The Ripple Effect (20,000 by 2020)
Over the last few years, our team has talked internally about the goal of seeing 20,000 men mentored by the end of 2020. We’ve discussed it with our board and at our annual Mentor Summit, and tracked it through conversations with our church partners. But before I tell you where we stand, I want to tell you why it matters.
Here are few staggering stats from the Washington Area Coalition of Men’s Ministry . . .
- Less than 1/3 of men in church say they have a close friend
- Fewer than 10% of U.S. churches are able to establish or maintain a vibrant men’s ministry
- But when a father follows Jesus, his family joins him 93% of the time
To me, these stats present an opportunity. When churches can establish a vibrant men’s ministry, they can help men build the close friendships they need to grow in faith and life. And when that happens, not only does the church (and the community) get an active, engaged Jesus-follower, they get his family and his relationships too!
It’s a great example of the ripple effect . . . “the continuing and spreading results of an event or action.” When you get the man . . . you get the family . . . when you get the family . . . you get the community . . . when you get the community . . . you get the picture.
I’ve seen this theory play out in my life . . . the intentionality of my walk with God absolutely impacts my marriage, my relationship with my boys, and our family’s involvement/attendance at church. It is really that simple.
Up to this point, we’ve counted almost 9,000 men who’ve been in a mentoring group. And through those who’ve used the Post-Commencement Survey we provide all our church partners, we have data on almost 500 of those mentees. Here’s what they had to say about their time in a mentoring group . . .
- 97% have deepened their walk of God
- 98% have improved as a man and leader
- 98% have seen their overall life improve
- 90% have developed more intentional male relationships
- 96% have seen their marriages improve
- 58% have increased their giving to their church
Could results like that make a difference in your church and community?
I don’t know if 20,000 is the right number to shoot for . . . I hope it’s too low. But regardless, that number matters, not because it’s a number or a goal, but because of the stories those men represent, the marriages and families that are impacted, and the ripple that just one fully alive man makes.
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Responses (1)
Man to man mentoring is much needed today, it is replacing the church’s main responsibility that it has abandoned – making of disciples. Man to man relationships would be a normal outcome of a discipleship way of life and wouldn’t any need special attention. We have no idea how far we have drifted from what Jesus said we are to be and do – if you don’t think so just look at the stats of the western church world today and the number of young people exiting as well as the stats you note above. We need God to helps recognize that drift and correct it so discipleship and spiritual formation is the heartbeat of the church. When it is the mission & outreach will take care of themselves as it did in the early church and in times since then.