ELCA News Blog
May 3, 2007
Online registration is open for Lutheran Men in Mission 'summit'
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service
"Building for the Future" is the men's ministry summit that Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), the men's ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has planned for Aug. 3-5 near Navy Pier in Chicago. Promotional materials challenge the notion that church is just for "nice" guys. "Is it also for guys who sit shirtless in the stands of a NASCAR race, struggling with addictions, relationships and work?"
At a time when men are becoming a smaller minority in church, LMM is looking at the message a man may get in church. "Does the setting tell him that this is a place where men are welcome?" The declining percentage of men in church is having a negative effect on congregations and families, the materials say. "What would happen in your congregation if just 10 more men were more deeply committed to Jesus Christ?" The summit is to address these questions and help men "grow in their relationship to God, and build men's ministry in their congregations and churchwide."
Speakers will include David Anderson, Paul Hill and Roland Martinson, authors of "Coming of Age: Exploring the Spirituality and Identity of Younger Men;" Dick Hardel, executive director of the Youth and Family Institute; and David Murrow, author of "Why Men Hate Going to Church." Dakota Road will lead music and worship during the event, and Peter Mayer, lead guitarist for Jimmy Buffet, will perform a special concert.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog