Herb: Darrel, it’s great getting together with you today. My first question is, what did you do before you were in men’s ministry?
Darrel: I was a teacher/coach. I was an engineer and I owned a business for twenty-five years. It was a family business and we sold that business off to our kids. And I just asked God what it was He wanted me to do. Because at this life stage I have done some things that were to some degree successful and I sensed that He wanted me to be involved in ministry to men. I didn’t really know what that meant, but I just said, ‘God, I’m in. Where?’ We had moved from the Los Angeles area up to northern California and our daughter said, ‘Dad, we want you to go to this church with us. It’s going to be different from what you’ve been doing. But frankly, you can do this for an hour.’
So we went there and we discovered that the Holy Spirit was alive and well in this area at Bayside Church in Granite Bay, California, and decided that we’d been asleep at the switch for quite a few years. And so we said, ‘God, we’ll do whatever You want us to do. And the very first thing we went to over ten years ago now was a men’s ministry small group. And in that small group the men’s pastor had just been announced and he came right out and said, ‘Someone appointed me. The senior pastor said I have to take this spot. And I didn’t want to ask him what was the other choice. But I’ve got this spot. I don’t want this spot but I’m going to do this. Does anybody want to help me?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m available.’ And that was it.
And from that point the men’s pastor and I worked as the team for ministry to men for Bayside Church in Granite Bay, California, which is the largest church in northern California. So that’s how we got into ministry and it’s flourished since then. It’s been almost twelve years now.
Herb: How long has it been that you’ve been the Executive Director of NCMM?
Darrel: It’s been three years. I had felt that God was calling me to something broader based. Not anything different. But a broader base to touch more guys, to touch more leaders, because we had a terrific leadership team. Most of the leadership team I had at Bayside are now either executive pastors or pastors of a church or leading servant church ministries or authors or speakers. So we had a terrific group and I just had felt God calling me in that direction. And so that’s been about three years ago that happened.
Herb: What are some of the exciting things you’re seeing with men’s ministry?
Darrel: Overall, men’s ministry is so far under the radar of everybody, it’s exciting to watch God work. We all know the story of Gideon and, frankly, that’s what God is doing. He’s using those thirty guys in ministry to men to really change the world. And no one really hears about it. But I can tell you in the year of 2012 I spoke at several conferences on these things. No one ever hears about this. Wes Yoder, one of our members, was on the Today Show, and he talked about whats happening with mens ministry today. We didnt hear much about that on the Today Show. The second thing is we had a film called Courageous and one of the producers was Steven Kendrick. He spoke at a WashingtonDC area Iron Sharpens Iron mens event. Three thousand guys showed up and so did the press. That was a pretty big deal in that area and from that, Iron Sharpens Iron conferences have exploded to 63 conferences this year. So Focus on the Family called Brian Doyle (the founder of Iron Sharpens Iron) and asked what is going on. So Brian was a guest speaker on Focus on the Family. The Trinity Broadcasting Network, thats one of the nationally syndicated programs of faith, called Pete McKenzie and asked him to talk to them about Man of God, so Pete spoke on that for 30 minutes on the broadcast. But the final cap on this whole thing is that faith-based films since the year 2011 were more profitable than secular films. Its been really exciting how guys are reaching out.
Herb: What do you see National Coalition of Ministries to Mens role being in the mens ministry movement?
Darrel: I see the role of NCMM as being the point of all the mens ministries on a national basis. And what that means is we want to draw all of the ministries closer together so that they can serve God in whatever capacity that they have. I use this analogy. If you have six blind guys and theyre all walking around an elephant, feeling it, everyone has a different take on what the elephant looks like. Thats the way it is with ministries to men. And our job is to put all those together and say, guys, this is an elephant and what can we do going forward.
Herb: Do you feel like individual ministries tend to not be aware with whats going on with other ministries?
Darrel: That situation exists, but I dont want to call it a problem. In baseball, if youre a shortstop, you dont know how to be a pitcher. This is the way it is with ministries today. Theyre so focused on their ministry that they dont have enough time to network to see what the other ministries are doing. So I see my role as being involved with all of the ministries so that I can be connected. And I ultimately want more guys doing what my role is regionally so that they can embody that and it will grow even stronger.
Herb: How do you think ministries can be more of a team player?
Darrel: Just interconnect with one another at conferences such as Iron Sharpens Iron, Wild Life, Man in the Mirror, Men at the Cross, Promise Keepers, Christian Mens Network, all of these ministries have national conferences. Wouldnt it be nice to support one another in those conferences?
Herb: Do you feel like denominations are doing a decent job with mens ministry?
Darrel: You know, Herb, Im glad you asked that because our denominational group in National Coalition of Ministries to Men is stronger than it has ever been. When I came on board, the denominations had fifteen guys show up to our national conference. But now that segment is growing and they are interacting with each other about common issues that they have.
Herb: Do you think seminaries are doing a decent job in training mens ministry leaders?
Darrel: I think mens ministry leaders are so far on the back burner and there are so many other things on the front burner that its not even getting to the burner. Ive talked to a few seminaries and they agree with that. They have a hierarchy to go through in their institutions, so Im not sure how much push were going to get on that. But I dont think theyre doing a very good job, simply because there are more jobs than they can do with what they have. Part of the problem is that men, at this stage, dont really seem to get it until theyve hit 40. They want to be the Rambo of the world and think they can do this on their own. Theyre thinking in terms of gaming and not getting serous about life. Until this issue hits the seminaries, not much is going to be done about it.
Herb: If I were a young man interested in going into mens ministry, what kind of advice would you give me?
Darrel: I would draw counsel from somebody thats wiser. Find the most spiritual guy that you have in your sphere of influence. I would get that guy on board. The second guy I would get on board is a guy thats a good dad. Id want to know what that guy looks like. And the third guy I would get is the one thats a good husband. So if you get your spiritual advisor and those other two guys along with your pastor, they would be in your inner core group of guys that would help you figure what the next step might be in your life. Because when guys say they think God has called them to go into ministry, I always encourage them to get that qualified with three other sources.
Herb: What do you think are the major challenges mens ministry faces right now?
Darrel: Part of the challenge is how to get at this next generation thats coming up. We have to get young men into knowing who Jesus really is and what He can do in their lives; to know to love Him versus just whats in it for themselves. We need them to get in the face of God. Thats really what I think is the biggest challenge because I think churches today have been involved in religianity versus Christianity. And because of that, its difficult to get guys to pay attention in todays society. We need to get in contact with who these younger guys are.
Herb: Darrel, thanks so much.
Danville, California
March 9, 2013