Summer has something for everyone. For some, it is about a vacation in the mountains or on the beach. For others, it’s taking that long walk in the woods or spending a lazy day on the lake. Some lucky ones are planning that trip to watch “The Boys of Summer” at Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Wrigley, or AmFam Field in Milwaukee. For those of us who are in ministry, it is a time to prepare for the flurry of activity that comes in the fall. The summer becomes our time to pray, plan, recruit, and train leaders. In this letter, I will lay out a few things that will help you as you prepare your ministry for the coming year.
Praying
In the midst of all of this preparation, make sure that your team is praying. The greatest thing that you can do this summer to prepare for a successful fall is to pray. Jesus tells us in Matthew 9 to pray to the Lord of the harvest for the laborers. Spend significant time regularly praying about who you should be asking to serve with you. Ask Him to lead you, guide you, mold you, and speak to you as you go about the work of the Kingdom.
- Ask God to reveal potential leaders in your congregation.
- Pray for the spiritual growth and needs of the men in your church.
- Invite other men to join you in praying regularly.
- Pray for unity, vision, and the courage to lead boldly.
Planning
While a lot of planning starts in the spring, summer is the time when you will meet regularly in ministry teams to finalize the plans for the coming year. When you meet, keep in mind the following principles:
- Purpose-driven: Never plan activities for the sake of having activities. Rather, in everything you do, let your purposes drive the planning. At the end of your planning sessions, every person on the team should be able to state the purpose of every event or activity that you will be doing in the coming year. If the purpose is unclear to the team, it will be unclear to the men of your church.
- Theme: We have found it to be helpful to choose a theme for the year from which all of the events will flow. Some examples are Running Like a Champion, Becoming a Man of Purpose, Unlocking the Masculine Soul, etc. Your large groups, small groups, and special events can all build off this theme, which allows for consistent messaging and expectations throughout the year.
- Be aware of the church calendar: When planning your men’s ministry year, make sure to have the church calendar available so that you can plan around other church-wide events.
- Plan on non-family time: We have found it helpful to plan much of what we do with our men during “non-family time.” For example, most of our Bible studies meet at 6:00am. Most wives readily agree, “If you want to get up at 5:00am and meet with the guys, great, go for it!” Saturday mornings tend to be difficult times to meet. We don’t want to have our men’s program compete with other priorities that weekends can bring.
- Bridge building: Everything you do should have an easy and natural bridge to the next step. Never do anything without a defined next step in the process of growing disciples.
Recruiting and Training
The summer is a great time to build new ministry teams and rebuild existing teams. I strongly suggest a team approach to all planning. We ask men for a one-year commitment to their planning team, from June to the end of May. During the summer, each coordinator is responsible for recruiting men to be on his team for the coming year. When recruiting men, keep in mind these simple principles:
- Ministry flows from relationships: Spend time getting to know guys’ hearts before you ask them to serve with you in ministry. At No Regrets, our motto is “Become friends and change the world”. Jesus’ life shows us how ministry flows from friendship. Jesus did not invite the men into a program. Instead, he invited them into a relationship.
- Recruit men to a specific task: Men do not like open-ended invitations. They want to know specifically what you are asking them to do and for how long. A formal job description may be helpful here.
- Train: Never ask a man to do anything that you are unwilling to train him to do. For example, if a man has been recommended to lead a small group in the fall, you should provide training throughout the summer to help prepare him. A man wants to own the tools with which to be successful. To help train your small group leaders, we have a seven-session video series titled, How to Start and Lead Men’s Small Groups.
Remember that the preparation time now will reap a harvest as your ministry year unfolds. May the Lord of the harvest fulfill His agenda for the men of your church and community as He leads you this summer. And – by all means – enjoy the vacation, the barbecue, the sun, and the games this summer, too!
