Men's NetWork Gets Noticed

The New Lutheran Laymen’s League?

Posted by Scott on February 24, 2009

In June of 1994 I attended my first Promise Keepers event at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC.  I attended with a group of other LC-MS men from my church; the next year basically the same group attended again.  It is pretty amazing to be part of such a large group of men, who are not there cheering for their team to score a touchdown, but who are intent on being the men God wants them to be.

At the time there were lots of criticisms of Promise Keepers from within the LC-MS.  Mainly those critisms were theological in nature:  PK was filled with “decision theology“, emotionalism, “least-common-denominator” Christianity.  And those same criticisms were directed at Missouri Synod men who attended those events.  I was aware of, and agreed with, most of the theological issues around PK, but there wasn’t a real alternative for those of us who attended.  We tried to follow the PK model and form a men’s ministry, but it soon ran out of steam as many of us had other commitments that took the majority of our time.

Well, 15 years later, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, or at least an arm of the LC-MS, is getting into men’s ministry.  Lutheran Hour Ministries, the evangelistic radio ministry of the LC-MS, has launched the Men’s NetWork.  (I should back up and provide a little LC-MS history.  Men have had a “ministry” in the LC-MS through the Lutheran Laymen’s League, but the primary focus of LLL wasn’t the men in the organization per se, rather it was a support organization for the Lutheran Hour.  The congregation I grew up in had an LLL chapter, but by the time I became an adult, LLL was looked at, for better or for worse, by my generation as the group for one’s grandpa.  It was a service organization, not a ministry to and for men.  End of side trip.)  I friend at church who leads our men’s Bible study — the current extent of our congregation’s men’s ministry — brought this new ministry to my attention a couple of weeks ago, and Jay Winters brought it up in his blog a couple of days ago.

I’m trying to repent of my cyncism, especially entering Lent, so I want to give this new thing the benefit of the doubt.  There are a couple of great features, one being “The Baloney Shop,” where Pastor Ken Klaus, speaker of the Lutheran Hour, does his best impression, though without the evilness, of one of Word Girl’s nemeses — yes, I occasionally watch with my kids (I’m sure WG would love that I used the plural for “nemesis”) — the Butcher, and goes after the foolishess and falicies that Christians have to face.  It is also a place for churches, and individuals, to learn how to get a men’s ministry going, and putting together activities that appeal to men, like fantasy football (runners up in the league, baby!, after a 6-7 regular season).  It has great potential, so I’d check it out.  Seriously.  And that’s no baloney.

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