I had a man who took seriously the Great Commission in making disciples.  Phil Nelson spent over three years investing in my life in significant ways helping me to grow and mature in my relationship with Christ.  I am a better person because another man invested time, prayer, Bible study, mission trips, and evangelism training with me.  I have since then invested in the lives of other men who are in turn are investing in the lives of other men.  Starting a men’s ministry in your church has the potential to make a difference in marriages, families, churches and the world.  Here are some things to consider in your journey towards starting a men’s ministry.

Pray for God’s direction. Any viable ministry starts with dependence upon God and is sustained by God through prayer.  Prayer and time in the Word (John 15:7) for a specific ministry will help one to discover God’s heart and specific answers for direction.

Discover God’s Word. Spend some time in Scripture discovering what God’s Word says to men in particular.  This process will help you develop a well-rounded men’s ministry that makes an eternal impact.

Pastoral Involvement. If you are not the pastor and have a desire to start a men’s ministry, then it will be vital for you to spend some time with your pastor sharing your vision for men’s ministry and discussing how it will fit into the overall purpose of the church.  If you are the pastor and have a passion for starting a men’s ministry, then it will be vital for you to involve some other key male leaders in your church to help with starting a men’s ministry.

Share your vision with others. What do you want to see happen in your men’s ministry?  A person with a passionate vision to reach men and help them mature in their walk with Christ will infect other guys with the same passion.

Team up with a few other guys. Don’t do ministry alone.  Involve other guys as you move forward in developing a men’s ministry so that your strategy is well-rounded and well represented by a variety of guys.

Survey men in your church. It can be very helpful to understand the needs and strengths of other men in your church.  A survey can help you discover who is really interested in men’s ministry and what specific events to plan in order to meet specific needs.

Discover resources. Look for other churches in your association or around the state that are similar in size to yours and discover what they are doing related to men’s ministry.  Learn from their mistakes and successes.  Contact Ben Phillips with the Family Ministry Team of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention to discover a variety of resources, options, and ideas for men’s ministry.  Some suggested resources are listed below.

Develop a strategy. An effective strategy for men’s ministry will involve worship, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, and service.  Your strategy may include specific events for men but must also include some ways to connect men together more consistently than just a few events each year.  Many men’s strategies involve a few events each year, which is better than nothing at all, but events alone will fall short of helping men to grow to maturity in Christ and become a servant leader at home and in their church.  Some men’s ministries involve large weekly groups, small group studies for men, or accountability partners.  There are a variety of ways to connect men that will be determined by your context and what you believe God wants you to do.

Budget approval. Depending upon the goals of your men’s ministry it may be helpful to request some budget funds through the church budgeting process to help cover or defer some types of expenses for events or resources.

Calendar events. Successful men’s ministries plan ahead and put events on the church calendar at strategic times.  It will be important to know your context in order to plan events successfully.  A hint: Don’t plan a big men’s rally anywhere near the opening week of deer season.

Evaluate. Take the time to evaluate your progress and seek honest feedback from the men who are involved.  It will help to evaluate events immediately and then to consider evaluation times on a quarterly or yearly basis to help you learn how to continually improve.

Imagine if one man from your church had a vision for reaching men and led one man to faith in 2010 and helped him to grow and mature in his relationship with Christ (there are now 2 disciples).  Imagine in 2011 that those two men led two other guys to faith in Christ and helped them to grow and mature in their relationship with Christ for a year (there are now 4 disciples).  Imagine that those four men led four other guys to Christ and discipled them for a year (there are now 8 disciples).  You get the picture.  Continue this process along and you will see the potential for reaching and discipling men for Christ can impact your church, community, and world within a generation.  By the way, at the end of 10 years you would have reached 1024 men.  By the end of 20 years you would have reached 1,048,576 men.  By the end of 30 years you would have reached 1,073,741,824 men.  I know that this is an ideal scenario but even if we came close we would still see more men in heaven and fewer in hell.

You can reach men.  You must reach men.  Will you reach men?

Some resources that can help get you started:

• Ben Phillips, Family Ministry Team Leader, Arkansas Baptist State Convention

• Pastoring Men: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why it Matters More than Ever by Patrick Morley

• No Man Left Behind: How to Build and Sustain a Thriving Disciple-Making Ministry for Every Man in Your Church by Patrick Morley

• Men’s Ministry in the 21st Century: The Encyclopedia of Practical Ideas by Group Publishing.

• Effective Men’s Ministry: The Indispensable Toolkit for Your Church by Phil Downer