“Transparency”. It has become the phrase in vogue in the past
few years. Everyone desires it in others yet is almost universally unwilling to
be transparent themselves. Most likely, the reason people avoid it is fear. “If I were more transparent, people might
not like me , judge me or disapprove of
me.” However, there is an equal
desire in each of us to be known but only if the right conditions were
available.
For twenty-five years, I have sought to create safe
places where men could be transparent, could
be known. To that end, over the
years, I have organized and facilitated men’s small groups. Usually, there were fewer than fifteen or
twenty men involved.
According to scholars, the ideal small group should be
no larger than twelve participants, any more than that you lose the intimacy so
necessary for transparency. In addition,
according to statistics, men’s groups will last about two to three years. Some
groups I facilitated lasted within the normal parameters. However, one of the
groups I facilitated, affectionately known as “Knuckleheads” lasted almost fifteen years before disbanding. Last month, we made the decision to dissolve
the group known as “Friday Guys.”
This group met continuously from 1995 until last month, some twenty-two years! However,
because we still enjoy each other’s company, we did decide to meet socially for
breakfast at a local restaurant every other week.
Here is where I need to be transparent with you, my
dear friends and support team members. I lament the loss of the groups I have
facilitated and wonder what I could have done better to keep them operative. I
also wonder what God has in store for me for the remaining years of my life. I
have no intention of retiring. I
strongly believe that I still have a calling to a ministry of availability to
men and their families. I continue to meet individually with men over the
breakfast and lunch tables to offer counsel and encouragement. I have taken on
the role as volunteer pastor to the staff of Young Life in the Southeast
Region, which I thoroughly enjoy!
However, I have seen my role reduced and my daily
schedule somewhat diminished. I have a goal of at least one face-to-face
meeting with someone every day of the workweek. Sometimes this does not work
out. Summer has been particularly difficult. This is very distressing to
me. I want you to know that I am
constantly seeking new opportunities for ministry.
Having said all of this in a desire to be more
transparent, I want you to know that I would certainly understand if each of
you felt that your support could be more effectively used elsewhere. Each of
you has been a tremendous source of blessing and encouragement to me over the
years. Many of you have been with me since the inception of Net Work Ministries
in 1992!
I welcome your input and suggestions in order to make
Net Work Ministries all that God intends this ministry to be. Please feel free
to call or respond by email at the number or address below.
To close, I want you to know that, as St. Paul
expresses in
Phillipians 1:3, “I thank my God in all of my
remembrances of you” for walking alongside me in the great adventure that I
have been on for some forty years. I pray that God would allow me to serve Him
for many more years! We are:
Together, In His Love and Service,
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