Men in Mission "Training Day" and Gathering Encourages All

"Shout to the north and the south...sing to the east and west..." Men from all four corners of the synod...Texas AND Louisiana... and men from 3 separate generations gathered at Covenant Lutheran Church on Friday and Saturday, February 15-16. Here are some highlights...

• Over 30 men gathered for an all-day training session with Dave Murrow to respond to the topic, "Why Men Hate Going to Church." 11 of them were pastors!
• Peter Mayer gave a 2 hour concert to a small but intimate crowd on Friday night. Our hearts were on fire as we listened to songs of the grace, mercy and peace of God which comes to us even as surpise in our daily lives & struggles;
• We were reminded..."Men love God;" but the environment of our churches need adjusted to welcome more men;
• On Saturday, 85 men gathered! This is three times (3x) the amount of our 2006 gathering and almost twice as many that gathered in Temple, TX in 2007. One man from Advent, Houston, reported that this was the most attended annual synod gathering in his 20 plus years!
• Bishop Mike Rinehart preached and challenged us to be "border crossers" entering the lives of those different than ourselves and to be mindful of the opportunities we have to share God's love with others;
• Dave Murrow took us on a tour of what a man encounters on a typical Sunday morning! In the contest of Tim vs. Tina, Tim was the loser 10-0 in ten critical "church behaviors". More on that in another note!
• Velon Burnet was elected the new synod LMM President. John DuFrene from LA was elected 2nd Vice-President and plans for men attending the National LMM Gathering in Omaha, NE AUG 1-2-3 were shared with all;
• News of the establishment of an "Endowment for LMM" was shared also asking each congregation in our synod to "throw a party" with the intent of raising at least $1000 to help match a gift of $500,000 by one man from Wisconsin! We can do this! Let's do it!
• In 2009, our annual gathering will be held in a Tri-synod setting will all TX and LA men meeting in Austin, TX
• As we gathered to leave, pastors were recognized and all the men and clergy gathered around our bishop and to lay hands on him and pray that God will continue to bless his work and leadership.

So, thanks to all the men at Covenant for hosting us and for our synod's Men in Mission Leadership Team for their planning and tending to the details of this life-shaping weekend!

Men...write in your comments so others will know what this event meant to you...

Brian