“That’s Not How We Do Things Here”: American Men’s Ministries in an Australasian Context

Meat and Masculinity in Men's Ministries

“…Some men's ministries speak generally to men, while others have a specific masculine focus, such as fatherhood (Gelfer, 2010). Most men's ministries are based in America, but they also operate in a similar fashion in other countries such as Australia and New Zealand (Gelfer, 2011). While it is possible to identify a number of different masculine performances in men's ministries-from the "harder" evangelical masculinity to the "softer" Catholic masculinity (Gelfer, 2009(Gelfer, , 2010)-the common motivation for men's ministry is an anxiety about the fading of men within the church: either an anxiety about men losing power in the church as a result of increasing feminine influence, or a missiological anxiety that fewer men are being brought to Christ.…”