What is Happening in the PCA: Men's Ministry
Interview with Tom Beall, Evangelical Presbyterian, Annapolis, MD. Tom is the staff person responsible for men’s ministry
GITG: Tom, describe the present men’s ministry at EP Annapolis.
TB: After 11 years of failure, hard work, much discouragement, and a few successes, we now have 200-250 guys meeting with other men in small groups.
GITG: Wow! If the membership of EP is about 1200, that must be 65-75% of the men in the church. That is tremendous. How did you get to this point? Describe the process.
TB: For the first few years we sort of wallowed around doing the regular men’s ministry things. We had an occasional men’s dinner with a Christian sports figure or businessman. We had monthly men’s breakfasts, and guys would come to the events, but they weren’t getting connected to one another. One other man and I were meeting on Wednesday nights for a Bible study together, and we’d invite guys to join the 2 of us. But, for a long while, they never seemed to catch the vision. For a long time, this friend and I were the only ones who would reach out to the men who attended the men’s events.
GITG: What seemed to turn things around?
TB: Really, there was no specific event. I guess the key was that my buddy and I persevered in modeling our own commitment to each other and to meeting for Bible study. Slowly, a few other men began to express a desire to be in a Bible study, also. We started a 6AM, before-work study. Then we started a study for younger Christians on Tuesday nights, and then a third study. My buddy and I poured ourselves into the guys coming to these studies, and especially into the leaders.
GITG: Did you have some big events to attract guys to the men’s ministry?
TB: Yes, we had occasional events such as seminars, golf tournaments, etc. But we tried to emphasize to our men’s Bible study leaders that the main purpose of these events was to give them activities that they could invite men to who are not connected to a Bible study. We were so conscious of making “relationships” our goal and not the “program,” that we put off having a men’s retreat for many years. When we finally had our first one, our men’s Bible study leaders saw it fundamentally as a great opportunity to bring their group with them in order to deepen their relationships with each other.
GITG: You have such a high percentage of men connecting with other men, why do the new men who come to the church get into men’s small groups?
TB: I think that by modeling and investing in leaders and them investing in our men, and with a lot of support from our senior pastor, God has enabled us to create a kind of “culture” at EP where men sort of expect to get connected to other men in some kind of group.
GITG: Could you summarize what you’ve learned about men’s ministry over the past 11 years.
TB: Keep modeling connection with men. Persevere, even when it seems to take so long to see tangible results. Jesus had 12 men at the end of 3 years. Keep challenging the men at the core to reach out to other men to help them get connected. Always see the program as serving the greater goal of helping men build relationships with one another.
GITG: Tom, describe the present men’s ministry at EP Annapolis.
TB: After 11 years of failure, hard work, much discouragement, and a few successes, we now have 200-250 guys meeting with other men in small groups.
GITG: Wow! If the membership of EP is about 1200, that must be 65-75% of the men in the church. That is tremendous. How did you get to this point? Describe the process.
TB: For the first few years we sort of wallowed around doing the regular men’s ministry things. We had an occasional men’s dinner with a Christian sports figure or businessman. We had monthly men’s breakfasts, and guys would come to the events, but they weren’t getting connected to one another. One other man and I were meeting on Wednesday nights for a Bible study together, and we’d invite guys to join the 2 of us. But, for a long while, they never seemed to catch the vision. For a long time, this friend and I were the only ones who would reach out to the men who attended the men’s events.
GITG: What seemed to turn things around?
TB: Really, there was no specific event. I guess the key was that my buddy and I persevered in modeling our own commitment to each other and to meeting for Bible study. Slowly, a few other men began to express a desire to be in a Bible study, also. We started a 6AM, before-work study. Then we started a study for younger Christians on Tuesday nights, and then a third study. My buddy and I poured ourselves into the guys coming to these studies, and especially into the leaders.
GITG: Did you have some big events to attract guys to the men’s ministry?
TB: Yes, we had occasional events such as seminars, golf tournaments, etc. But we tried to emphasize to our men’s Bible study leaders that the main purpose of these events was to give them activities that they could invite men to who are not connected to a Bible study. We were so conscious of making “relationships” our goal and not the “program,” that we put off having a men’s retreat for many years. When we finally had our first one, our men’s Bible study leaders saw it fundamentally as a great opportunity to bring their group with them in order to deepen their relationships with each other.
GITG: You have such a high percentage of men connecting with other men, why do the new men who come to the church get into men’s small groups?
TB: I think that by modeling and investing in leaders and them investing in our men, and with a lot of support from our senior pastor, God has enabled us to create a kind of “culture” at EP where men sort of expect to get connected to other men in some kind of group.
GITG: Could you summarize what you’ve learned about men’s ministry over the past 11 years.
TB: Keep modeling connection with men. Persevere, even when it seems to take so long to see tangible results. Jesus had 12 men at the end of 3 years. Keep challenging the men at the core to reach out to other men to help them get connected. Always see the program as serving the greater goal of helping men build relationships with one another.
posted by Jim @ 7:02 PM
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