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By Erik Alsgaard
UMCONNECTION STAFF

Why don?t more men participate in United Methodist Men?

That was the main question addressed Oct. 8 at the Baltimore-Washington Conference Center, as more than 100 United Methodist Men gathered for their annual meeting.

'It was a good, new beginning,' said Sherman Harris, president of the UMM. 'Men are an important piece of the church, and we?re called to be doers of the Word, not just hearers.'

Marvin Wamble, leader of the Washington East District UMM, summarized why many men are slackers when it comes to participating in men?s ministry.

'Maybe we?re using the wrong bait,' he said in a plenary session, drawing from the Scripture lesson of Jesus calling the disciples to be 'fishers of people' in Luke 5. 'The men aren?t biting because we?re not using the right bait.'

Wamble said that many men have not been raised in the church in today?s culture, something not true for most United Methodist Men at the meeting.

'And many men think that UMM is only for a certain age group,' he said. 'They have a lack of knowledge of what United Methodist Men is about, or they think we?re boring.'

The purpose of United Methodist Men, Wamble noted, is to be a 'supportive fellowship of men who seek to know Jesus Christ.' And if others don?t want to join us, he asked, 'What?s wrong with us?'

Noting that many TV programs today center around change ? from 'Extreme Makeover' shows to reality programming ? Wamble said that perhaps United Methodist Men need 'an extreme makeover.' However, he added, 'we cannot do it alone. We need the Divine Restoration.'

Wamble offered participants time to reflect and brainstorm on ways United Methodist Men?s groups could grow and change.

'Our mission is to assist men to know Jesus,' he said. 'We have to provide the bait; Jesus is the hook.'

The Rev. Rodney Smothers, director of congregational development for the Baltimore-Washington Conference, followed Wamble?s presentation with 'Strategies for Men to Participate.'

'The challenge for United Methodist Men is spiritual at its heart,' he said. 'We are spiritually anemic. Programs don?t attract people. People attract people by being witnesses for Christ.'

Smothers offered what he called a 'reality check' for men?s ministry today. Men, he said, are hungry for encounters with other men who will help them move to the next level spiritually in their lives. To do that, men today need to be about the ministry of 'lid lifting,' Smothers said.

'Whose lid are you lifting?' he asked. 'We?re gotten away from our core ministry of being missional in focus, of spreading the gospel with enthusiasm that captures the hearts and minds of men.'

Smothers urged the men to be versatile in their planning and creating of new ministries. One man told the group about how his men?s group gets together for Monday Night Football. They hold Bible study and devotions during halftime.

'How many of your churches have Play Station 2s in them?' Smothers asked, speaking about a popular video game package for young adults and teens. Not one hand went up.

'We have to invest in someone else?s future,' Smothers said. 'We have gotten out of the business of apprenticeship. Men today ? boys today ? need a gbwc_superusere; some one to show the way.'

During a time of presentations and announcements, Charles Stewart, district leader for the Washington West District, presented a $750 check, made out to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, to Sandy Ferguson, associate council director. The money, said Ferguson, will go to assist the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Rev. Ken Lyons, senior pastor at Severna Park UMC, also spoke to the group about the ministry of boy scouting. The United Methodist Church continues to be one of the major supporters of the Boy Scouts of America today, he said.