By Mark Lubbock
I’m seeing a strong uptick in Christian men’s events.
Here and there, men are beginning to yoke up and form unassociated men’s groups and organizations. By unassociated, I mean that these groups are organic, grown from within a body of men. These are not birthed out of an existing men’s ministry. These groups are hungry for spiritual meat.
My personal journey with UM Men is that I started my own men’s small group in a large church. The small group grew until one day the lead pastor pulled me aside to say, “I just want you to be aware that the UM Men are mad at you because they think you are stealing men that could be joining them.” I asked, “Who are UM Men? I’ve never heard of them.”
Here I was, a guy in my 30s––a member of the perfect demographic group, and no one in the UM Men organization had invited me to participate. My response was to attend one of their meetings, (they never came to one of mine). I eventually joined UM Men and became president.
The rest is history.
We have a great opportunity lying right under our noses and what we need to do now is to reach out and meet men where they are. Find out what is going on and begin to build a relationship with them.
The commission has vast resources to support men’s ministry at every level. We have national experts, speakers, studies, training, how-to outlines, certified men’s ministry specialists, and much more.
Why not invite leaders of an unaffiliated men’s organization to attend a brain-storming session to create a local or regional event? The commission can help with the planning and it can provide resources to help build out your ministry.
Mark Lubbock, a certified men’s ministry specialist and deployed staff member
General Commission on UM Men