the Door

A recent Tearfund survey revealed that 70 per cent of men in the UK are either apathetic or antagonistic towards the Church. Mark Withers tells how a men’s ministry has evolved ans is encouraging men to go deeper with God at Christ Church, Abingdon.

TWO years ago I met George Moody and James Ross in a pub. Not that unusual for blokes, but the conversation turned to the question of helping men find and grow in faith.

That evening the three of us decided to do something. We would spend the day together, go and walk up a mountain and see if any bright ideas came our way. As we spoke about our plans other men wanted to join us, so three became twelve, twelve became twenty and ended up becoming a weekend away with nearly 70 men walking up a mountain.

That weekend in Abergavenny in South Wales became a catalyst for our men’s ministry. A theme for the weekend was to release men into their passions. We have not sat down and created a grand plan. We have adopted an approach that works with the energy, vision and passion of individual men.

There are four main areas where things are happening:

1. Fun: A number of activities are now organised for men – mountain biking, running, golf, sea fishing, wine and whisky tasting (but not at the same time)and dragon boat racing. Some of the over 60s have just started to organise activities aimed at this age-group. Later this year we plan to hold a Scalextric version of the 24 hour Le Mans race.
2. Serving: We are getting men connected with community-based projects. We have engaged with the work of Medic Assist International and the Catalyst Trust. We are planning a major effort this September to get involved with community projects in Abingdon.
3. Seeking: Events are organised to engage with men who want to find out more about Jesus and the Christian faith. We have held one-off events with speakers.
   We recently held a Six Nations rugby evening at the local football club with Michael Green as speaker. We now run a men’s mini-Alpha, covering much of the Alpha course in blocks of three evenings. We use Father’s Day to focus services on men and have a social in the evening with real ale, pub games, computer games and live jazz.
4. Growth: We aim to help men grow in their faith. We have held a second men’s weekend – in Portsmouth; we hold quarterly Sunday evening Pit Stops for social, thinking and praying time together. We now have a number of men who meet regularly to pray or study together.

We produce a mini-mag for men filled with articles written by men in our church about relevant issues or activities aimed at men.
This is not all. Some men have stepped into different church ministries too – around half of our children’s ministry leaders are men.
Despite all this we have only really just started. We are currently building links with other churches in Abingdon and held a successful ‘Pit Stop’ with Abingdon Baptist Church in January. More joint events are planned so that we work together to reach men across Abingdon.

We are very excited about this work. Men are being challenged and men’s lives are being changed.

Mark Withers is men’s co-ordinator at Christ Church, Abingdon. Contact him via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 

‘Philip said to Jesus, ‘Show us the father and we will be satisfied... Jesus said to him, ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.’ John 14, 8 and 9.