An idea "dreamt up over a barbeque with two other blokes' is motivating hundreds of men, like Western Sydney's Richard Bolton (pictured) to bring their mates to Christ.
Ministry to men is "a particularly hard field', Mr Bolton says.
"I think men are very independent in their thinking. Giving your life over to God is a hard thing to do."
"The church has become less relevant. [Ministry to men needs to] pass the pride barrier, and say we do have a living God and he is relevant to your life."
Mr Bolton has been co-leading a men's Bible study called "the odd-bods' for ten years at Toongabbie Anglican Church.
Over a barbeque two and a half years ago, the group decided to try their hand at organising a conference with the aiming of helping men in Western Sydney live authentic Christian lives.
So they started Men for Christ Ministries with friends from neighbouring St Luke's, Northmead and Arndell Community Church, an Anglican congregation at Oakville in Sydney's North West.
They worked for 12 months to get speakers, a venue, parishes and Sydney Diocese on board with their vision to "help Aussie men reach their mates for Christ in a rapidly changing society'.
The experiment has resulted in two "Men Meeting the Challenge' conferences, the most recent one held on Saturday at Tyndale Christian School, Blacktown.
Over 500 men attended this year, compared with 279 the previous year.
Men travelled from local churches and also from as far away as Norfolk Island and the Philippines.
“It almost doubled in numbers,” Mr Bolton says.
“It was an exhausting exercise… it takes a good 12 months of hard yakka to bring these things to fruition.”
The Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen gave the keynote address "reaching men for Christ: the challenge of mission the 21st century'.
Option groups covering issues such as "what Aussie blokes find difficult about our churches', evangelism in an age of pluralism, learning to minister to Chinese men, men's ministry in a multicultural society, the competitive male culture, ministering to men during retirement and learning to minister to Muslim men.
Speakers included Dr Andrew Cameron, Dr John Dickson, Bishop Dudley Foord, the Rev Mike Wilson, the Rev David Zhang, Kit Barker, the Rev Richard Schumack, Peter Johns and Dr Jim Harrison.
According to the Bishop of Western Sydney Ivan Lee, it was encouraging to see men from other regions across the Diocese join their brothers in the West for the day.
He added that "it's very, very exciting' to see Sydney Anglicans thinking about how to make church a "more welcoming' place for men.
"We don't have all the answers yet" but the fact that we're looking at it is important," Bishop Lee says.
After a hectic weekend, the organising team may be exhausted but they believe the effort has eternal consequences.
"if you win a man in a household, you're more likely to win the family," Mr Bolton says.
"If we can encourage one man to minister to another " that will be the success."
The next conference is planned for Saturday September 1, 2007.
http://www.menforchrist.asn.au/
