It wasn’t a pep rally and they didn’t swap gravy recipes for brotherhood breakfasts.
But Larry Hyche, who leads men’s spiritual development for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said what happened recently in Limestone Baptist Association is the kind of thing that’s changing the climate of men’s ministry in the state.
About 750 men gathered Aug. 3 at First Baptist Church, Athens, for an associational men’s conference called “How to Be a Man” led by radio personality Rick Burgess. Preaching from Acts 4, Burgess challenged the men to live on the right side of Pentecost — to be bold, unwavering disciple makers.
The Friday night gathering drew a crowd not for a comedy show but for a serious look at how men can become disciplers of other men, said Kevin Ward, director of missions for Limestone Association.
“There was a very genuine feeling in the building,” Ward said. “It was about how Jesus has called us to be more than just a good guy — He’s called us to be faithful disciples who make other disciples.”
The event built a lot of momentum with men wanting to take what they learned and do something about it, and two men were baptized, he said.
“There’s a stir right now that we need a culture change — we’re not producing disciples, that we’re not producing people who have victory over sin and are surrendered to the work of the ministry,” Ward said. “Something’s got to give and that’s what we talked about that night. It was a really good experience.”
Hyche said he’s seeing more and more churches wanting to implement a stronger focus on discipleship and evangelism in the men’s ministry.
“There are a lot of churches that are seeing that the kind of men’s ministry we’ve ‘always done’ isn’t as effective now as it used to be,” Hyche said. “It says a lot when you have 750 men get together to hear about how to be a disciple maker.”
The same weekend, another group of several hundred men also gathered for a similar men’s conference in Andalusia. “Men’s ministry is so important, but it has to have a strategy,” Hyche said. “More and more men are showing they’re hungry for that kind of focus.”
Churches need a way to cultivate an atmosphere conducive to growing mature disciples who make other disciples, he said — that’s how they’re going to win new men and younger men to Christ.
The Monday after the event with Burgess, about 30 men gathered for some practical training with Hyche on how to strengthen their men’s ministry and return to biblical discipleship.
“We talked about the big picture,” Hyche said. “I didn’t have a three-step plan for them to make their men’s events better. We talked about the atmosphere of making disciples in their church. We want to make healthy disciples who make healthy disciples.”
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