Get the vision and the heart right

Kent Evans Sept. 11, 2019

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At Manhood Journey, we work with church leaders to help dads become disciple-makers. We’ve learned some things over the years—some “survival tips” if you will. I want to share how these ideas play out. As you read, if you aren’t already equipping dads at your church, consider using this series to help you start. 

The four survival tips for helping church leaders engage dads are: 

#1 Preparing for the journey: getting the vision and the heart right.

#2 Before you embark (or prepare more!): where to start, what roles you’ll need and some other details you need to know before actually starting.

#3 Setting sail: everything from room setup, how to train other leaders and other vital details to get right.

#4 Keeping the journey going: once you start, be ready to know when you’ll break, when you’ll return and how you’ll keep the journey going.

Let’s talk about preparing for the journey.

Preparing for the journey

In ministering to dads, we know our society—and our churches—are suffering greatly due to disengaged and often absent fathers. One of the best ways to help is to get a dad into the disciple-making driver’s seat and help him be the spiritual leader in his home. 

Targeting dads in your church has ripple effects that create better marriages, more engaged men in your church and overall more spiritually healthy homes. Our Church Leader Survival Guide will be your handy companion in helping you engage the dads at your church.

Preparing for the journey: the vision

Engaged fathers are a crucial component of a healthy church. If fathers are leading at home, then, a number of blessings are unlocked for your church:

• Families require fewer “rescue” operations (marriages, children in crisis)
• Your fathers step up in other areas (missions, teaching)
• Your youth groups have children in them who can be “on mission” without the undue burden of “swimming against the current” in their own homes

The power in the process is how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of your fathers and sons. 

Once a dad stops abdicating his role as a leader in the home, he unlocks his family’s full potential. His son(s), after being on this journey with him for a while, should be able to:

• Articulate what it means to be a godly man in his own words
• See areas where he has grown and matured through the process
• Identify areas of future growth, his own personal weaknesses/temptations
• Engage in open and transparent dialogue with his dad on important issues
• Know where to look in the Bible when he has questions

Preparing for the journey: the heartbeat

The guys who helped build the Manhood Journey curriculum are a lot like you. We want to be intentional in raising our boys to honor the Lord. We don’t think it’s the “church’s job” to raise our young men. The dads who follow us understand they are called—like us—to love God, know the Word and serve others. 

Our Bible studies were built to effectively put the fathers and the sons together in the same format. Additionally, we believe that to a large degree, the reason our churches and families languish is due to weak leadership from the men in the church. We believe that as the men go, so goes the family in the vast majority of cases.

We take our encouragement from Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

In this charge from Moses, we see fathers being exhorted to take the lead. We echo that command and hope that by participating in a Manhood Journey group experience, dads will step up and lead as God intended.

Have additional questions? Visit our page for helping Church Leaders engage dads. 

This post is part 1 of 4 in a series we’re calling “4 survival tips for helping church leaders engage dads.”

Photo source: istock 

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Kent Evans is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Manhood Journey. He is married to April, his wife of 22 years and has five sons ranging from ages 4 to 20. He is the author of Wise Guys: Unlocking Hidden Wisdom from the Men Around You. Learn More »

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