If its introductory video is any indication, Cornerstone Church is the spitting image of the “Megachurch Show” meme recently noted by Joe Carter. But among dozens of ministries, from scrapbooking and Bible study to sports teams and four-wheeling outings, Cornerstone adds an unexpected niche service: Man Church.
Man Church is church the way a man expects it to be done. No singing, short sermon, time to talk with other guys, no women present, and coffee and donuts. That’s the way men want to do church. The topics of discussion will have a definite manly focus–being the best possible husband, father, employee, leader–being a real man. In fact, every aspect of Man Church is geared for men–not like any other church you have seen. This ain’t your mama’s church!
July 16th, 2010 | 2:02 pm
That’s funny–I thought “church” was about meeting in communion with people who aren’t just like you, with “discussion” focusing primarily on Jesus Christ. This sounds more like a support group.
July 16th, 2010 | 3:00 pm
Back in the pre-seeker-sensitive era, this sort of thing used to be called a “Men’s Prayer Breakfast.”
July 16th, 2010 | 3:01 pm
Also, at Man Church we by-pass that whole girly “bread and wine” business and get straight to eating steak and drinking the the juices!!!
We also do spiritual formation the only way a man knows how… in the Octagon!
July 16th, 2010 | 3:07 pm
This is not a new idea, just a new name. Ever since I was a kid ( a long, long, long time ago) there have been women’s meeting and men’s meetings at church. I think its great.
July 16th, 2010 | 4:15 pm
The service is from 6:30 to 7:30 am on Thursdays. Any guy who gets up to go to that every week is going to get applause from me.
I wonder if the guys at Cornerstone have read the book, “Why Men Hate Going To Church” … It sounds like it’s right from the book.
July 16th, 2010 | 4:24 pm
Marfa,
Yes, and I believe there should be both mixed-sex and single-sex meetings at church. However, should we really allow each sex’s expectations (the origins of which are a mixed bag) to dictate the tenor of these meetings, and ought there be separate worship services for each sex?
July 16th, 2010 | 4:35 pm
While I think that a lot of churches are too femmy, this looks like protesting too much. Do they dress like lumberjacks?
July 16th, 2010 | 5:05 pm
[...] Marc Cortez I was really hoping that this was a joke when I saw the First Thoughts post “The Manliest Church in America,” maybe a Catholic attempt at Onion-like parody. But apparently it’s true. You can now [...]
July 16th, 2010 | 5:53 pm
Oh, that’s right, I forgot we can make anything we want up and call it church.
Silly me for thinking there used to be standards for these kind of things.
July 17th, 2010 | 1:04 am
As someone who has actually started a Men’s Group in my parish I thought I would put in my two penny worth.
The reason I did it was because there is so much milk around and not enough meat.
Also, in Judaism the main focus of passing on the faith was the home and not the synagogue. And in the home it was the man who was the “priest”, so to speak. We have lost that and I think it is time we got it back.
So we meet on a Saturday morning from 8.45 to 9.45 (just before Mass and confession). We discuss a passage from scripture – at the moment we are working our way through Acts. Then consider the gospel for the weekend.
OK, there are just 4 of us at the moment but it has only been a couple of months. And, yes, it is a “support group” but so what? We need to support each other if we are going to get anywhere.
July 17th, 2010 | 3:09 pm
Great idea. Wrong-headed rhetoric.
July 17th, 2010 | 3:11 pm
This fits right in with the idea that the Church is basically a club. Nothing wrong with men’s groups at church, but they can’t take place of the Body of Christ, mystically or otherwise, and worship of Us cannot replace worship of Him.
July 17th, 2010 | 3:15 pm
Just having visited the site, it’s not a church at all by appearances, but a college kid’s garage band fantasy. I guess the pastor probably answers questions like if he wears briefs or boxers?
July 18th, 2010 | 2:50 am
Man church. Ha-ha, those silly Protestants…hey wait a minute, how many women deacons, priests, bishops are making all the rules in the Catholic church again?
July 18th, 2010 | 9:19 am
Fr Stephen
What an odd comment.
How many “groups” do you allow in your parish?
Are they all about “worship of us”?
Is the heirarchy a form of “mens group”?
July 19th, 2010 | 11:47 am
What, exactly, is church about? Is it about worshiping God and receiving His gifts in Word and Sacrament? Or is it about giving those who meet what they want from the gathering? We need to stop reinventing church and start rediscovering what worship in spirit and in truth means. We need to remember what we’ve forgotten: worship is about Him, not us.
July 19th, 2010 | 12:02 pm
Gregory
I think that if you look at Acts then the concept of Church is very broad. It is about salvation, being the family of God, about caring for each other, about building each other up.
Obviously, we come to Mass to worship God. But we also, as you say, receive from him. Isn’t that “giving those who meet what they want from the gathering”?
We are sent out of Mass with the purpose of changing the world. The idea that “Church” is restricted to a worship service seems rather a narrow viewpoint.
July 19th, 2010 | 5:37 pm
Our church (Protestant) determines to build up believers in Christ within the church. Then, because we are built up in the church, we are able to go out into communities and serve /give back. Some seeker-friendly Protestant churches might take issue with that, but our community of believers finds it quite refreshing.
July 19th, 2010 | 9:55 pm
I agree with the (other) Joe: “Great idea. Wrong-headed rhetoric.”
There is nothing wrong with having a group that emphasizes certain pieces of the Bible. Dismissing this would be the same as dismissing a group that focused on overcoming a certain addiction, studying, say, the Book of Ephesians, or diving into Levitical Law.
Getting deeper into certain topics, and meeting like-minded believers that are similar to you in certain ways (gender, in this case) is helpful for building community and strengthening certain areas of our lives.
It’d be different if this was THE church…every Sunday, every service. But it’s not.
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