RIDGECREST, N.C. -- A successful men's ministry includes a variety of ways for new members to get involved, from retreats to wild game dinners, according to a speaker at a Discipleship and Family Week conference.
The conference, which runs June 29 through July 5 in Ridgecrest, N.C., is sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Mel Cornillaud, men's ministry director at Beach Road Baptist Church in Southport, N.C., said men's ministries need a strategy for attracting newcomers, according to the Baptist Press.
"A lot of people say, ‘Our men's group is stagnant. It's the same guys, the same stuff all the time, and we want to attract more men, perhaps younger men, to our group,'" Cornillaud said. "Sometimes, what churches have is a men's club, and they're not getting men involved in ministry and missions outside the church."
Cornillaud urged churches to come up with new ways to involve new men, including:
- A monthly nine-hole golf scramble and fellowship.
- Retreats.
- Small groups for prayer and/or accountability.
- Active men's ministries, such as a handyman team, disaster relief/recovery, Habitat for Humanity, a county jail ministry, youth boot camp or state prison ministry.
- Mission trips to other countries.
- Father/son campouts and father/daughter banquets.
- Wild game dinners.
- Garden ministry.
"Men have interests that may not include attending your church at first, but may include fishing or golf or construction or volunteerism," Cornillaud said.
