“Men’s Ministry, how hard can it really be? Think about it: You’ve got men; you’ve got a church. Add a testimony, some pancakes, prayer, and — poof! — a men’s ministry, right?”
These words from the first chapter of the book, No Man Left Behind, make it sound easy. Hey, let’s face it; Catholic men’s ministry isn’t rocket science.
Unfortunately, men’s ministry can be even more difficult than rocket science. Why? No Man Left Behind explains it this way:
“Why? Because men’s ministry is just grueling. As one of our leaders has said, ‘A man is a hard thing to reach.’ Men’s ministry actually is rocket science. While the process is simple enough, men themselves are quite complex.”
Okay, before you decide to stop reading this article, let me give you “10 ideas” below for a more effective Catholic men’s ministry. These are intended to provide some food for thought and hopefully a basis for discussion with other Catholic men. How can you do this? We have also placed these “10 ideas” on our General forum on the National Fellowship of Catholic Men website.
To get to this forum, click here to go to our website, and then click on the Forum link. There you will be able to be part of a forum of men who are wrestling with these same issues. And if you haven’t registered on the NFCM website, take a few minutes to do that as well. I’m interested in your thoughts on these ideas. Let’s start a dialog among Catholic men on men’s ministry on this new forum for men.
Ten Ideas For More Effective Catholic Men's Ministries
1. A men's ministry should start with a vision and goals that men can be passionate about. This is true whether the ministry is a national, regional, or parish based ministry.
Examples:
National Level:
“We See Catholic Men, Linked as Brothers in Jesus Christ, and Called to Bring Him to Others!”
“Provide every Catholic man in the US the opportunity to experience conversion, transformation, and mobilization for mission through conferences, parish-based men's groups, leadership formation, and high-quality Catholic men's resources.”
“The goal of the National Fellowship of Catholic Men is to have Catholic men's conferences in all of the 200 Dioceses in the U.S., to have men's fellowship groups in each of the 19,000 U.S. Parishes, and to provide support and resources to help bring all of this about.”
Regional Level:
“To reach all Catholic men in our diocese with a faith-building and life-changing presentation of key aspects of our Catholic faith and life, and then equip them through parish-based men's groups to be spiritual leaders for their families, church, work, and community.”
Parish Level:
“To reach all Catholic men in our parish with a faith-building and life-changing presentation of key aspects of our Catholic faith and life, and then equip them through our parish men's fellowship groups to be spiritual leaders for their families, church, work, and community.”
Jesus Commission/Vision/Goal to the Apostles:
“All power in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them all I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the ages” (Mt 28:19-20).
And Jesus said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47).
2. It is critical to get follow-up commitments to men's groups after a men's event (e.g., a men's retreat or conference). It is important to get men to commit to something specific and simple during the men's event.
• It takes an enormous amount of resources and energy to stage a successful men's conference, or any successful men's event.
• We know that most of the men attending a men's event will be inspired and will experience some kind of emotional or spiritual high.
• Yet, if these men do nothing following the event, it will be difficult for them to maintain the ground they have gained.
• In light of this, why is it that we often put too little thought or effort into developing a specific plan for capturing the momentum from the event?
• It is critical to provide men attending the event, especially those not already part of a men's group, with the right next step. If we don't, it's like turning on the heat during winter and then leaving the doors and windows open.
• When men leave a men's event, they should have already committed to the next step.
• Present the opportunity during the event and get men to sign up at the event.
• The commitment should be a one-time, short-term commitment to something that seems “doable,” for example, a 6-week follow-up discussion group using a workbook on one of the themes from the event.
• Connect them with a person who will follow up and invite them to the men's group meeting (remember personal invitations are the most effective). At the end of six weeks they will have an opportunity to “re-up” for another clearly defined commitment.
NOTE: Man in the Mirror, an evangelical men's ministry that uses this approach, has a 70% signup rate at their men's events.
3. Recognize that there are different types of men your ministry is trying to reach. Catholic men can be at different levels of spiritual growth. These include:
• Unchurched
• Fallen away Catholic
• Cultural/nominal Catholic
• Spiritually mature Catholic
• Catholic leader or potential (emerging) leader
As you plan a men’s event, startup a men's group, or choose a men's group resource you should consider the types of men you are trying to reach. The first three types of men may not be attracted or touched by something they feel is too “deep” for them. They will want something with wide appeal and with perhaps not too long a commitment (i.e., a shorter time commitment). Also, unless men see a value or benefit to their personal lives, they will not be attracted to a men's ministry event. Finally, keep in mind that there are two other types of men who may fall into any of the above categories: Seeker/Hungry men and Hurting men.
4. Have a process for moving men along in their spiritual growth. The NFCM has described three stages of growth for Catholic men: conversion, transformation, and mobilization for mission (with an emphasis on evangelization). These three stages of growth were described in a previous series of Catholic Man Channel articles on the theme, “Growing in Faith and Spiritual Maturity as Catholic Men.” The first article was “Conversion, A Change of Heart and Mind.” There were also three articles on evangelization in the series.
• Men from the different categories mentioned above will start at different points in these stages of growth.
5. Train men to lead other men. This includes training them to “go and make disciples,” that is, helping men to live out their faith through Christian character formation, service, evangelization, etc.
• Create a team of men whose responsibility is to foster discipleship through teachings, seminars, and parish events the work of evangelization of men.
6. Make full use of the three key strands of men's ministry leadership. In a regional CMF, the three key strands of leadership are the Bishop, a primary leader, and a leadership team. The three key strands of leadership in a parish-based men's ministry are the pastor, a primary leader, and a leadership team.
• Create a Pastoral Leadership Team to be responsible for the planning of men’s events and the development of the Catholic men's ministry.
• Don't try to coordinate a men's event or start a men's ministry if you are a parish staff member, or a solitary lay leader, until you have the active involvement of a lay leadership team and the clergy. A men's conference without a “Band of Brothers” and an involved clergy willing to use the event as an outreach to other men, almost guarantees a smaller event attended by the faithful few.
7. Utilize the power of a personal invitation. Whether you are trying to get men to come to a men’s conference or other regional men’s event, attend a parish-based event, or participate in a men's group, men respond best to a personal invitation. Consider complementing the personal invitation with a simple piece of literature describing the conference or men's group, for example a business card (which are inexpensive to produce). Don't be afraid to have an aggressive campaign where parishioners invite their friends, neighbors, and fellow parishioners.
8. Don't underestimate the draw of sporting events in men's lives. When scheduling the date for a conference or other men's events, pay a lot of attention to local, state, and national sport's calendars, especially football, so that you do not compete with a “big game.” This includes high school, college, and professional sports schedules.
9. Make a parish men's ministry be all-inclusive. Your men's ministry should include all men who are involved in some type of parish ministry, not just those who are part of a men's group.
• Allow the men's ministry leadership team to develop an organized effort to reach out to and impact a greater number of men in the parish through different events and activities, in addition to inviting men to join a men's group (e.g., monthly men's breakfast, yearly banquet for men in parish ministries, etc.).
10. To sustain a vibrant men's ministry at any level, the men involved have to be experiencing transformation. This means that their life is being impacted and changed for the better in some significant way (e.g., prayer life, family life, work life, etc.). This transformation will occur as men minister to other men and support one another in prayer and parish-based men's groups.
Many thanks to Man in the Mirror men’s ministry for allowing me to adapt some material from their leadership training seminars and their No Man Left Behind book. Used with permission.
(Maurice Blumberg is Executive Director of the National Fellowship of Catholic Men. This article is part of NFCM's sponsorship of the Catholic Man channel. Contact NFCM at P.O. Box 86381, Gaithersburg, MD 20886 or e-mail them at info@nfcmusa.org. If you would like to make a contribution to the NFCM, just click here.)
