 |
|
A Report on the Christian Men’s Movement
from Pat Morley
Volume 206
November 13, 2006
A Report on the Christian Men’s Movement
Last Monday through Wednesday, 50 leaders of men’s ministries met in Kansas City for our 12th annual National Coalition of Men’s Ministries (“NCMM”) leaders meeting.
When we gather I feel like I am with the most homogeneous group with whom I’ve ever met, because we are all so passionate about one thing -- our vision -- a disciple-making ministry to men in every church.
Here’s an overall sense of the Christian men’s movement today from our meeting:
- It’s robust
- It’s leaders are optimistic
- The movement is expanding
- Many new leaders are coming on board
- Churches are eager to figure out the men’s discipleship conundrum
- The focus has shifted to equipping leaders in the local church with training and resources
The NCMM meeting was powerful because it gave every leader a voice in the future direction of the movement. Under the very capable leadership of our president, Rick Kingham, we worshipped together, gave and received encouragement, heard uplifting updates from the ministries present, felt a positive mood, renewed old friendships and made new ones, established contacts, made strategic alliances, and coordinated strategic initiatives.
NCMM is also valuable because it blunts the effects of the Fall. The meeting helped us toward victory over suspicion, jealousy, envy, gossip, competition, duplication, strategic overlaps, and strategic gaps.
Promising new initiatives were discussed, including:
- www.disciplemen.com which will gather the world’s best men’s discipleship training, resources, and leaders together in a single online location
- The launch of Iron Sharpens Iron conferences as a resource for local church leaders, and
- An initiative to gather the men of our nation and their sons and grandsons together on the National Mall once every 10 years in perpetuity.
If five years ago I had been asked, “Is the Christian men’s movement going to make it?” I would have answered, “It’s too early to say.”
Today it seems to me that the movement has reached sustainability
So, please be encouraged! Next week I will empirically answer the critics who say, “The Christian men’s movement has failed.”
No man left behind…
Pat Morley, Ph.D.
Of the 113,00,000 men 15 and older, 10,600,000 were 15 - 19 years of age, and 10,800,000 were 20 - 24 years of age. The number of men 20 - 21 years of age were estimated from Census Bureau totals. http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/06s0011.xls , retrieved September 29, 2006.
Click here to learn more about our new book No Man Left Behind.
Each week, Pat shares biblical insight and encouragement on leading issues impacting men on Man2Man Express with Brian Doyle and David Beguerie. Click here to listen to Pat's latest broadcast.
|
