It is a week-night, after eight o'clock " after dinner " but 200 men have forsaken the lounge and the television to fill a school hall because they want to know how to win the fight to be fathers.
Wearing a comfortable jumper and jeans, Tony Payne could easily pass as the parent standing beside you on the side of some school sporting field.
But his message speaks directly to men who recognise that the modern perception of fathers is threatening their ability to be effective parents.
The author of Fatherhood: what it is and what it's for, is a father of five who has been researching and reflecting on his role in the family for a number of years.
He says the topic touches a nerve with many men.
"Fathers feel a sense of desperation, even depression as they see the way their lives are turning out," Mr Payne says.
"We have a pop culture that presents men as useless, philandering finks. Under the weight of pressures from within and without fathers are beginning to wonder what their role is."
Covenant Christian School hosted the evening as part of a series of parent development seminars.
"We're here to assist parents to take ownership of raising and nurturing their children," says school development officer Ruth Ewing.
But administrators admit the turn-out for this particular topic was a bit of an eye-opener.
"The majority aren't from the school community," says principal Tony Deenick, surveying the crowd.
"They have come through contact with churches, through advertising, from all over Sydney."
On the eve of Fathers Day, Tony Payne seeks to reset his audience's understanding of their position in the family.
"In modern families most people hope dad will just pull his weight. It would never occur to them that a father is at the centre of the home," Mr Payne says.
"Our society sees the child as a sub-set of the mother. So much so that she may dispose of it if she wants to."
But Mr Payne says men are far more than sperm-donors.
"Fathers are the senior partner in life-giving as far as the bible is concerned."
What follows is forty minutes of concentrated teaching on the responsibilities that flow from such socially challenging message.
Some lean forward, listening or scratch away on scraps of paper. A man in the front row is busily jotting in his PDA.
Mr Payne talks about making weekly deposits in their children's physical, emotional and spiritual "bank accounts', and most of all "never ever leaving'.
He draws a healthy wave of laughter when he poses the question, "When was the last time you stunned your wife by coming up with an idea to do something " without any help from anyone else?'
But beyond the tips, Mr Payne is offering a message of biblical significance, responsibility and authority.
"To argue for the father's leadership is to argue for a position that has been the norm for nearly every culture for nearly all of recorded history," he says.
But the warning is clear - this is not a licence for self-indulgence.
"You have the final say " and you use that final say to care for your wife and children. That's what the bible says."
After the talk men in track-suit pants, men in ties patiently wait to share their particular stories with the speaker.
Tony is quiet, relaxed and above all realistic about the trials that will follow.
"If fatherhood was a gymnastics event, I'd probably score well on friendliness and involvement. I'd score less well on discipline and faithfulness in teaching," he says ruefully.
But this Fathers Day he is encouraging men to do is take the long-term view.
"You never graduate from this school, but if you can make progress, that's good."
Click here for more on Fatherhood: what it is and what it’s for the book plus ordering information.
