Evangelism:

Firsts came John Eldridge's "Wild at Heart," then author David Murrow's "Why Men Hate Going to Church," both books assessing that modern churches and modern Christianity are the domain of women and should hearken back to something more intrinsically male like, well, off-roading.

Baptist Press reports that a Southern Baptist Theological Seminary student, Guy Fredrick, is going where no man has gone before (at least not in a sedan) to reach people for Christ.

"For me, as a church planter, as a cultural anthropologist, as a missionary, one of my goals is to find people no one else can reach," Frederick said. So he took his search off-road and formed an Internet group as a way to meet fellow adventurers who head not to church but to the woods each weekend.

Discipleship:

Also from Baptist Press one of the best tools for evangelism and discipleship in the church may be the music ministry. One Texas music minister told as much to those gathered during Music Week at the LifeWay Glorieta Conference Center in New Mexico, where the themes for the week had more to do with making disciples than making music.

Fellowship and Architecture/Construction:

More steeples and knaves are giving way to more atypical meeting places for churches. Even as Lakewood Church in Houston begins meeting regularly in their newly renovated Compaq Center basketball arena, other Texas churches have followed suit congregating in movie theatres, and office buildings, grocery and hardware stores.

The Dallas Morning News reported Fellowship Bible Church's story from a commercial angle showing how Christian congregations can reuse properties.

Ministry:

AIDS has come more clearly into focus this summer as a ministry opportunity for the Church. Heightened interest by evangelical leaders underscored the continued interest in the HIV/AIDS pandemic already expressed by mainline denominational leaders and others. And The Christian Post reported that the The Baptist World Alliance resolved in July to make HIV/AIDS a priority by creating a network of AIDS-related ministries and sharing information.

Then this week Rick Warren sent a checklist encouraging churches with "Six Ways Your Church Can Attack the AIDS Crisis" Warren also announced a new conference  on HIV/AIDS to debut at Saddleback in conjunction with Willow Creek Community Church's Bill Hybels, Nov. 29-Dec. 1, which is World AIDS Day.

Other upcoming conferences/training:

T.D. Jakes' Mega-Fest returns to Atlanta, Aug. 3-6

Church Consultant Training in Louisville, Ky., Aug. 8-10

Preaching Truth in a Whatever World still offers nine upcoming conference dates at sites across the United States.

Global Missions Health Conference, Louisville, Ky., Nov. 10-12, which includes the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization North American Consultation on the Role of the Church in the HIV/AIDS Pandemic.