Young Man in the Mirror
a Hit at Wisconsin Church

By Pastor Ed Blonski

Each May, our congregation (St. John's Lutheran in Mayville, Wisc.) confirms about a dozen 14-year-olds. Last year, I invited the boys to attend a Sunday-night gathering based on Patrick Morley's book The Young Man in the Mirror. Eight boys attended faithfully for 15 weeks.

On the Sunday morning of the fifteenth session, I invited the boys, along with their fathers, to come forward during the worship service to be presented with an embroidered baseball cap and a framed certificate of completion similar to the one described at the end of The Young Man in the Mirror. A dinner was held after the church service, followed by a showing of the film Field of Dreams.

This has impacted our congregation in ways that far exceeded my hopes and expectations. Our men's ministry is strengthening and the young men who attended The Young Man in the Mirror class continue to be actively involved in church, worshiping regularly and serving as ushers and lectors. This past spring, my wife hosted a Young Lady in the Mirror class for newly-confirmed girls in our congregation.

I firmly believe our congregation will be greatly blessed by God as we do everything we can to strengthen this new generation in the church. I cannot sit idly by and watch another generation get lost. I'm doing what I can - through the power of the Holy Spirit - to reach them for Christ.