As part of my role as Christian Education Director my pastor has asked me to help get the men of our church excited about serving God and doing the work of the Lord. As is probably typical in many congregations the women dominate the activities of our church. This of course is not by choice, we seem unable to get a significant number of men interested in working with various programs, such as the youth, bible study,church anniversary, and other planning activities. I am only serving in a facilitator capacity in trying to implement something to get our men excited and on fire, ready and willing to serve. They will have to take it from there. If any of you have a dynamic men's ministry or Sons of Allen group going, please share with me some ideas, resources, etc. that I can tap to help get the ball rolling. If any of you are in the Atlanta area, I am looking for someone who would be willing to come and speak to our men at a breakfast or retreat also. Thanks so much for all your help!

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

Answers

Hello Esther, The issues you raise are fundamental and key to having fulfilling life experiences. You are not alone in your deliberations about how men can be energized to engage in dutiful service. In talking with my male friends and colleagues church service is simply not perceived as a priority. I suspect a lot of this has to do with many unnamed male insecurities. I have worked in male ministry programs long before the Million Man March became a household phrase in the mid 90s. The task is to make church appealing and important for men. If your pastor is male let him use his bully pulpit to admonish wives and daughters to bring their spouses/fathers/brothers to church. You can recognize male accomplishments, allow men to take charge of the worship service on say 5th Sunday or have a day set-aside [non-Sunday] where men can discuss issues from a male perspective. Rev. Johnny Youngblood in Brooklyn, NY has really perfected the art of male bonding and I would strongly suggest you pick up a copy of his biography if you don't already own one. But, the bottom line is this: Brothers must quit spending a disproportionate amount of time on the golf course, at football games, tv channel surfing and redirect time to God and family. QED

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

Praise the Lord Esther. My name is Nazim Fakir, and I am a part of the ministerial staff at Oak Grove A.M.E. in Detroit, Michigan. We have a very strong and uplifting men's ministry that was started by Bishop Gregory Ingram called the Master's Men Ministry - which means we are men led by the true master, Jesus Christ. It is a ministry that is full of men whose lives have been touched and changed by God. This ministry is respnsible for helping me to recognize and acknowledge my call into ministry. There is a book we use, written by Bishop Ingram, entitled "The Master's Mens Manual for Christian Manhood" which serves as a guide for our ministry. We would be more than happy to share this information with you. You need to contact the church at (313)341-8877 and speak with Rev. Christopher Martin and I'm sure he will be more than willing to share more insight on men's ministry with you. I am praying that you will be able to motivate the men in your church to raise their level of spirituality and service to the Lord.

-- Anonymous, November 08, 2000