Men's Fraternity - I Hate the Name But Go Anyway

Every Tuesday at 6 am for six weeks or so now, I have ventured out into the morning darkness to meet about 30 other men (mostly from my church) for Men’s Fraternity. I‘m not sure what I expected, but what I’ve gotten out of it has been different from what I expected. One thing is for certain, this is NOT just another Sunday School class. This is NOT just another Bible study. This is NOT another church service.

The leader has been doing a great job presenting some extremely well thought out material about the challenges men face in today’s society while trying to balance all the roles as husband, father, grandfather, provider, mentor, provider, etc. from a Christian perspective. However, this lecture time has not been a time of large group question and answer like Sunday School. With a few exceptions, the majority of us are slaves to the clock and the expectations of our employers. The leaders make it clear to anyone who might join us that they can participate and be assured we end precisely at 7:30 am.

All the materials are based on the Bible and Bible verses are quoted frequently. I wouldn’t call it a Bible study but we are talking about how men can apply Biblical principles to their lives. We have a workbook but we generally don’t carry our Bibles in to the meeting. I would say this is a time of great introspection about the decisions we’ve made, our priorities, the impact of our fathers, the impact of our mothers, etc. For a lot of men I can see that the way it is presented is “safe” and men with too much pride to go to a counselor to talk about their problems can see that they aren’t alone.

Discussion time is usually the last 30 minutes and is in small groups, usually of four men. The goal is that our group of four learn what makes each other “tick” and become accountability partners. In a short time, I’ve learned that I’m not alone in my imperfect life and my imperfect Christian walk. I don't know about you, but this is not the usual discussion I’m used to having at church. Part of this is enabled because we have a highly motivated group of men who want to come and be different as a result. (We do make it there by 6 am after all.) Part of it is because it is just men. Some of our flaws are too hard to admit in front of our wives and other men’s wives... at least not after only a few weeks. And finally, I think this program is being truly blessed by God and the Holy Spirit is definately at work.

I highly encourage the other men reading this to find something like this for their own spiritual growth. I highly encourage the women reading this to encourage the men in their lives to attend as well.