch of Grace projects where we went and served Christmas supper to the Womens Hope Center and did a spring cleanup at an old folks home, these seem to help draw out some younger guys that like to be more active in their service than just sitting and eating pot luck and listening to a speaker.
But I agree with some others in that you have to find ways to build the comaraderie first before you can get too active in bigger projects. I need more ideas on doing this. I appreciate your blog, it’s the first thing I came across when I googled and I’m glad it was.
I am also the president of my mens fellowship and boy, do I need help. I cannot seem to find a copy of ‘Why Men Hate Going to Church’, so please if any body has a spare, im begging. Thanks in advance. you can send it to Jermaine Walters
Duanvale p.o.
Trelawny
Jamaica W.I.
Jermaine, Here is a link to the book on Amazon. It is called Why Men Hate Going to Church
Not everyone feels the spiritual way…so not everyone will fit it
Hi,
Excellent post. Actually I have just started a Men’s ministry in our church, but no idea what to do on developing their spiritual life. A men’s bible study is a perfect idea.
I DON’T THINK IS FAIR TO BELIEVE THAT MEN IN GENERAL DISLIKE GOING TO CHURCH. I HAVE MANY EXAMPLES OF VERY FAITHFUL AND ACTIVE MEMBERS OF A RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION. AND IT’S GOOD TO SEE THAT NUMBER INCREASING.
I am the leader of our men’s group. I highly suggest 2 books in particular. They are Mazimized Manhood and Strong Men in Tough Times, both written by Edwin Cole. There are also ciriculum books to go along with the reading. We will be starting the ciriculum in July. To be respectable men takes perseverance, mental toughness and resiliency, commitment, integrity, loyalty, manners, courage, compassion, self discipline/control, honesty, humility, trustworthiness, and honor. Most of these things are not taught to us anymore. It is our responsibility as Christians to re-introduce these qualities to our young men. Read – read – read- starting with the Bible. Two of my favorite authors are Edwin Cole and Rick Johnson.
Our church re-organized our Men’s Ministry last march, and I was asked to form a leadership team. I feel it is crucial to spread out the responsibilities. One man can’t do it all and be effective. We have 2 co-leaders, myself (with no title, but a passion for men’s ministry) 6 core team members, and Pastoral oversight. We have placed an emphasis on accountability groups, and after hosting 2 breakfast meetings, where the speakers focused on these groups, we’ve placed 40 men (of all ages) in8 groups. Not all have taken off, so we’re currently shuffling them around to accomidate scheduling issues. This summer we held a camping trip and had 54 guys and their sons attend. Fishing, kayaking, gold-panning, mountain biking, ATV ride, shooting, etc. We had nothing but favorable feedback, and are already planning next years adventure. Most importantly: Don’t let the event be the main focus! It’s all about building relationships!
About three years ago my Pastor elected me to be the Men’s Fellowship President. As a new member of this church but experience with men’s fellowships. The church has traditional links of doing things certain ways. They had a men’s gathering where they met during the week, only to have maybe 2-3 men show up. Our church has four choirs, each sing on a different Sunday(tradition). One of the choir is the men’s choir and I feel this is the really men’s fellowship.
I started in 2006 at a men’s breakfast, something they never experienced, with a powerpoint presentation. They was excited with the ideas for a men’s fellowship ie: Fishermen’s Fellowship, Bowling with the Brothers, breakfast outreach designed to reach the homeless men, group discussion of world events according to scripture. After a while the men began to be men. A handful would show and other rarely went. I am looking for new approaches and seek this site for ideas and maybe answers. We are getting ready to do a men’s retreat and would like to fire them up somehow. Any ideas?
Melvin, Sounds like you already have great ideas! I may even borrow some of them. The guys just need to feel engaged. this can be tough. One thing to do is to have them vote of things to do or places to have bible study.
I have sort of stopped being in charge of mens ministry because of the lack of involvement by the guys and my work schedule. I do miss it. Good luck! Report back on what begins to work for you!
Wow, I am glad I read this blog. I got soem good ideas and also now understand that men’s ministry is a struggle in most place. I find it especially difficcult to get teh guys that are between 25-35 involved. I have a SS class and almost all men are in their forthies and fifties. We also have a morning fellowship time on Friday morning where we discuss life issues and a short bible study. We have 6-10 each week and they are faithful and we are devloping a community (but again this is with older men)
What can I do to engage men to get together and develop a men’s community in our church?
Dan
I was elected the president of the men’s ministry about a year ago and let me tell you It is a struggle. I dont have much ideas and I feel as If I am not getting where we need to be. I started a mens breakfast with different speakers to speak on the subject the role of a man in this world but we need more ideas. Can anyone assist me
I am president of the Men’s Ministry of a Church of about 1500 members. I am on fire about what the men in our Church are doing. I have found that men will do almost anything, if you ask them. Most want to be asked to do something. Men are task oriented. I try to follow this pattern; social meeting, such as cooking with a speaker of interest, and then a work event each month. The social event lets the men become comfortable with being part of the group and the work event gives them the opportunity to do an unselfish act in the Lord’s name. Last month, we had a “Men’s Night Out” on Monday night. We cooked steaks for the first 100 men to arrive and everyone after had hamburgers, hotdogs, and homemade chili. We had the local highschool football coach speak about his walk with the Lord and how he teaches God’s principles to his players. Then we turned out the lights for Monday Night Football on a 180″ screen. What a night!!! We had a great time and we brought men to the Church that wouldn’t have come for a Sunday morning service. The following Saturday was a work day and we had lots of men show up that were at the Men’s Night Out event. That’s just one way that the Men’s Ministry has worked in our Church.
Brothers,
Great to hear from all of you and to know that God wants to do a work in the hearts of Men. I have the privilege of working under my pastor as the Men’s director as well as the director for Western Michigan Men’s Outreach. I have learned that most men have experienced a Red Sea crossing (Salvation) but have not experienced a Jordan River (crossing (fullness of God) and are still wondering in the wilderness. What keep them from experiencing the fullness of God, unbelieving and a bad report. I have learned that if the guys get their hearts back and start believing that they have what it takes it can first changes their lives then change their families and if the family is changes so will the church. I have used the Wild at Heart curriculum in my church and it has turned our church upside down. God has instructed me in a way that has been very effective. I have teams (Platoons) in our church ran by very of guys, from ages 70 to 23 years. My wife teaches the Captivating and as well the ladies have come alive. My heart’s desire is to see men’s lives set free to be the men that God has called them to be. God Bless
By His Grace,
Felix B. Adame”
fadame@comcast.net
11/24/2009
Having a solid men’s group has always been a passion of mind and also a real need that must be established in every church. We started out with no plans to have a program just a men’s breakfast on the last Saturday of the month for a non-threatening time of fellowship and food and a short devotion. We used to get relax around one another, to be seen for who we really are, and to show the reality of our faith. It was amazing that over time we were able to growth not only in our numbers each month, but also growth in the men spirtually as they begin to freely open up and ask questions and discuss issues they probably would have never talked about. This had a great affect on the spiritual atmosphere of the church and now the men are involved in a very in depth study. The best program for starting any ministry is “Time”. We always run to the book store to see what the latest thing is instead of being patient and see how God wants to develop the ministry and remember that honest fellowship will speak more loudly to your men than any program.
CONSISTENCY!
Men need consistency. We have to have a steady and consistent offering for men in our churches, whether it be a bible study, men’s fellowship breakfast, or weekly mentoring program, we need to make sure that we are there when the do chose to get involved. Be consistent not matter what…even if only a few men show; some of the greatest breakthroughs occur in small settings.
CHALLENGE!
Every man likes to be challenged. If plays on their need for competition. We challenge our men to join the evangelism team at least once a quarter and this is effective. It gives them a goal to aim for and measurable results that they can see immediately.
CONFIDENTIALITY!
Nothing will destroy your men’s group faster than a breach of confidentiality. As leaders of men we need to be transperant, which will help to make the men feel safer in sharing, But when they do share, we must assure them that teh information devulged will not turn up in the church gossip rumor mill.
DISCIPLESHIP!
The must be some form of discipleship training infused into our men’s ministry programs. Events are nice for momentum building, but to see life-changing, world-moving, kingdom-building devlopment, there must be a process by which development and cultivation of men into Christ-likeness can take place.
Why Men Hate Going to Church is a great book. Here are a few others that you’ll want to add…No Man Left Behind…Effective Men’s Ministry…Wild At Heart…Understanding the Purpose and Power of Men.
Visit this store to save on purchasing. http://www.thekoinoniahouse.com/osCommerce/catalog
Be blessed.
I like what Chuck has to say, Transperency, integrity and honesty are trully characterisctic that must be seen in the leadership first and foremost. Without tthese quailitites being evident we have just created another men’s group that will be eventually fall apart. Paul exhorted Timothy that he was called into ministry because the Lord saw his faithfullness. Once these men see that, their hunger for growth will begin to develop, drawing in even more men. Do not become discourage, stay consistant, and remain faithful.
My name is Alex, I have been involved with Men’s Ministry all my life. I am a man, there was never any choice, i could not opt out. Men find it difficult to identify with Men’s Ministry in most churches, a gap between the men involved and those who do not want to associate with it at all. A gap between the young and the old. Over the years I have learnt that it is not great ideas nor great events that build ministry. Men want to feel a sense of belonging to something that engages them, listens to them, prays with them, has fun with them, talks about real life issues and has a sense of adventure.
A process of Discipleship is key. We are to make disciples of men, nothing lengthy and we must celebrate manhood. Ed Cole, a great man of God said that “Christlikeness and manhood are synonymous” Our manhood is christlike and ought to be celebrated. Small groups of men keep men connected, large gatherings bring inspiration and encouragement.
Men do not come to church because it is not a great experience for them. Most times they are ignored or passed over by the regular congregants. Some are also not ready for church gatherings but would feel more at home in a small gathering of men in another setting. Becoming a fisher of men is not one off occassion. Real fisher men constantly cast the net to catch the fish, at different times, different places. Jesus told Peter to cast the net when it seemed like there was no fish to be had, they were fishing all night and were worn out and tired. The catch was enormous, they had to get help to pull in the haul. We are not on our own, we have Christ and we have each other, let Christ take the strain and worry and we just do what he instructs us to do, ” Make Disciples”.
I pray God’s blessing upon you and your families as you continue to minister, continue to believe God to change the hearts of men and continue to make yourself available and teachable before God.
God bless.
Alex
I know this sounds like a broken record (or cd for those youngbloods oblivious to records) but I praise God for this blog site as well! I too am helping relaunch a mens ministry that had become dormant and had never really blossomed. I needed some ideas to prime the pump and get the thought pattern running and this site did just that.
Thanks for sharing some great thoughts.
Hi
I just want to thank everybody who contributed to these wonderful ideas.We restarted our fellowship today and my brothers in Christ are very happy. I did not know that there are so many of you out there. I thank the Lord for all your ideas.I wish we may all come together in one place to praise our Lord.
God bless
I also feel compelled to re-start our mens group. We used to have breakfast every 3rd Saturday monrng, but somehow died off. I feel a need to have a fellowship with other christian men. I to have read Why Men Hate Going to Church, I didnt buy into all of it, but I do agree there is a reason for concern. A mission for the men of the church, to create a “Band of Brothers” who can and will come together not only for each other, but for the community. I’m glad I found this site and have gained a few ideas. Keep em comming guys.
My Brother in law and I are looking at trying ot kickof some mens activiites in our church and finding ideas is pretty hard at times but we have a few
a dad’s and lads camping night
An Astronomy evening a friend of mine is a real enthusist and has agreed to put it on and bring a few of his mates.
WE had a “rissole” cooking competition ( for those of you who are saying whats a rissole its a minced beef pattie with whatever you want to put in it)
A mate of mines church in the city got a butcher half a cow and ran through the different cuts of meat then had a bbq and a talk.
There is of course the ususl though tof a sports night or two
the plan is to rotate an activity with a talk /discipleship night
hope these ideas are of some help.
Hi Guys, I have been truly enriched by your comments. Quite frankly, it is a relief to know that my anxieties on how to get around organising a Men’s Fellowship is not peculiar to me. I am currently working on getting ideas for my Church’s Men fellowship and my ‘frantic search’ (for ideas) led me to this blog.I agree absolutely with the view that there is the need- whilst seeking for avenues to unwind and bond- to strive to improve on our spiritual growth.
Keep the ideas coming!
Dear Brothers,
Reading all the blogs makes me feel good. It show me that there are a lot of Disciples out there who are interested in growing Men’s ministry. I believe what we should be doing is going out into our communities and bringing more men and women to Christ. That is the great commission! You see Jehovah Witnesses and Mormoms going door to door. Why don’t we do that? I think if your group, district or region would organize the Men to go out and testify you might be surprised with the results. Remeber the old saying…”you catch them and God will clean em”.
Peace to all of you!
I am just starting to find ways to get together with the husbands of my wife’s Bible Study. Most of the men’s groups are golfers, which I am not. This blog really shows a need for men’s fellowship. I hope to get some good ideas here.
Thanks
I admire your interest and committment to your Men’s fellowship. I too am spearheading a men’s group; but things has falen short a bit. As such we are currently reorganising ourselves.
The yardstick for a continuous men’s programme creating the interest, trust and committment.
All this is accomplished through leadership. In any group, a leader is looked upon to steer it in the a progressive direction. Our men’s group stagered because the baton was not passed when I was suddenly seperated from the group because of an urgent matter.
However we are growing, we have a positive programme dealing with men issues; these we will use to strengthen our bonds as men of God in our church, families and community.
I too have been appointed to lead or mens ministry with a fellow brother, this is what lead me to this blog. We have just completed a survey of (12)activities that we sent to the men of our church to get a feel for what they would like to do. Also had room for suggestions. Many of the activities are outdoor related as we live in northern Canada. To our surprise one of the top ranking choices was a hunting trip. We only have a half a dozen hunters in our church but 30 out of 50 men said they would like to do this. Maybe its the hunter / gatherer in us that makes us want to hunt a wild beast? I don’t know. We are finding that the men like to praise and worship with victory / battle songs instead of the traditional song of love, or I’m coming for my bride songs, don’t get me wrong these are good songs for the seasoned christian but do little to attract the unsaved men in the community. We as a church have portrayed Jesus as being this soft eyed, soft spoken, turn the other cheek, long hair blowing in the wind type of man. And he was, to a certain degree ( a little exageration maybe) but he was also a strong, powerful man who overturned tables and kicked people out of the temple kind of guy. And that is some of the things we need to teach or men so they don’t become to effeminate.
Good Day,
I men have always been on my heart and my Pastors heart. He asked me to head up our men. My first task was to select 7 key men to support me in this task, which we call our Care Group. The first responsibility of this group was to contact every men within the church in person or by telephone. We did this by dividing the men into seven group based on age. The men were placed in group with leader of the same age. Our age range was 19 – 70. We have a men event every month; Bowling, Fellowship breakfast at the church, Fellowship breakfast at Golden Corell, Men Fellowshp One Hour Prayer at the church, Men Fellowship One Hour Prayer at Prayer Mountain, Men Fellowship at All You Can Eat Catfish place, Men Fellowship – Men Talk service; Pastor Speak. The most important thing that I see God moving in our men is the for Men Only Bible Study. We went from having 10 men per bible study to 40 men per bible study night; what said in the bible study stays in the bible study. This allow the men to talk about men issues they are going through with their wifes looking at them funny or causing family problems when they get home. We have also seen our men fellowship grow from 5 men per fellowship to 40 men per fellowship. I must state that this year out of the last three years has been my tuffest year, where I am really seeking God for a move and ideas. I can see the number going down within the fellowship, and my excitement going down also. It alot to plan events and to contact 60 men per month; spending 5 to 30 minutes with each one. We have around 150 men divided between 7 men, but being the leader Pastor and I try to connect with all of them. The key is to ‘POINT THEM TO JESUS’, and make sure you show them Jesus is why you are doing what you do. There is a saying we use in the word, ‘Game recognize Game’, so I would say in our spiritual lifes ‘Spirits recognize Spirits’. If you are coming from the Heart and the only motive is to get the men to receive God’s best for them. They will feel it and come on board. For all of the men leader I would say get a connection with God again, again, again and again. He will get you throught the time when you have an overflow of men and when you have two or three.
Thanks for the ideas
Hey men, Sounds like God is really working in men today. I was honored on fathers day by my church to head up our men’s group, Men of Valor. I want our first meting to be something real and special. What do you guys think about this? We have a guy in our church who makes duck calls and turkey calls. I also know a guy who makes fishing lures, I am planning on getting someone to bring their four wheeler, my uncle makes hunting knives, we also have a guy over sports in our church, I rabbit hunt so I plan on bringing a dog box and such. Not every man hunts or plays ball. What else can I do to get the guys involved who are not the outdoors type? I want them to kwow that they fit in. Everyone is different and being a Man of Valor is not about what your hobby is but using who you are and what you do to glorify God and being what He has called you to be while living life doing what you love to do. All suggestions are welcomed.
Allen
I thank God for everybody that contributed to this blog. Reading through has actually opened my eyes to the challenges ahead and the fact that the problems I’m currently facing are not peculiar to our church. I was inadvertently made the leader of the Men’s Fellowship because the defacto leader was really not keen about the whole idea. While I was trying to figure out how to move ahead, I was asked to lead a group of leaders from a number of churches making the challenge more daunting. However, with the grace of God and the comments I read on this blog I’m confident we’ll make progress. I sincerely thank all the contributors for the various ideas. One thing runs thruogh most Men’s Fellowship organizations, and that is the fact that in one breath you have everybody routing for Christ and in the next most of the members are disinterested. The challenge is how to sustain the enthusiasm for a long period to the glory of God. The answer is not the quick fix solutions but what will keep the fire burning. Thanks everybody keep sending those noble ideas and suggestions!!!
Thanks for all the good ideas. I’m in process of beginning a men’s ministery and came across this blog. I’m struck by the continous thoughts of interest/disinterest. I grew up a P/K (preachers kid if anyone didn’t know) and understand the ebb and flow of those feelings.
I know that there needs to be excitement to generate interest, just as it does in the early stages of a mans and womans relationship. But just as in that same relationship there has to develop an established relationship that will sustain us through out time. But also from time to time there needs to be a stirring of that interest to build the relations ship to a new height.
How to do that seams to be the underlying concern.
I don’t have the answer just the question.
Praying that God will help us to establish with Him a useful and productive ministery. And that by His grace and guidance we will develop into a group that will be able to be relative to men of all age groups.
The age range of our church men are from 35 up. To reach them and to have them want to reach to their children and grandchildren for Christ is a goal.
To be relative to men of all ages and for them to find and intersting fellowship and gain a desire to be a part of and participate in this group is a goal I wish to set.
Please pray for out group as we will strive to pray for yours.
John 3:17
Hello to all,
I came to this site looking for ideas like most of you guys have and now I know the real reason I am here. I dont have the answers but I do know this…
Up until this year we did not have a Men’s ministry at my church of about 400 so if you have anything at all, be thankful for that. On Father’s Day of this year, my Pastor asked me to form our Men’s Ministry and be the leader as well. We are called Men Of Valor and man I felt out of sorts because I am the praise and worship leader as well. Talk about being ourt of my element.
Now, I will be the first to say that if you need ideas, read books and do your research without fail but for our needs when it comes to our ministry, don’t look for a quick fix becaause there are none. The men at your church are “yours” and what works for you may or may not work for another group. Listen to the entires on this page. We are wanting to turn men to God but we ourselves are not turning to Him for answers. If we want people to come to the Lord, we must first know how to get there for ourselves. As men, we must seek the Lord on what He wants from us as leaders for our men. Large numbers are not a sign of success. The only pressure we have as a leader is to be exactly what God is asking us to be and to do what He is asking of us. All of the details?…..I’ll leave that for God to handle.
Be blessed you mighty Men Of Valor,
MOV
Thankyou for some great ides. we are starting a new men’s ministery at our church the first meeting is sept. 27. i agree with men of valor. unless we start with god were wasting our time.I really want this to be a success so im asking everyone who reads this to please pray for us . That god will be glorified,praised and worshiped at every meeting and event and that he will make a difference in our lives so we can become men after gods own heart.
I am just starting to find ways to get together with the husbands of my wife’s Bible Study. Most of the men’s groups are golfers, which I am not. This blog really shows a need for men’s fellowship. I hope to get some good ideas here.
Thanks
Guys we’ve been working on how to build effective men’s ministry in churches across Australia, and we’ve created the following website (www.meninaction.com.au) to help men’s ministry leaders and laymen work through the tough road of practically doing great men’s ministry.
There are several keys to success, which all need to happen at the same time:
1. Men need to know who they are in Christ, what their identity, role and responsibilities are as a man in all aspects of their life. Churches only touch on these things at high level and in sermons/bible studies at a generic level to cover the women and children in the audience. That’s not enough, we need to be practical and specific about what God says about men and our identity in Him, when a man knows this about himself he starts to believe that he can be more than he thought he was, and reach out to others.
2. Men need to be inspired and instructed on how to bring a mate into their lives. This takes practice. In the last 300+ years men have lost the art of connecting to other great men in their lives in friendship, not superficial but real mateship. Our churches need to teach men to do this, by simply encouraging them to bring a mate to whatever their doing. (check out http://www.bringamate.com). Men can not effectively live out the great commission when they don’t have the relationships with other men in their lives that would make it natural for them to share their faith or invite a neighbour or work college to a church based event.
3. Whilst Pastors are very busy meeting the demanding needs of their chruch and focused on creating sermons, and bible study groups, this isn’t enough, it’s just not, that doesn’t mean that they should create a dozen church breakfasts this year, but their are easier ways to get relationship based activities going where men can spend time with other men just getting to know each other. Interest groups are a good way to do this, and can be run anytime by members of the church who have a passion for that interest, these aren’t events where someone preaches or gives a 3 point sermon, they’re casual and ideal for men to bring non-christian mates to so that their friends can see that Christian men are great to spend time with.
Hope some if this helps you.
Thanks Tim Sheaves (Men In Action)
Hi my name is Anthony and I started a Men’s Breakfast Fellowship at our church approximatively three years ago. We average 20 men. We meet once a month. We started by Inviting a none Christian business man from our community as a speaker talking about his business and personal back ground hoping to present a warm friendly environment to some one who may be hesitant about Church meetings,We then conclude wit one of our own men bringing the devotions.So far we have had great success. Thanks Only to God and some very enthusiastic men. God Bless.
After sixteen years of trying to form a mens’ ministry at our church,with disastrous results,I was this year given the task of trying to make something of it. I can see the difficulties that lay ahead,the first of which is to stop the members from giggling when even the term mens ministry is mentioned…any ideas…I have started with a group of ten persons that I hand picked,and we had a pray session at which I delegated certain duties.And asked them to come to our next meeting with ideas to move us forward.before I invite the wider church,,,,
I hope that this doesn’t sound like a confessional but, it’s been 15 months since I last made an entry regarding the men’s fellowship at my church. I’ve notice some of the men who were making entries are no longer. I hope they did faze out. I have been on the verge of scaling back on the men’s fellowship activities due to very little participation.
After 16 years, what are your most diffcult challenges? How many men come out to fellowship?does the pastor attend? Does the deacons/elders attend? What is the primary objective of the fellowship? ie: activities, prayer breakfast/meeting/devotions, etc?
Your opinion on why you feel men are not coming out?
This is also for anyone who would like to reply.
Thank you
Be bless!
I will try and communicate something each month. This would be very helpful if each could do this time permitting.
Thanks
In Christ!
Don’t give up Melvin. When your men don’t show up, and your pastor doesn’t support you like he should, but you still have that passion running inside of you…that’s when you know you are really called. The question isn’t ‘how many people show up’ the question is rather ‘Are you going to be around when that one person needs you to be there’.
I allowed the devil to discourage me and scaled back our fellowship. Eventually we stopped meeting all together. A year later one of our brother’s took his own life. I don’t know if we could have avoided it, but I’ll carry that the rest of my life.
The devil is serious about destroying the church and he has targeted the men of the church as primary hard targets. If you are the leader of a fellowship, than you are specifically targeted and like it or not you are on the front line.
The fellowships are crucial to the development and sustaining of a strong corp of men and a vibrant church for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of service and edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come to the unity of faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God.
Don’t give up…
Don’t give up…
Don’t give up…
One of the best ways I’ve discovered to get men involved in men’s ministry, is to invite them and their sons to a Father-Son Camp.
That’s one of the reasons why ‘Fathering Adventures’ … http://www.fatheringadventures.com.au exists today.
Thank you IRONMAN#1. Your testimony has been encouraging and I will not give up. Our model verse we use in the men’s fellowship is Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”. I will burn this in my heart and remember your testimony and share this with the men.
Be blessed my brother!
Your Brother in Christ
Melvin
Thank you for sharing your ideas Darren. Be blessed!
Your Brother in Christ!
Melvin
This will be the second attempt at starting a viable men’s minisry at the church that I am a member of ten+ years. In ten years we can observe many acts of hypocrisy with in our churches, that needs to be corrected. One of the biggest is that men are not stepping up to the plate for verious reasons, which are not excusable in the eyes of God. Jesus did not give up on Peter and we can not give up on the men in our churches. Along with Proverbs 27:17 there is also 2 Timothy 2:2, that the charge go out to the men of God to work His vineyard, because the laborers are few.
Man I have to tell you that this site is a blessing. I have been reading these entries and even though I didn’t know there could be so many challenges starting a men’s ministry, I now realize that God has been preparing me for this my whole life.
I am starting a men’s ministry at my church this weekend. We are a small group, about 30 members total. When I made the announcement, there was excitement and enthusiasm about it.
We will have a men breakfast, a couple of testimonies to start with. Then we just found out a member of our church needs help moving things from her house to storage to accommodate a nurse for her mom. I pray that the men will volunteer after we tell them about it.
God bless you guys, keep looking to Jesus for strength and direction. I know from personal experience that He will not mislead us.
Peter
Hi guys from Auckland,New Zealand,
I started a Men’s dinner group 3 years ago in my home church. I preached twice on men in the church to the congregation using various material mostly from “Why men hate going to church”. The biggest response was from the women who wanted their men involved and looked after. A core group of men were also keen to do something. I held meetings in my home with guys to discuss and bat ideas around. We had age 18 to 82 attend and decided to start slowly with a monthly mens dinner. It is hosted in a different home every month, the guy cooks – even if it is only baked beans and fried eggs on toast! I had to “encourage” the hosts wife to go out for the evening in some instances. Over the 3.5 years we miss only December and January – holiday time here. We have had some 50 men in the group with between 12 and 25 attending each month. We also had a smaller group meeting for informal discussion on knotty topics they suggested, this has fallen away. We do not do bible study as most men belong or can belong to some homegroup or other. We have a short devotion and prayer at the dinner but deliberately keep it as not too overtly “religious” We have some amazing evenings. I have encouraged men not to do testimonies as such, but to introduce themselves in a 5 minute “this is my life” focusing on their origins, their occupation/profession, thier hobbies etc. They will often mention their faith and how they became a christian but very casual. Then they take questions. They love it. We don’t do it every time to keep it fresh. Some nights I tell them nothing is organised – just ask what have they been up to. Men talk about what is on their minds from fast cars, things happening in the church or community, fishing etc – within minutes there is a constant buzz of conversation from naturally forming groups as guys move around talking with each other. We charge $10 a head for food which goes to the host to cover costs. IT is BYO for any drinks and most guys would bring a couple of beers or a bottle of wine which is mostly shared or left behind unfinished. One of the churchs fears was it would become a drinking group. It definitely has not. The guys pride themselves on being both trusted and responsible. We have done some fishing trips and also organized a Christmas Church Family Picnic. In our fourth year I am about to try taking it to the next level from a platform where the guys know each other better and have some basis for trust. Some guys have stopped coming as they see it as frivolous or lackiing in spiritual depth. They stick to their homegroups and bible study groups, or not. The dinner night is also where we get guests and friends of the men brought along. We see at as an entrance oppotunity to both church and faith. Hope this helps. Post your email if you would like to talk further. John
I was assigned to start a men’s fellowship ministry at our local church in ,Lusaka, Zambia. I have found this site very encouraging.The fellowship has started but need more information on ideas and activities.
I was so very richly blessed by reading all the entries above. I’m the webmaster at my church and do a few other things too. I’m unable to participate in much because of leg and feet issues as well as a back injury. I’m way over the hill anyway. As I read the entries, I felt the deep, dedicated love for God that each writer assuredly has and it was very heart warming. I ran a search on google for men’s ministries, to try to help the men’s group. I copied most of the entries and printed them out to share my rich blessing with our group. I usually do awake each morning with a Christian song in my heart and I did this morning but for some reason, I remembered a dedication song that I hadn’t sung in decades “Living for Jesus”. I love this song and although I hadn’t sung it in many, many years, I remembered it (most of it). I love to sing but cannot carry a tune so that makes me a bad singer.
Hi Guys, I am from the UK.
It’s an encouraging and informative site, thanks for your honesty and great ideas.
I have been involved in men’s ministries for some years. I have witnessed various men’s ‘ministries’ come and go.
I am the most unlikely guy to head up men’s groups, I am a pretty sensitive guy not overly confident, allot of guys know more of the scriptures then I do, but God often chooses the weak person to do the impossible.
One of the ‘golden threads’ that have brought men together over the years in our church has been prayer, women mostly praying for men.I know that this is basic but often this commitment can be lacking in developing good foundations for stirring men’s hearts into action.
I have recently started a men’s prayer group just praying for men, meeting once a week called ‘Heart for men’ Open to all. We are few in number but believe that prayer has to be the key to reaching men.
We have also been meeting every Saturday morning, and once a month we have a breakfast inviting others to join us. We try and keep the meetings very simple and focused, we make time to chat, and then invite the Holy Spirit to lay on our hearts words for each other, these maybe prayers for healing, encouragement, strengthening, release etc.
Also since April we have started a social programme for men called ‘planks’ which has prompted some comments and interest. Thick as….
I know God is calling men to himself; some guys are on the fringes, some way off, some who we see in church every Sunday. How we do it may be very different but we do need each other to bear fruit. Thanks guys for all you are doing. Hebrews10: 19-25
Some good readings are…Finishing Strong by Steve Farrar. I am Your Father by Mark stibbe.Healing the masculine soul by Gordon Dalby.
Well what an awesome group of men interested in Christian Men’s Fellowships. There are numerous good ideas on this blog that can be mixed and matched to group types. My career background was in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and before coming to Christ Jesus I had also come out of freemasonry – bl,yr,sr and numerous allied degrees. Praise the Lord renounced it all. That was Oct 1998. A few weeks ago I was asked to head up the men’s ministry at Church. Well were did I start – prayer, find out the age range, research other groups for topic ideas, bounced ideas – brain stormed with the men, sourced team members sound in scripture and reliable representing the target age group 18 onwards. What was good to hear on this blog is book resources – I so enjoy John Bevere, I think I have his whole library along with Joyce Meyers. Wild at Heart by Eldrige reframed Christ centred manhood for me and it will be on our resource list. I have also instructed our librarian to stock our Christian bookshop with books relating to men including study material. I am perusing Every Man God’s Man, Stephen Arterburn & Kenny Luck – comes with book and study guides (centred on Couragious Faith and Daily Integrity). A combination of intentional Bible study topic, men team building events – like the idea of bringing in a Chef to teach BBQ skills and being purposeful in our Faith by our works like helping the needy in our community.
My observations of Christian Brothers in Christ is much as what I hear on this blog. Men do appreciate consistent leadership, not everyone is a Chief Supt, most remain the troops but they are invaluable to the whole of the team. Each person, team member wants know they are of value to the team and as such need to be aforded time to express themselves – like the idea they can do a short talk about themselves with questions at the end of the talk. It comes down to friendship – being there for each other, knowing each other and who can contribute what to the whole of the team, being respectful, having the highest sense of trust and confidentciality with others, acknowledges for their input and not lost in the system, bringing forward the least in the group to help them feel the most.
Programs dont make a group as much as the group mateship makes the program. This needs to be fostered outside of the meeting and extended into our interpersonal connections weekly without being intrusive into family obligations. We dont want to burn out. Friendship is easy its casual, you know the person is there for you if needed, its fun – long weekends and special events foster getting together having a good conversation, being able to ask “how is your soul whats new in your walk with Christ Jesus”. If a group can foster interpersonal Christian relationships then to me I thing a Christian Mens Group has achieved its purpose – bible studies, events fosters growth enhancing Christian maturing.
God Bless everyone
In Christ Jesus
Daniel (mp72trp18)
Great site!!
I plan to revisit often. I am involved in a men’s ministry in Tennessee. Our goal is to encourage men and to offer ideas to help men’s ministry directors to build and keep strong men’s ministries that are ministering and touching lives year after year.
Leave your ideas. I’ll be back! Thanks for setting this up. We will pass on this link.
dennisking52
This is great,i love everyone ideals we have started a men ministry at our church in it
just started we our bulding a monthly events if any ideals or thoughts email me @browderdedrick@yahoo.com
Op
Why Men Hate Going to Church
To all men’s ministry leaders. “Why Men Hate Going to Church” is a must read for all of you!
It offers some great insight into doing things that really challenge men to be involved and find purpose.
It will fire you up and re energize you for men’s ministry.
It was recommended at the top of this blog. Thanks!!
http://www.mightybuiltministries.com
Thanks for all the great comments and ideas for men’s ministry. I am currently leading a men’s ministry team that has about 8 guys on it. I highly encourage a team to lead. Not fair for one man to do everything. I want to recommend another great book to use. It’s called The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer. We are starting this class on Jan 8, 2012 with about 70 men signed up. Please read this book. Published in 1948 and very current for today. I will try and post back soon how the Pursuit of God class is going.
Blessings to all the men out there.
Randy
All,
Thanks for all the insight. It is really helpful with some fantastic ideas.
My role has grown from facilitator to more of a leadership role for my church’s Men’s Ministry. It’s grown from averaging about ten 1.5 years ago, to now between 14 and 20. Believe it or not, one of the great promotions is the fact that we have a guy who loves to cook and often makes something delicious… Our format is simple:
8-8:20ish fellowship and eating
8:20 – 8:40 prayer, new business (discuss things like: habitat for humanity participation, etc..), and group discussion of meeting topic including scripture
8:40 – 9:15 break into groups of 3-4 to discuss questions
9:15 – 9:30 big group discussion, joys/concerns, any other suggestions, prayer
We’ll consider more outreach (we have 4-8 who attend a church in a bad section of Cincinnati once a month to prepare and serve breakfast to about 300-350 homeless), and other events to encourage bonding/greater participation. I have great support from our Pastor… Thanks again for all the ideas..
April 12 2010 was my last post. I forgot about this site, and recently found it in my saved favorites. I read through all the posts since my last one. There is some great stuff happening in the mens ministry around the world. God bless you all for posting on this site. I (we) are still running the mens ministry here in Canada with some pretty good success. We recently finished a skeet shoot (clay pigeons) with the men. we invited the men to bring their family to watch and take part. We also approached the youth leaders to sell hot dogs & hamburgers at the skeet shoot, they did very well. We are a small church of about 120 and the youth sold 80 hamburgers and that was just supper as the skeet shoot was after church one sunday. We thought we would only have about 10 men sign up because we don’t have alot of people in church that have guns. We limited the sign up sheet to 15 men, we had to raise that number to 20, the to 36 shooters. The one thing I have learned over the years with mens ministry is that the men are looking for direction. You remember the movie ” Field of Dreams” the motto of the movie is “build it and they will come”. Well its the same for the men, plan it and they will come. Our ministry focus is to provide a safe entry level for non believers to introduce them to the church and faith. We try to do one activity a month not only for the men but also for their families on ocassion. The men are pulled away from their families all the time with work so we try to include the women and children whenever we can. We had 7 women and as many teens shooting with their husband and fathers. This past winter we focused on gym nights at our local rec center, serving lunch at the church, sunday after service. This summer we are planning another skeet shoot, a survival weekend in the forest, and a few atv trips, and possibly a fishing & hunting trip. We currently do not have a name for our mens ministry but this site has encouraged me to seek a name for us to bring the men together even more. The verse we use is, “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me! We have a facebook page with about 50 followers both believers and none. This is were we post our events for the men to see. We recently acquired a QR code to make it easy for the men to hook up with us on facebook. We just had it printed in our church bulletin. Well all you mens ministry leaders, you have really blessed me with your words of encouragement and your book suggestions, I will be looking for the titles suggested. God Bless and have a strong day.
I recently came across this site as I looked for ideas for a Men’s Ministry. After reading through the previous posts I see a lot of similarity. Everyone seems to be looking for ways to engage men in their local church and the ministry. I’d like to offer some thoughts:
1. I feel that for a Men’s Ministry to be effective, the leadership of the ministry needs to have the correct Spiritual Gifts. The team should be lead by a man who has the gift of Leadership which I define as the Spirit-given ability to stand before a group and lead it, with diligence. The team also needs men with the Gifts of Service, Administration, and Teaching.
2. I think the members of the team need to spend some time in Genesis 2 and 3 and look at the roles and responsibilities God has ordained for Men. After that, they should ask the question of “how can the ministry support men in these areas?” They may wish to read the sermon, “Men and Women in Biblical Perspective”, by Dr Ray Pritchard at http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/1992-10-18-Men-and-Women-in-Biblical-Perspective/.
3. In today’s society, men feel isolated, they are reluctant to share their true feelings with others, they have acquaintances, not friends. A Men’s Ministry should develop a sense of trust within the men, an atmosphere in which they are free to share with out judgement, secure in the knowledge that what is said there, stays there. (That means giving a “no comment” to your wife when she asks “what happened at the bible study, prayer group, fellowship time?”)
4. Realize that no single, correct answer exists for the question of “What a Men’s Ministry should be”, it will be different in each church body, but it will have a common vision, strengthening men in their walk with Christ.
5. Realize that Christian men are in a cultural battle with today’s society and they need help.
6. Heed Paul’s when he says in Eph 6:18 “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.”