Testing a Retreat Model for Lutheran Men's Ministries

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service

The board of Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), the men's ministry of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is getting
together Oct. 13-14 for a retreat and business meeting in Buena
Vista, Colo. Heber Rast, LMM president, Cameron, S.C., said
Lyman Coleman, founder of Serendipity House, developed a retreat
model for Lutheran men's ministries that the LMM board will
experience before its regular meeting. Coleman has been involved
most of his life with developing and publishing Christian
resources for small-group ministries, Rast said. [Radio report]

The LMM board is to get some good news about two parallel
projects. A goal of "Building for the Future" is to add $1.5
million to the LMM endowment, which would put the men's ministry
in a position of being self-funding. "We're past the halfway
point" toward reaching that goal with "actual gifts and pledges"
of $835,000, said Doug Haugen, LMM director, Chicago. The ELCA
Church Council affirmed an LMM plan for the men's ministry to
become separately incorporated, and a council committee is
checking to see if any constitutional amendments will be needed,
Rast said. Both projects are scheduled for completion and
"celebration" July 31-Aug. 3, 2008, at the LMM Assembly and
Gathering, Omaha, Neb.

The LMM board will receive updates on its three emphases: the
distribution of Bibles, young men's ministry and inspirational
events. "Road Trip: Coming of Age," a second annual gathering
for young men ages 18-24, will be held Oct. 27-29 at the YMCA of
the Ozarks, Potosi, Mo. Building relationships is the key to
ministry with young men, said Bernie Bresson, LMM secretary,
Louisville, Ohio. "You have to let them know that you're
concerned about their needs and be there for them," he added.