Article
3 Criteria for a Healthy Men’s Ministry
What you really want as you launch a men’s ministry in a church plant is something deeply healthy.
Traditional men’s ministry is activity-centric with a heavy (literally) dose of food thrown in. Or maybe it’s food-centric with an activity as the primary excuse to gather and eat. And for good reason—shared activity (games, sports, projects, etc.) and good food make it easy for men to gather and lower barriers for entry. Generally, men connect with one another most easily when they are doing something else (eg, eating or an activity). So, this strategy is a good one for gathering men and making it easier for new men to jump in.
But as you consider what kind of men’s ministry you want to start, church planter, let me offer another consideration. While food and activity lower barriers to entry, they can also create barriers to depth.
Fun and food are a great draw … to what? What is the purpose, the end in mind? And on top of this, you must consider how long this ministry might remain viable and vibrant. Golf and bacon and skeet shooting and power washing and Settlers of Catan are an initial draw, but will they keep men showing up? Will they draw men into something deeper, better, and more lasting? If all you offer is fun and food, men will soon realize they can find better, more convenient versions of both elsewhere.
What you really want as you launch a men’s ministry in a church plant is something deeply healthy, so here are three criteria to help you: Substance, Sustainability, and Sense.
Substance
What draws men to show up the first time might be fun or food. But what makes men invest is their hunger for something more and something deeper.
A healthy men’s ministry must revolve around the gospel—emphasizing and celebrating the accomplishments of Jesus Christ on our behalf. This can be through reading, teaching, discussion, testimony, or any number of methods. You figure out what works in your context. But the substance of the ministry must be the gospel.
Don’t be afraid to think deeply and to ask men to do the same. While church growth strategies of yesteryear discouraged depth and saw it as an intimidating deterrent, that simply isn’t true. At least it isn’t true if your metrics of growth are faith, hope, and love, and the fruit of the Spirit. So, walk through books of the Bible, consider rich theology together, introduce men to theologians and pastors they should read, and don’t shy away from ten-dollar words like justification or propitiation.
There is a risk here of letting the pendulum swing too far. (Why go to the driving range when we could read Herman Bavinck all the time???) Men’s ministry is a human ministry, and men come from the full spectrum of faith and suffering. So, a substantial men’s ministry brings the gospel to bear on the depths and vulnerabilities of life. Make space for honest, open questions. It is scary to be ignorant or look like a fool, so set ground rules and expectations for how questions will be received with appreciation and respect. Then turn men toward hope in Christ as you think through answers together.
Finally, emphasize and exemplify honesty before Christ. The gospel is not merely an intellectual reality; it is a whole-life transformative reality, so men need to see how it changes everything in the darkest, weakest places of life. Men are not naturally open about our weaknesses and struggles, whether that is sin, mental health, professional failures, or family tensions. So, we need a place where we can unburden ourselves, not therapeutically but toward sanctification.
What could set a better tone in a church plant than a place where honest questions can be brought and genuine struggles can be shared, and the response will be an invitation to Jesus and His restoration, His revelation, His healing, and His rest.
Sustainability
It is so easy when you are starting something to set a pace that can’t be maintained and reach for goals that are unrealistic. So, what kind of men’s ministry is sustainable? What can you do week in and week out that will build up the men and invite them into the transformative realities of the gospel?
Consider your rhythm and schedule. There’s real benefit in doing something weekly on the same day and at the same time so men can prioritize it, put it on the schedule, and know exactly what to expect.
Consider the structure and flow of each gathering. What will be substantive, but not exhausting? What can you do regularly that won’t burn you out as the leader? Or might you be able to share the leadership load? It’s often beneficial to invite the men into what you are already studying—sermon prep, a book you are reading, your devotional life—because that way you are pastoring them and learning from them (building one another up) without adding one more item to your plate.
Lastly, consider the temptation to pursue bigger and better. If something works, why must you try to one-up yourself? If a rhythm is healthy, why must you push yourself harder? If men are growing and thriving and being encouraged, why change? So many church planters are entrepreneurial, and that means letting a good thing be is antithetical to your nature. Resist this. Let it be. And watch the Lord work over time.
Sense
What do I mean by sense? Do you have a sense of how things are going? Do you have your finger on the pulse of the men in your particular context? Do you know which way the wind is blowing in your own congregation, among families, and among the single people? This is what I mean.
While you never want to change things in a ministry, men’s or otherwise, just for change’s sake, you need to be aware of when changes might be needed. Maybe this means emphasizing particular books of the Bible or particular theological truths in response to needs. Maybe this means changing your schedule to serve the most men or adding a monthly or quarterly event to your weekly gatherings.
Ultimately, it means being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. As a pastor, your job is to follow where the Spirit leads and to have a sense of what He is guiding you toward. Thankfully, He has made Himself abundantly available and obvious through the Bible, so you know your foundation and your ground rules. And these are what the men in your church need most.
