The Things We Do

A key part of a successful men's ministry is fun and excitement. The Men at my church do three things that cause a few ripples. We run most of the events on our own as a group of men not a men's ministry from the church.

1) Halo 3 Game Night- Halo 3 is a first person shooter for the Xbox 360. The first time we held a game night we had a crowd of around 50 people. We played Halo, Euchre, Poker, Wii, and ate pizza. Most of the men that came weren't regularly involved in the men's ministry and we saw a great number of new faces all because we brought guys in to do what they enjoy doing only on bigger screens. This is the one event we announce on Sunday mornings.

2) Knob Creek day trip - We make a stop by the Patton Museum then head over to the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot. $30 gets you 3 rounds on a M203 grenade launcher. Any even that involves an RPD (pictured) is bound to bring up a great deal of questions. A day at the gun shoot is the equalizer among men, it brings them back to their Boy Scout days and shows them that Christian men still have fun.

3) It's Not About Brew - This is our Men's Bible Study, cook out, outreach and beer tasting. It all started with a He'brew and a Ale Mary and a Holy Grail Ale soon I discovered other beers and decided to hold a themed bible study. Over 80% of men drink, including most of the men at church. We combine scripture and beer into one fun evening that shows Christian men aren't stuffy and rigid.

Most likely we've offended some people, we've caused some angry letters to the pastor but we've drawn men into the church. We plan these activities to bring men in and grow men in faith. Going in we know there will be problems with what others think. We don't want to not care that we offend others but we also know guns, games and beer aren't banished when we become Christians.
The normal reason for offense is "because Christians shouldn't [play 1st person shooters, shoot guns, drink beer]." Their beliefs comes from what they believe Christians believe. In other words they think Christianity teaches people not to [play 1st person shooters, shoot guns, drink beer] so to be a good Christian they react. To be fair I need to say some people have legitimate reasons to avoid any of these activities, I wouldn't want a recovering alcoholic at it's not about brew, the tea version which works with Petra's Coloring Song or Salvation Bracelets.

If you are ever in town stop by for an Augustiner Bräu so we can have a reason to talk about Augustine.