Foundation #2: Three Strands of Leadership
And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him – a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12)
Moving forward with the No Man Left Behind Model, the second foundation for discipling the men of your church and community rests on the THREE STRANDS OF LEADERSHIP.
Your men’s ministry will need three strands of leadership to reach its highest potential: (1) the Senior Pastor; (2) a Passionate Leader for your men’s discipleship efforts, and (3) a Committed Leadership Team to support the Passionate Leader. With the proper buy-in at each of these levels you will have a well-balanced foundation.
To better understand what is needed with each of the Three Leadership Strands:
Enthusiastic Support & Involvement of Your Senior Pastor
- Pray for and with your Pastor: be diligent & faithful in this; maybe gather your men on Sunday mornings before services begin and have a time of prayer for your pastor
- Support your Pastor: men’s leaders need to have a reputation for support; discover your Pastor’s area of passion in ministry and rally around them to make them even more effective
- Inform your Pastor: make sure they know of things going on; forward them stories of changed lives; no surprises!
- Include your Pastor: however they want to be involved; let him be one of the guys
- Love your Pastor: and serve your Pastor; set up a co-op to take care of their lawn for 3-6 weeks in the summer to free them up for vacations and a time of refreshment
- If your Pastor takes a personal interest in the process and health of your discipleship ministry with men, you have a huge head start.
- Remember, your Pastor is responsible to a multitude of constituencies – all of them wanting the Pastor to make their ministry his top priority.
A Passionate Leader
- Someone who gets up in the morning wanting to help men grow in their walk with Christ.
- They don’t have to be perfect!
- Not permanent: Make sure that you are mentoring 1 or 2 men to take over in the future.
A Committed Leadership Team
- The main role of the entire Leadership Team is Vision-casting for all the ministry to men.
- Planning: This is for the overall ministry to men, not the little details for each event.
- Engaging: It has been proven over and over that “word of mouth” is the best advertisement; talk to men, engage them in the ministry, invite them to be a part of this dynamic ministry to men, and then help them do the same with other men.
- Praying: Praying is quite often overlooked when planning; take the time to PRAY first, then begin the planning process.
- NOTE: DOING EVERYTHING ISN’T LISTED HERE!!!!
As the Leadership Team, set up a culture to show the rest of your men how life-on-life relationships work. Remember, the height of your ministry to men will be determined by the depth of your Leadership Team.