How to Start a Career in Men’s Ministry

Men’s ministry can be a tough row to hoe. It is often underemphasized in churches, or even totally ignored. For this reason, I deeply admire men who are interested in serving in ministry to men. Below is my advice for anyone thinking of starting a career in men’s ministry.

If there is anything else besides men’s ministry that you can possibly do, do it.

I mean this. Men’s ministry is a high and holy calling–with an emphasis on calling. Men’s ministry is not a way to fulfill yourself. It is not a way to make a lot of money. (Trust me, you won’t.) It is not a way to escape the drudgery of stocking shelves at your local Walmart. It is a response to God yanking you by the nap of your neck and saying, “Do this!”

You must not do vocational men’s ministry, or any ministry for that matter, unless you are absolutely sure that God has called you to do it. When times get tough–and they will–you will need that assurance to fall back on.

Without the assurance of God’s calling, when storms buffet you, you will collapse.

In my own experience, I was perfectly content to be a pastor for the rest of my life. I loved pastoring churches. (Most of the time.) The last thing I thought the world needed was one more parachurch ministry. But the time came when I sensed a “still, small voice” calling me into men’s ministry and that voice got louder and louder, both internally in my spirit and externally through numerous circumstances. Finally, it got so loud and obvious I realized that if I didn’t do it I would be disobedient.

It has been the assurance that God has called me to do what I’m doing that has been my bulwark at critical points in my men’s ministry.

So here’s my advice: if you sense that God is calling you into men’s ministry, take the following steps and see if the voice gets louder, both in your own spirit and in your circumstances, until it becomes so loud that you–and everyone around you–can’t ignore it.

Make sure your walk with the Lord is healthy.

Here are some questions: Are you born again? Do you have a thorough knowledge of the Word of God? Are you allowing the Spirit of God to fill you, convict you, lead you? Are you overcoming besetting sin? Are you in love with Jesus Christ? If you are married and/or have children, and are you applying your faith to your marriage and family relationships?

If your answer to any of these questions is no, you need to work on that area of your life before you do anything in men’s ministry.

One way to grow in any of these areas is to take the following steps.

Find a godly man you respect to mentor you.

Discipleship is critical. Before you can do men’s ministry, you have to experience men’s ministry. You will never know how vital men’s ministry is until you see how it has impacted your own life.

I had the great privilege of growing up in a wonderful church. I was surrounded by dozens of godly men. At different points of my young life, some of those men took me under their wing and discipled me. Decades later, their ministry to me still impacts my life daily and gives me a passion to have the same kind of impact in other men.

My experience has led me to the conclusion that you simply cannot do men’s ministry unless you have been discipled by another man.

Find a younger Christian man who will let you mentor him.

Once you’ve been discipled, now it’s your turn to pass on the experience. Find someone younger in the Lord than you and disciple them. Here are a couple of excellent resources that will help you along in this process: Character that Counts and Men’s Ministry Network.

Get involved in your church’s men’s ministry, volunteer to help, and learn everything you can.

If your church has a men’s ministry, get involved in it. If it doesn’t, ask your pastor if you can start one. Either way, you will learn a ton about men, their needs and how to meet them. Here are some great resources for starting a men’s ministry in your church: Knights of the 21st Century, Man in the Mirror and Every Man Ministries.

Read everything you can get your hands on about men’s ministry.

Some of the classics are: The Man in the Mirror, by Patrick Morley; The Measure of a Man, by Gene Getz; and Why Men Hate Going to Church, by David Murrow.

Do a self evaluation.

Ask yourself the following questions: Do I feel the presence of the Spirit of God when I minister to men on a volunteer basis? Are men naturally following my example as a Christian? Do I see fruit in the lives of men as I work with them? As I take steps toward pursuing what I perceive is a call from God to do men’s ministry as a vocation, are other believers affirming that direction in my life?

Consider furthering your education.

Sadly, I don’t know of any Christian colleges or seminaries that have a major in men’s ministry. In reality, these schools are simply mirroring the lack of an emphasis on men’s ministry in the local church. Very few churches have a staff person dedicated specifically to men’s ministry.

However, this lack of men’s ministry majors doesn’t mean you can’t benefit greatly from a broad education in ministry, including deepening you knowledge and understanding of the Bible, sharpening your writing and speaking skills, and acquiring basic counseling abilities. All of these abilities are critical for men’s ministry.

Check out full or part-time men’s ministry opportunities

Most Christian colleges and seminaries have placement offices that can help you locate churches and organizations that are hiring men seeking employment in men’s ministry. If your home church doesn’t have a men’s minister, you might ask it to consider hiring yourself as their first one.

There are also national men’s ministries that do hire staff. Some pay full time salaries. Many require you to raise your own support. Man in the Mirror is aggressively recruiting regional representatives for its ministry.

Another possibility is starting your own non-profit ministry with a specific men’s ministry emphasis. My suggestion, however, is that before you do this you make sure you are not simply duplicating a men’s ministry that is already serving the body of Christ in that way.

Join a professional men’s ministry association.

Actually, there is only one professional men’s ministry association that I know of, and it’s a fabulous resource. I highly recommend you join National Coalition of Ministries to Men. Attending it’s annual national conference is the best way I know of to learn about the men’s ministry resources that are out there.

And finally, my last recommendation for starting a career in men’s ministry is…

Learn how to hunt and fish.

Seriously. All three churches I was the pastor of had men who hunted and fished. Unfortunately, I grew up in inner city Los Angeles. The only thing people hunted in LA was other people. And have you ever seen the LA “river”? It’s just a drainage ditch. Hunting and fishing were completely foreign to me and disinterest in these two sports was a hindrance to my ministry to men.

So there you have it. If God is truly calling you to be a fisher of men, blessings on you, my friend, because men desperately need your ministry. You are being called into the battle to fight for the souls of men and to have an eternally lasting impact.

Give me your feedback. Are you in men’s ministry? What would you add to my post? Are you thinking about men’s ministry? What further questions do you have?

*A single mom and her fatherless child with their team of men*

Since 2003 New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North America and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt widows, single moms and fatherless children in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called New Commandment Men’s Ministry Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church at 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.