Whether you’re married or engaged, Toward A Growing Marriage is a one-day event that will have a lasting impact on your relationship. Professional counselor, pastor, and author Dr. Gary Chapman offers practical, biblical principles you can start applying that day... and for years to come. He personally invites you to attend and make a powerful investment in your marriage.
The Vision of the Men's Ministry Office
"...doing whatever it takes to reach men wherever they are!"
I Corinthians 9:19-23
The Seven Steps to Beginning a Men's Ministry in Your Church
- Saturate the entire process with prayer
- Involve & pray with your pastor
- Establish & write a visionary purpose statement
- Invite & recruit participants, identify the 'called' lay leaders & share the vision
- Plan a strategy for reaching men through evangelism, discipleship & missions/ministry
- Identify & make available potential resources
- Enter into a partnership with God
Principles of an Effective Men's Ministry
A life-changing ministry is...
- Relationally driven
- Done by the men themselves
- Balanced-evangelism, discipleship & missions/ministry
- Done in manageable pieces...
- Start ministry with relationships
- Make ministry a progression (not isolated events)
- Provide a variety of entry points
- Blaze a path for growing commitment
- Root your ministry in culture
- Take time to build
- Decentralize
- Open a variety of service opportunities
- Take advantage of affinity groups already present, in existence
- Get excited about church-based ministry
- Center on the Word of God
Steve Sonderman, How to Build a Life-Changing Men's Ministry (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1996), 84 ff.
Five Characteristics of a Purpose Driven Men's Ministry
- Biblically Based
- Balanced
- Variety of Entry Points
- Interconnected
- Purpose Driven
Important Points to Remember
- The purpose driven Men's Ministry strategy must be implemented with balance. If not, the strategy then becomes too one-dimensional and shallow.
- Care must be taken to insure that we are sensitive in reaching both the 'churched' and the 'unchurched'.
- Every activity should always have at least one spiritual goal from the three spheres in addition to its fellowship and/or recreational goals!
- In the beginning, it is wise to plan for small wins (successes) in order to establish a solid base and build enthusiasm.
- Allow the ministry to grow progressively.
- All facets of the ministry need to be evaluated for effectiveness on an annual basis.
- Activities may involve a combination of aspects from multiple spheres-evangelism, discipleship & missions/ministry.