What do you think of when you think of Men’s Ministry? It’s usually a bunch of Christian guys in a church basement or coffee shop having a Bible study or a breakfast. Sometimes it’s a retreat, where Christian men come together and connect over a fire or a fishing derby. The bottom line here is we tend to think that Men’s Ministry is Christian Ministry to Christian men. And I wonder if perhaps we’re missing something?
What would a men’s ministry to non-Christian men look like? How could your church actively engage men in your community who are not part of the Christian faith?
Let’s take a moment and discover 4 things to think about if you want to engage non-christian through your men’s ministry.
1. Answer Questions That Men Are Asking
Pick topics for courses, workshops or seminars that answer the questions from a faith-based perspective that men are asking. “How To Get Out of Debt”, “Dads and Daughters”, “Making the Most of Work” and other topics would be great to feature that guys who are not currently a part of any church could easily participate in. You don’t have to water down the content, you can still offer a faith-based perspective, but you can do it in a language they can understand.
2. Invite Them to Make A Difference
Participating in a community clean up? Moving a needy family? Going overseas for a service trip? Find a way to invite non-Christian men to join you in order to make a difference in the world. You don’t have to water down the experience, but you can orient the men in the group to what to expect and how they can best participate even if they are not yet believers. The point here is to recognize that all men can contribute to making this world a better place. Men want their lives to matter. Your church can help them discover that.
3. Relationships Are A Need but They Are Not The Draw
All men want to make friends with other men but they are not often actively seeking that. Our men’s ministry shouldn’t be advertising “connection with other men” as the primary reason to come out. Instead, advertise something fun to do or a need to meet and then intentionally create moments where connection can form organically. For example: if you’re hosting a men’s breakfast, advertise “All You Can Eat Bacon” and then create moments in the event where men are working together, creating talking points and getting to know each other.
4. Not Everything Needs To Sound Spiritual
We do this all the time, we create spiritual language for the things we do. Instead of “Men’s Breakfast”, we’ll call it “Eggs and Prayer”, or instead of “Men’s Group”, we’ll call it “Brothers In Arms”. We’ll spiritualize the things we do instead of just calling it what it is. Fellowship = talk. Worship = sing. Prayer = talk to God. Bless = It’s all good. Just use plain “man-talk” to say what it is you want to say.
If You want to see more non-Christian men become a part of your ministry, these are things to put into practice.
About
