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1. One local person needs to get the vision to have such a group and then to enlist others. Call a others to your home or have lunch with them and talk up the idea and also get their ideas.

2. Have several good reasons for this new group which intrudes on already busy lives. Typical reasons:

A. Support the JOINHANDS church building program.

B.  Have a consistent organization and labor pool for specific projects like disaster service, housing rehabilitation, local relief ministries, etc.

C.  Information about issues that face men in our time and community.

D.  Spiritual growth to undergird all life and ministries.

 

3. Call a second meeting where each man present at the first brings a friend to join in the effort to form a Mennonite Men's group.

4. Informally organize and begin to meet at least monthly for inspiration, information, and service.             

5. In time write a simple constitution (sample enclosed) in order to have mutually understood procedures. Make the constitution and bylaws general enough so as not to inhibit freedom of action.

6. Questions and answers.

A. Where should we meet? Some groups meet in a church. Others find that the task of bringing   rolls, providing coffee and juice is distracting. Some-times people forget. Often a restaurant is a good place. One group has a happy arrangement in a hospital cafeteria.

B. What if we want to get together, just for a good time? Camaraderie, enjoying each other's company, is a legitimate purpose, along with one of the above purposes of service or Christian growth

C. How can we enlist others to join our Mennonite Men's group? Bulletin announcements, posters, personal contact. The latter is best.

D. How should the pastor and/or church council be involved? Keep them informed from the very beginning, and report at least annually to the congregation with a written report. Often youth, women's and men's group's reports are included in an annual report book. But do not expect the pastor to spearhead and carry the group. It is not his group, it is the men's group.

E. How should we tie into the larger church? Some people so value the freedom of local action that they forget the values of belonging to the larger church.

 

a. Men have valuable ideas and insights to share.

b. Men have blind spots that the insights of others can correct.

c. Men all like to belong to a larger cause. If we can spend a lot of time and money going to see a baseball or Hockey game and to cheer them on, how much more satisfying is joining with hundreds of other men to sing the praises of our Lord, and to hear a stirring speaker about the Cause and causes for which we ultimately stand!

 

MENNONITE MEN GROUPS: BASICS IN FORMING AND MAINTAINING

 

1. A person with a heart for ministry with men.

                

A. With a "call" or "vocation" to work with men

B.  Informed of a healthy Biblical view of men and women

C.  Who enjoys and cares for men individually and together

D.  Informed of service opportunities for men

E.  Informed of the challenges facing men today

F.  Discriminating about current approaches to manhood

G.  A self-starter, and entrepreneur for Christ

 

2. Christian men are nurtured through a balance of learning, prayer, worship, giving, serving projects, and              encouragement.

3. Teamwork is built by meals together, fun times, work times, traveling together, learning together and responding to each other's needs.

4. Learning times can be enhanced through short video clips, discussion, charts, challenges to learn new concepts, humor, and written responses.

5. Sometimes age separation is useful. In recent years generational interaction is widely recommended

 

A. The passing years challenge older Mennonite Men to pass on their faith and ethics to children,      youth, and young adults. Grandparenting within the human and church family is most rewarding.

B. While adult-teen relations are often difficult, adults still have a role. Sometimes a "Dutch Uncle" can get a better hearing than a parent. Some churches have a good mentoring program.

C. Busy new parents can easily be forgotten. But they are often looking for guidance and for inclusion in the adult world. They live in a world of corporate downsizing, high tech, high mobility, and high stress. Perhaps some of the learnings from working with refugees and new immigrants might apply to serving them.

 

6. A Mennonite Men's reporter can report their events to your local church newsletter and sometimes to the

        local newspaper. If the newsletter has a "speaking out" column, this could include men's concerns.

 

From the 1996 WM report book, Spring 1996 the sCEne, and classroom experiences.

 

For more information contact Don Yoder