What does men’s ministry have to do with Mother’s Day? If you have ever asked yourself that question, you may have missed the point of men’s ministry. The goal of Christian ministry work is to produce stronger disciples of Jesus. This goal means you want to develop men who respect and bless women the way Jesus did.
In my home country of Canada, Mother’s Day is the most shopped-for event after Christmas. The average Canadian spends $111 each Mother’s Day. While the consumer culture is in full gear for this one day of the year, we have the opportunity to create something that will have a far more significant impact than a card and some flowers.
Here are some practical ways to help men bless women this Mother’s Day.
1) Give Men a Bigger Vision for Mother’s Day
Many men view Mother’s Day as the day to celebrate their mom (which is great). But it can also be a day to celebrate the other women in your life. Help men have a vision for Mother’s Day that includes their wife or daughter.
2) Help Each Other Win
Some men are better at gifts, letters, and even kind gestures than others. Help each other win this Mother’s Day. Email or text every man in your church and invite them to a shared space where men can exchange their best ideas to bless the women in their life. This can be accomplished through a group chat, private Facebook group, or anything else you can come up with that will allow men to exchange ideas.
3) Write a Letter Campaign
Forget the Hallmark gift card this Mother’s Day – equip men to write a letter to the most important women in their life. This letter can be as simple as a list of reasons you are grateful for this woman and the blessing they are to you.
4) Give Every Woman a Break Sunday
Imagine a Sunday where every woman in your church was allowed to sit, worship, pray, and attend your worship service. Let’s face it – women tend to carry more of the work in our churches than men do. Give every woman a week to take a breath from those responsibilities and enjoy being in fellowship with each other. Of course, to do this would mean you need to organize the men to serve in nursery, kids ministry, and everywhere else you have people serving on Sunday.
5) Change the Story of Men
There are probably many families in your community where there is no husband or father. The majority of these women have experienced the failure of men to show up and live out their responsibilities. Your men have the opportunity to tell a different story. Plan an event of some kind to bless the women in your community. Some churches have held free oil change days, clean-up/home maintenance, etc.
6) Make This Normal
It’s one thing to have some special activity for Mother’s Day, but men blessing and honouring women should be standard rather than a once-a-year event. This should be a way of life. Develop a culture where you can challenge and equip each other as men on your views and relationships with women.
Did you know that 1 in 5 women have experienced mental health problems in the past year? In Canada, approximately 30% of all women age 15 and older have been sexually assaulted outside of an intimate relationship. Also, in Canada, 1 in 6 of all couples will experience infertility. One in seven women lives in poverty.
Your family, church, workplace, and community are filled with women who are hurting and struggling. The statistics noted above are not the end of the story but simply a snapshot of what is going on.
Your men’s ministry needs to exist, in part, for the benefit of women. We are both made in the image of God. Our relationship with women is an opportunity to be part of God’s redemptive plan of changing the narrative sin has caused for the women around us each day.
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