Three case studies: men's ministry in action
1. A regular evening meeting
"We used to have a men’s breakfast that was set up by a few keen guys in the congregation. It did a bit of supporting and evangelism, and trundled along for a while, but it didn’t really stimulate men into discipleship," said Henry. "But after going to a men's convention, we were stimulated to think afresh about how did it. A few months later we set up a bi-monthly men's meeting in the evening with simple food laid on. We tackled subjects that we thought would engage with where people are at: Work; Personal holiness; War, etc. We made sure that the Bible was opened at each meeting and was the basis for the discussion. It was encouraging to get 40-50 at each, including lots of fringe people and non-Christian men," he said.
Henry continues: "Our next aim is to get people reading the Bible in smaller units, and we have plans to do some evangelistic evenings with the group. We want to develop the work slowly, so that it is sustainable at each stage."
2. A Weekly Prayer Triplet
Rod, Matt and Alan are in their late 20’s. For the last few years they have met up weekly to pray together. They gather either on Saturday morning or Sunday evening to suit for no more than an hour. During this time they follow a basic pattern of sharing what their week has been like, talking about how they are doing in their Christian lives, sharing prayer concerns—as well as answers to prayer—before then getting down to pray together. Occasionally they will meet to do this over a meal.
What benefits has it produced? According to Rod: "Our prayer triplet has created an implicit mutual accountability as well as an explicit encouragement to persevere. We have built up a developing sense of trust and support for one another and a natural weekly non-threatening opportunity to really focus on our personal walk with the Lord."
3. Men’s Weekend away
A suburban commuter-belt church runs three ‘weekends’ each year for 12 to 15 men at a time who go away to self cater in a house in the country. Over a three-year period this means that the majority of the men in the church will have an invite and opportunity for a time away with others of varying ages and Christian experience.
For family men the ‘weekend’ runs from Thursday night to Saturday lunchtime while for those without children it runs Friday night to Sunday lunchtime. The weekend is led by one of the ministers and comprises 4 Bible studies (in something self contained like Titus, Romans 8 or 2 Corinthians 4 & 5) interspaced with other sessions where an excerpt from a missionary biography, evangelistic sermon or topical doctrinal book is read by one of the men and used as a springboard for discussion.
Extended prayer and share times as well as plenty of good food and exercise complete the menu of the weekend which is relatively easy to organise and has proved tremendously beneficial in encouraging men to godly living, good friendships and ongoing Bible study and prayer groups together.
What has worked for your church? Share your thoughts below...
Tim Thornborough is the founder and Publishing Director of The Good Book Company. He is series editor of Explore Bible-reading notes, the author of The Very Best Bible Stories series, and has contributed to many books published by The Good Book Company and others. Tim is married to Kathy, and they have three adult daughters.
