ELCA News Blog
September 28, 2006
Testing a Retreat Model for Lutheran Men's Ministries
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service
The board of Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), the men's ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is getting together Oct. 13-14 for a retreat and business meeting in Buena Vista, Colo. Heber Rast, LMM president, Cameron, S.C., said Lyman Coleman, founder of Serendipity House, developed a retreat model for Lutheran men's ministries that the LMM board will experience before its regular meeting. Coleman has been involved most of his life with developing and publishing Christian resources for small-group ministries, Rast said. [Radio report]
The LMM board is to get some good news about two parallel projects. A goal of "Building for the Future" is to add $1.5 million to the LMM endowment, which would put the men's ministry in a position of being self-funding. "We're past the halfway point" toward reaching that goal with "actual gifts and pledges" of $835,000, said Doug Haugen, LMM director, Chicago. The ELCA Church Council affirmed an LMM plan for the men's ministry to become separately incorporated, and a council committee is checking to see if any constitutional amendments will be needed, Rast said. Both projects are scheduled for completion and "celebration" July 31-Aug. 3, 2008, at the LMM Assembly and Gathering, Omaha, Neb.
The LMM board will receive updates on its three emphases: the distribution of Bibles, young men's ministry and inspirational events. "Road Trip: Coming of Age," a second annual gathering for young men ages 18-24, will be held Oct. 27-29 at the YMCA of the Ozarks, Potosi, Mo. Building relationships is the key to ministry with young men, said Bernie Bresson, LMM secretary, Louisville, Ohio. "You have to let them know that you're concerned about their needs and be there for them," he added.
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