Considering starting a non-profit men’s ministry? “It is a good thing you desire to do,” as Paul said.
I moved from the pastorate into men’s ministry over sixteen years ago. It was a radical transition for me. After twenty years, I never thought I would be anything other than a pastor. But God had other plans. After having gone through the process myself, here is my advice for anyone thinking of starting a non-profit men’s ministry.
- Spend time in prayer. And I mean a lot of time. During that pivotal period in my life, I spent an entire year seeking the Lord’s guidance in prayer. At the beginning of that year, men’s ministry wasn’t even on my radar. By the end of that year, men’s ministry was all I could think about.
- Consider doing something else. I actually tried to do something other than men’s ministry. The last thing I thought this world needed was one more parachurch ministry. But during an interview for one particular position I was interested in, I talked so much about men’s ministry that they told me I should do that instead of working for them!
- Don’t reinvent the wheel. There are several duplicate men’s ministries out there doing the same thing. Consider joining forces with one of them. One of the indications that I should start my non-profit was that when I shared the concept of men’s team ministry to their widowed and single parents with men’s ministry leaders, they would say, “No one is doing this kind of ministry, Herb. You should do it.”
- Check the nape of your neck. Is it red? Mother cats pick up their kittens by the nape of their necks. Sometimes God does the same with us. He picks us up by the nape of our necks and, with our arms and legs flailing, says, “I don’t want you there, I want you here.” Then he plops us down. Francis Schaeffer called this being “extruded,” like toothpaste out of a toothpaste tube. God forces us out of one situation and into another.
- Read and study your Bible. If you’re going to disciple men for Jesus Christ, then you need to know your Bible.
- Volunteer. Volunteer. Volunteer. My good friend, Brian Doyle, founder of Iron Sharpens Iron, gives this advice to anyone considering men’s ministry: Find a successful men’s ministry, volunteer, and learn everything you can.
- Is your wife cheering you on? You’re not going to be successful in any ministry if your wife is not behind you.
- Theory alone doesn’t cut it. Having an idea of how to do men’s ministry isn’t enough. You need to actually have done it in a practical situation before you go to all the trouble of starting a non-profit.
- Is there a “Wow! factor”? Do people’s eyes light up when you tell them what you want to do, or when they see you working with men in your church? That kind of reaction is a good indicator of whether or not you will be successful in men’s ministry.
- Define your one sentence “so that” mission. This sentence tells people what is going to happen as a result of you starting your non-profit men’s ministry. Here’s a template to fill out: “We (enter what you do here) so that (enter the result of what you do here).” For my ministry, the sentence reads, “We help churches form teams of men who adopt their widowed and single parents so that their church can say ‘There is no needy person among us.’“
- Learn to beg. You’re going to have to fund your ministry some way and that probably means raising support. In other words, part of your job description will be, “professional beggar.”
- Find a soap box. You will need some kind of platform to get the word out about your ministry. Are you going to do a newsletter, contact local pastors, advertise on Google, hold workshops?
- Show results. Ultimately, it’s up to you to show that your donor dollars are being used wisely. Simply doing ministry is not necessarily successful ministry. You need to decide what kind of metrics you are going to use to evaluate success.
Men, the world is in bad shape, and that’s largely because the men in the world are in even worse shape. The world needs men’s ministers. If you are being called to start a non-profit men’s ministry, I hope you have found these suggestions helpful.
May the Lord bless your efforts and grant you fruit a thousand fold over.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
Since 2003 New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North American and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt their widowed and single parents 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 here.
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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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