By Herb Reese
Looking for men's ministry topics for your next men's conference, retreat, or church men's breakfast? Most lists cover discipleship, marriage, fatherhood, purity, finances, and leadership. Those topics are important. But there is one biblical topic that is almost never discussed—and it may be the one topic the modern church needs most.
Men's ministry isn't complicated. I have conducted workshops at more than 150 men's conferences over 19 years -- Iron Sharpens Iron men's conference ministry is a great example of these men's conferences. I can summarize the men's ministry topics covered by the thousands of workshop titles I have observed, along with the plenary messages I have listened to, under ten general headings. Here they are.
I can say that a clear presentation of the gospel has been given at almost evelry single men's conference I have attended. As a result, I've witnessed hundreds of men come to faith in Christ. I'm proud to be a part of a movement that presents the gospel so clearly and powerfully to men.
As a men's ministry leader in your church, please make sure your men hear the gospel on a regular basis. Then teach them how to "adorn" the gospel and how to share the gospel.
Workshops I've seen on spiritual life, or what I call personal piety, emphasize the importance of practicing spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, Bible study, scripture memory, and witnessing. They also foster discipleship by encouraging men to develop discipling relationships with other men.
Many churches that have men's ministries place a major emphasis on spiritual life disciplines by forming weekly small men's Bible study/prayer groups. These small men's groups are an excellent way to start a men's ministry in your church.
If any pastor is looking for sermon topics for men's ministry, considering preaching a series on male identity. This is a huge issue, not just in men's ministry, but in our general culture as well. Men are going through a tectonic change in their societal roles in America and the tension bleeds over into men's ministry. Men quite literally don't know what it means to be a man.
The big question in Christian circles is whether a man can be a Christian without becoming feminized. One way men's ministry answers this question by stressing the bold and fearless side of Jesus. Workshops also present the spiritual life in very masculine terms, describing it as a "battle" in which men wage "spiritual warfare." (Rough Cut Men Ministries is one example.) And finally, they emphasize the importance of men's roles as husbands and fathers.
All local church men's ministries need to address the "stage in life" issues men face. I call this felt need ministry. Single men, divorced men, husbands, fathers, and grandfathers all have problems that Scripture provides answers to. Being able to show the relevance of Scripture to a man in his particular station in life is probably the most relevant ministry a men's ministry can have.
Plenary men's meetings in your church, such as the ever-popular monthly men's breakfast or annual men's retreat are excellent opportunities to address these topics.
The pornography problem among Christian men has been well documented (i.e., by Barna Group, Christianity Today, Charisma Magazine). Barna Group reports that 75% of Christian men view pornography to some extent.
For this reason, most men's conferences have a breakout session dedicated to the issue of pornography. Local church men's ministries would be wise to specifically address the topic as well.
Increasingly, other types of addictions are popping up in the church as well, such as drug, alcohol, and gambling. These, too, need to be addressed.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that just because your men never talk about these addictions that they do not have a problem with them. Provide descrete meetings, meeting places, and online sign up links for your men to address this and other addictions.
Money is always on everyone's mind; how to make more of it, how to spend less of it, what part to give to God and others, and how to get out of debt. But as men's ministry leaders, we must help our men think biblically about money. Namely, we must help our men think of money as a means to bring great blessing to others and to ourselves.
One way I help men think biblically about finances is by teaching them to think of five concentric circles of responsibility and blessing: himself, his immediate family, his extended family, his church, and his neighbors. Then I show men how to financially meet the needs of people in these five circles.
Recently I've seen the rise of men's ministries that address very specific physical and emotional issues with men: issues relating to weight, exercise, anger, depression, etc. Knights of the 21st Century is an example of a men's ministry dedicated to the emotional health of Christian men.
I've seen the issues of race, politics, homosexuality, human trafficking, war, and poverty addressed at men's conferences. A local church men's ministry should address these issues as well because you know your men are talking about them around the water cooler at work.
A local church men's ministry should clearly define what role it plays in fulfilling the mission of the church, how it supports the pastor and the pastor's vision for the church.
I suggest your church develop a 10 year plan for your men's ministry and then describe what a genuinely , comprehensive men's ministry will look like in your church.
Actually, the topic of good works is a no show at men's conferences. But they should be. Men's conferences, and the Evangelical church in general, almost completely avoid the topic of good works. Other than my own workshop, I have never seen a workshop, or even a local church men's ministry, that covers this important Scriptural topic. This is sad, because a man of God isn't truly a man of God until he has been "thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17).
You can change this. Study the topic of good works in Scripture, and then teach your men what you have learned and show them by your own actions how to put good works into practice.
This post first appeared in New Commandment.org
.Originally Published: 2017/02/09
Last updated and expanded: 2026/07/21
Teams of four men serving widows, single moms, fatherless children and others with long-term pressing needs in their churches and communities.
