We’re all getting older. This means that our men’s team ministries are getting older too. Some men’s team ministries have been around for over ten years. Some teams have been around for over ten years. I’ve been on a team serving our care receiver for fourteen years now!
So what do you do when you notice that you have a lot more old men than young men in your men’s team ministry? Here are some suggestions:
First, thank the Lord for the menu.
By “menu,” I mean the “men-u” already have. A gentrifying men’s team ministry probably means it’s been around for a while. This is a good thing. You have an established ministry that is functioning as it should. Thank God for that!
Also, just because your men are getting old doesn’t mean they’re necessarily getting less useful. My general rule of thumb is if a man at church is breathing and has a pulse, he’s qualified to be on a team. I know of a team that has a man in a wheelchair on it. Another team has a blind man on it!
And finally, men’s team ministry naturally attracts and keeps older men because they tend to have more time on their hands, have generally learned quite a few home repair skills, and, most importantly, have matured as a believer to the point where they have learned to think about the needs of others as “more important than their own.”
Ask the Lord for the menu.
By “menu” here, I mean the “men-u” don’t have. Jesus instructed us to simply ask for workers to reap the harvest. So why not just ask the Lord to send you young men for your aging men’s team ministry?
When I have experienced a shortage of workers in my ministry, God has directly responded when I have just asked.
“Herb! Herb! Our prayers have been answered! Our prayers have been answered!
Patti was shouting so loud as she ran out the back door of our parsonage, I could hear her over my riding lawnmower.
Our small church was drawing teenagers from the surrounding community and we didn’t have qualified volunteers to work with them. So I had added the task of leading the youth group to my already full plate. I was beginning to feel overwhelmed, though, so Patti and I decided to pray that the Lord would send us someone to work with our youth.
“A guy named Phil called from the medical school in Galveston,” she continued, still gasping as she got to me at the lawnmower. Our church was about a twenty minute drive across the causeway to Galveston Island and the school.
“He asked, ‘Is this Tang?’ Tang-was-my-camp-name-when-I-was-a-camp-counselor-in-East-Texas-and-Phil-was-also-a-camp-counselor-there,” finishing a big gulp of air. I could tell she was hurrying so she could get to the good part. (Patti’s camp name was Tang because she’s a redhead.)
“I said, ‘Yes! This is Tang!’ Then he said, ‘I heard you married a pastor and his church is near our school. The reason I’m calling is because I’m wondering if I and some of my fellow medical and nursing students could come to your church and work with your youth.”
Bingo. We had our youth group leaders-about a half dozen of them. But these were not just any ordinary youth group leaders. One of the medical students was the daughter of a seminary professor at my seminary. Another had gone to a Christian college before starting his medical studies. These direct answers to our simple prayer wound up being some of the most qualified youth workers of any church in the State of Texas!
I have seen this principle of simply asking the Lord to send workers work time and again. Every time our wait list gets up to three or four care receivers, I just start asking the Lord to send us more men. And He does.
That being said, though, it is important to showcase your men’s team ministry in your church so your young men know it’s there and what it does. Here are some concrete steps you can take to do that:
Make sure your men’s team ministry is young-men-friendly.
It may be the case that over the years, your teams are quitting later and later on your service day. But young fathers need to get home earlier than older men because they have a wife, and especially children, to think about. The later your teams quit on your service day, the less likely young men are to participate.
Young men can also be intimidated by the home repair skills of older man. Most men in their twenties and thirties have few of these types of skills. Make sure they know that they don’t have to have any skills at all to participate in your men’s team ministry.
Recruit the young men in your youth group.
One way to begin replenishing the ranks of your men’s team ministry with young men is to recruit the men in your youth group. (Yes, they are men. Very young men, but men none-the-less. And they will appreciate it when you treat them that way.) Don’t form teams of high school and middle school men alone (They are not necessarily wise or skilled men). Instead, plug one into each team with your older men. That way you form natural mentoring relationships.
Focus on meeting the felt needs of the young men in your congregation.
Most young men in their twenties and thirties are overwhelmed with life’s demands. They’re in school. They’re establishing their careers. They’re getting married. They’re buying homes. They’re having children. They’re buying furniture. And on and on and on.
These men also have incredible needs. It’s hard for them to break out of this self-focused cycle and start meeting someone else’ needs. So what your church needs to do is start focusing on their needs and then introduce them to how to meet the needs of others in a way that doesn’t overwhelm them.
Here are some suggestions. Start a SS class for fathers on how to be a great dad. Hold marriage enrichment retreats for young couples. Sponsor a father-son dinner. Develop a course on how to interview for a job. Hold seminars on budgeting finances. Sponsor a “Dear Younger Me” dinner, where older men share with younger men what they wish they they had known when they were their age.
Use these felt need ministries to introduce your young men to men’s team ministry.
In all of these examples, your men’s team ministry can be casually presented as an option for your younger men to consider. For example, your men’s team ministry can set up a booth at the father-son dinner. Or it can be the primary sponsor of the “Dear Younger Me” dinner.
Describe how young fathers can mentor their sons in men’s team ministry.
Men’s team ministry to their widowed and single parents is a fantastic opportunity for fathers to mentor their sons. Starting at about the age of 10, boys can accompany their fathers and help with simple tasks. In the process, they learn from the example of their father, and also from the examples of the other godly men on the team. And not only that, but they also learn about the needs of widows, widowers, single parents and fatherless children.
If you have a young senior pastor or other young staff pastor, invite him to join your men’s team ministry.
This is wishful thinking in most churches. The vast majority of pastors already have a full plate. So don’t be surprised if your pastor politely declines. But it doesn’t hurt to ask. And if he does accept the invitation, consider yourself very fortunate indeed. Having the example of your young pastor involved in men’s team ministry will naturally draw other young men into it.
So what has been your experience? Is your men’s team ministry growing old? Have you had any success in recruiting younger men in your church? If so, what’s worked best for you?
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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