How to Plan & Organize a Church Men's Ministry

Iron sharpens Iron. Men who minister to other men understand the value of forming relationships that facilitate real ministry. All it takes is one man to have a passion and vision for reaching men in the ministry. The process of organizing and planning will take time and a dedicated group of men to bring the vision of one man to fruition. Once the men in the church see a ministry totally focused on their issues, challenges and interests, they will buy into the vision and soon provide the additional support that is needed to sustain a strong men’s ministry.

Meet with men who are interested in forming a men’s group. This group can serve as your core group. Meet together and pray about the needs of the men in your church. Brainstorm ideas to get everyone thinking about a vision for the men’s ministry. Write down all of the ideas regardless of how far-fetched the ideas may be.

Create a survey for the men in your church. Gather demographics such as age, marital status, professions and hobbies. This will help you devise a plan to meet the needs of all of the men in the church. Use the information gleaned about hobbies and professions to try to integrate different men into activities for the men’s ministry.

Determine what curriculum or Bible study materials you will use for the first year. Men want to know that you have a well-planned program to help them meet their spiritual needs as men. Consider the information gained from the survey of the men in your church when selecting a study curriculum. Ensure that the curriculum addresses most of the top-five areas that the men in your church believe are most important.

Choose a leader for the ministry. Someone has to spearhead the men’s ministry effort. Most men will not follow a disorganized group or organization. Create a leadership structure that includes several men functioning at some level. The leader of the ministry must be someone who understands the importance of forming relationships with the men and articulating the vision of the men’s ministry.

Plan a schedule of events. Take the brainstorming ideas and the survey data and allow the men that were selected to work on a planning committee to establish some concrete dates for the men’s ministry for the entire year. Some ideas to consider would be sporting events, cook-outs, movies that deal with men's issues, retreats, special men’s services and prayer breakfasts.

Advertise the events. Use the men who are working with the planning efforts to reach out to the other men in the church. People respond better to personal invitations than to blanket announcements. Other methods of reaching men besides personally talking to them is to use the media, announcements on the church website, distribution of flyers or phone calls.