If you were to invite me to do an analysis of your churches’ ministry to men, I would gather all your men up and ask one question, “who has invited someone to come in the past 30 days?” From this one question, I could ascertain the missing piece in your men’s ministry; inviteability.
Yes, I’m aware that this is not a real word.
However, if your ministry is inviteable, it has the potential to grow through the most organic way possible, people inviting other people. You see, most people come to something because they were invited. You can spend all the money you want on advertising and put it in the bulletin for weeks but, there’s nothing like a personal invitation.
There are a few reasons why your men aren’t inviting other men and there are a few ways to sort that out. Let’s take a look at how your men’s ministry can be more inviteable.
- Your ministry isn’t engaging the non-attender. This sounds like an oxi-moron. Our ministry is for those who attend, isn’t it? The answer is both yes and no. You want to consider the person who is yet to come when you plan events and topics for men’s ministries. Ask yourself, “what would the average man in my community respond to?” That simple exercise will have you exploring some avenues that you may haven’t thought of before. Think less “churchy” and more “community”. Try and engage the mind of the average man in your community.
- Your ministry isn’t consistent. If you cancel often, don’t start on time and aren’t really clear on the expectations, it becomes hard to invite someone I know to something I’m not too sure about. Consistency is the key to inviteability. If I know what’s going to happen, it is way easier for me to invite others to it. Think about start times, presenters, topics and predictability. If you know what it is you’re inviting someone to, it’s far easier to invite them.
- Your men aren’t equipped to invite. If you want men to invite men, don’t just tell them “bring your friend”, equip them to do it. Give them tools (invite cards) and teach them to use them. Produce high quality graphics for them to text or post in their social networks. Model for your men how to invite their friends. Train them on what to say and have them think about the guy they are going to invite and pray for them. Invitation is the simplest form of mission and a great way to engage your men in the greatest commandment ever made, “to make disciples”.
These three areas are great starts to making your men’s ministry more inviteable. You can create opportunities for invitation in your ministry and see guys lives transformed through a simple invitation.
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