The Christian man of the future

The Christian man of the future

What kind of man does the Church of the future need? And what does our children’s work need to look like in order to keep these men? Christian Vision for Men’s Carl Beech thinks it’s time to man up and face the reality of a feminised Church

So, the good people at Premier Childrenswork dropped me a line and asked me to pen a feature on…take a deep breath: ‘What kind of men do we need in the 21st Century? What does an effective children’s work look like? What needs to change?’

Hmmm, that’s a tough one, I thought to myself. I know, I’ll turn to the Twitterati and get their advice. That’ll work. So, 140 carefully crafted characters hit Twitter. You’ll find the responses below:

‘Enable him to be conscious of stereotypes and inequality. Raise him to love Jesus and others well, and be kind and able to show feelings’ (M)

‘Children need to see faith matters to you when they are six or seven. Don’t think they’ll suddenly be impressed by you at 14’ (M)

‘Bold and biblical’ (M)

‘Brave and kind and humble. Who aren’t passive but are able to think critically’ (F)

‘Let them do challenges and fail, let them adventure and grow confident’ (M)

‘Humility’(M)

‘Too much to put into 140 characters, mate!’ (M)

‘Discover who God intended them to be, whether artist, mechanic, church leader. Each calling unique and valuable’ (F)

‘Men who lead purposeful lives, who use their God-given gifts rather than use passive lives of others’ (F)

‘Integrity, patience, kindness, fairness’ (M)

‘Embrace the world and bless it and not hide away in fear of sin’ (M)

‘Stop playing with stereotypes and inequality. Be kind and able to show feelings’ (F)

‘Teach them to respect others. Teach them to take responsibility for actions. Teach them to apply themselves in everything’ (M)

‘Depth and challenge; honesty and humility. Loving and respecting women’ (M)

‘Courage, security, confidence, hope, perseverance, honest, loving, all in perspective’ (M)

‘Men of the word, men of headship in the family, men who work for the glory of God’ (M)

‘Responsibility, duty and pulling your weight are not taboo words!’ (M)

‘Courageous, authentic and highly loving, which means we need to be always modelling courage, authentic and high loving. Starts with us’ (M)