A Special Message from David Delk, President of Man in the Mirror |
Volume 93
August 23, 2004
All-Inclusive Ministry to Men: Part 1
You’ve probably heard us say before at Man in the Mirror that your church should be thinking about an “all inclusive ministry to men.” What does that mean?
It means that men’s ministry is more than the 13 guys in small groups who meet early in the mornings. It means that men’s ministry is more than the monthly Saturday breakfasts, the retreats, or the PK event.
The two overriding principles of an all-inclusive men’s ministry are:
1. God has called you to disciple every willing man in your church and community, not just those who are currently coming to your men’s only events. An all-inclusive men’s ministry will include strategies for discipling all your men.
2. Everything that any man does with your church is men’s ministry. Every man on the praise team, parking cars, working with the youth, doing accounting – it is all ministry to and through men. This is exactly what we want to see with all the men God brings to our church. An all-inclusive men’s ministry tries to maximize the kingdom impact of every interaction with every man, no matter the setting.
A church I worked with during a consulting weekend shared with me one of their “problems”: lots of young fathers in the community were being reached through their family sports program, getting involved in marriage and children’s events, going through leadership training, and serving in leadership positions in the church – all without ever being involved in their “men’s ministry.” Together we were able to see that this wasn’t a problem at all, they just needed to expand their vision of what a ministry to men was all about.
Next week we’ll discuss some practical steps you can take to have an all-inclusive ministry to men.
Your ally in the battle,
David Delk
