Raising the Bar in Ministry to Men Through Men's Events
May 2004
C&MA Men's Ministry (MM) encountered Brian Doyle at the 2004 National Coalition of Men's Ministry (NCMM) Leadership Conference. After hearing about Brian's involvement in Vision New England Men's Ministry (http://www.visionnewengland.com/), we asked him to share some of his experiences related to men's events.
MM - Brian, one of your responsibilities with Vision New England Men's Ministry is assisting churches and denominations in holding men's retreats. How long have you been helping with these retreats?
BRIAN DOYLE - I have helped with men's retreats for many years - though after Promise Keepers made ministry to men visible - retreats became relevant to men of all ages.
MM - How many men attend these retreats?
BRIAN DOYLE - Attendance at a typical retreat is 100-200 men. You need 100+/- to build enough critical mass so that there is safety for the average man. This is why multi-church men's retreats are so important. There are only a handful of New England churches that can mobilize 100 men to a retreat.
MM - What is it that draws these men?
BRIAN DOYLE - There are three things that draw men to retreats:
- A personal invitation. A great retreat with great marketing still demands that a man receives a personal invitation.
- Excellence. Because men are so analytical and critical - a retreat for men must be great. This means everything - food, music, facilities, speaker and content - must be great.
- Momentum. An excellent retreat in 2003 will posture the 2004 retreat to succeed. Personal invitations will come easier.
MM - How do you advertise retreats?
BRIAN DOYLE - We create ‘church packets'. These packets include brochures, posters, bulletin inserts, sign up sheets, and PowerPoint slides. We then follow through with emails to men.
MM - Describe the setting for your retreats? Retreat center, Hotel etc.?
BRIAN DOYLE - The setting counts. It should not be elaborate - but must not be cheap. Cheap is good as far as keeping the price down - but most men will not come back - no matter how cheap (or free) it is if the quality is poor. A great retreat center helps to build momentum.
MM - What is the normal charge for a weekend retreat?
BRIAN DOYLE - Weekend retreats run $70-$100 depending on the facility, speaker and other costs.
MM - How do you help the men prepare for each retreat?
BRIAN DOYLE - Preparation includes keeping it in front of the men and strong promotion to the end. We have a prominent theme. We also make up hats or shirts or the like for every man.
MM - What format do you recommend for a men's retreat?
BRIAN DOYLE - Different formats work. Keys to a successful retreat include: don't pack in too much content, have men organized into ‘breakout groups,' train breakout group leaders, have a breakout group after every message, always have coffee and food available.
MM - What do you suggest that will enable men to follow up on retreat content when they return home?
BRIAN DOYLE - We suggest scheduling a follow up event as part of the retreat marketing. Another idea is to use the Sunday after the retreat for men to give testimony of what God did. Many churches keep the breakout groups going for another six weeks.
MM - At the NCMM Leadership Conference you mentioned a variation on the traditional men's retreat by one New England church. Please describe how they do their men's retreat.
BRIAN DOYLE - Yes, Crossway Church. Crossway retreats are a little extreme. They begin on Sunday night and end on Wednesday night. They have a speaker each morning - ski most of the day - have a world class dinner each night - and have the speaker back at night.
MM - What changes are you considering for the future retreats?
BRIAN DOYLE - More emphasis and creativity in developing quality fun activities like a golf shootout, a fishing derby, a basketball tournament, etc.
MM - As a part of the men's ministry team at Vision New England, you also conduct interdenominational Iron Sharpens Iron Conferences. Tell us about them.
BRIAN DOYLE - We began holding these conferences with two in 2001 - Central New England and Southern New England. We have found that 'proximity' is very important to men. In 2002 and 2003 we also had two. In 2004 we held five conferences - in five different areas of New England - with over 3000 men attending. They were very successful - but a little too much for our team. Next year we will have four. Besides conference location, the availability of partnering churches that can host a large men's gathering is obviously an important factor.
MM - Are these one-day conferences? When do you start and when are they over?
BRIAN DOYLE - Yes, they are one day conferences. We start at 8:30 AM (doors open at 7:30) and end at 4:30 PM. We begin and end the day with 90 minute plenary sessions. The morning and afternoon seminar sessions are an hour and fifteen minutes. We take a 30 minute morning and afternoon break and lunch is an hour and fifteen minutes.
MM - What do you charge for an Iron Sharpens Iron Conference?
BRIAN DOYLE - The conferences fees vary depending on whether a man registers for a full day or half day. The fee for a full day is $50.00 with discounts if a group registers 10 or more men.
MM - What are some of the topics that you offer during the conference?
BRIAN DOYLE - We presented 55 different seminars this past year. The seminars are organized into tracks based on the seasons of a man's life. Topics at one conference this year included: Cosmology and Christianity, Developing Children of Character, Finishing the Race Strong, and How a Man is Wired, to name a few. Our website shows the seminar topics and the speakers that we brought in for plenary sessions and seminars this year (http://www.ironsharpensiron.net/).
MM - What do you look for in speakers for interdenominational conferences and retreats?
BRIAN DOYLE - We look for speakers who can speak to men. A great pastor/teacher may be able to speak to men - but that is no guarantee. Seminaries tend to teach pastors how to speak to women. A good place to start is with the directors of member organizations of NCMM (www.ncmm.org/members.cfm).
MM - You have said that a key to event participation in men's events has been building trust among New England pastors. How do you go about doing this?
BRIAN DOYLE - As with the men, the key is excellence - producing a quality product. Also we market to the church instead of the man. We reach out to churches. The church is our ‘customer'. The church then reaches out to the man. We help churches mobilize men and then teach them how to capture the momentum that the retreat generates.
MM - Are you available to discuss men's events with our district coordinators if they have questions?
BRIAN DOYLE - Absolutely. My contact information is:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, (860) 872-8376
MM - Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Brian. I'm sure that our district coordinators will find your comments helpful in carrying out men's ministries in their districts.
Brian Doyle: Brian is one of two men in New England devoting full time to men's ministry. He is the founder and Director of Men's Ministries for Vision New England (http://www.visionnewengland.com/). The ministry objective is to equip churches to train men for spiritual leadership in the home, church and community. Brian's other involvement in men's ministry includes: National Coalition of Men's Ministry (NCMM) - Brian serves the NCMM as Director of Coaching and as the Regional Field Representative for New England. He also serves on the Steering Committee and the Executive Team (http://www.ncmm.org/); Man2Man Express - Brian is co-host of a daily five minute radio program for men heard on 29 stations that openly and honestly addresses the issues men face today (http://www.man2manexpress.com/); Great Dads - Brian serves as Senior Associate with Great Dads Seminars where he initiates and presents 15-20 seminars on fathering each year throughout the Northeast (http://www.greatdads.org/); Men's Ministry in the 21st Century - Brian is one of six contributing authors of Group Publishing's newest book on ministry to men, "Men's Ministry in the 21st Century" (June 2004); (www.grouppublishing.com); and Promise Keepers - Brian worked as the New England Area manager for Promise Keepers from 1994-2000 where he taught churches how to mobilize men to an off site event and then capture the momentum created by the event (http://www.pk.org/).
Brian is married to Barb (18 yrs). They have five children: Jessica 8, Michael 6, Matthew 5, Timothy 3, and Susan 1.
5/13/04
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
