Today Men's Conferences are continuing to be common all over the country. Although written in 2009, the article's analysis is very relevant to today.
What’s behind the explosion of Catholic men’s
conferences?
(Our Sunday Visitor December 13, 2009
They tap into men's
needs for moral guidance missing from today's culture
By
Emily Simpson
You could call
the rapid growth in regional Catholic men’s conferences a trend. But that would
be something of an understatement. You would be closer to the mark if you
called it a movement.
Just look at
the numbers.
According to
the National Fellowship of Catholic Men (NFCM) , in 2001 there were 12 Catholic
men’s conferences nationwide. Two years later, that number more than doubled.
It doubled again in 2008. By next year, the group estimates there will be more
than 60.
Some of those
conferences are sponsored by dioceses. Many more are grassroots efforts. Most,
on average, attract about 1,000 men (although some conferences boast numbers
twice that size), and most offer attendees similar programs: talks, prayer
time, confession and Mass. All address a common set of issues — sexual
integrity, apologetics, conversion, spirituality — and all share the same goal:
to renew and strengthen the faith of Catholic men.
Against all
odds, many are succeeding.
‘Sense of Enthusiasm’
Consider,
for example, the annual Catholic Men’s Gathering in Pittsburgh, Pa.
According
to the Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Pittsburgh’s co-founder Pat Molyneaux, the
first men’s gathering in the diocese took place in 2006. That year, conference
organizers expected to attract 1,000 men. Instead, 1,400 showed. There were 30
priests on hand to help with the Sacrament of Penance, but even that number
wasn’t sufficient for the 1,000-plus men who lined up that day for confession.
Hundreds had to go back to their seats before the closing Mass.
In the
years since, attendance has climbed steadily (1,800 men participated in 2009),
and, to avoid the problems of the first year, confession is now offered nearly
all day, from 10 a.m. until the closing Mass at 4 p.m. At the most recent
conference, Pittsburgh’s Bishop David Zubik heard confessions for six hours
straight. Not surprisingly, he has become one of the gathering’s biggest
champions.
“The CMF
has been a very exciting development in the life of the Church of Pittsburgh,”
Bishop Zubik told Our Sunday Visitor. “There is a new sense of evangelization,
and a new sense of enthusiasm that has spilled over in so many ways into the
life of the Church from what has been going on in the CMF. ... The diocese is
stronger — and livelier — as a result.”
That
strength comes, in large part, from the more than 50 parish-based men’s groups
that have formed in the wake of the conference. The groups gather weekly or
biweekly to pray together, study the Scriptures and hold each other
accountable. CMF also gathers the men quarterly for a diocesanwide morning of
Eucharistic Adoration, and, in partnership with the NFCM, has launched a
website (www.catholicmediaonline.org)
that features hundreds of hours of talks from regional men’s conferences, as
well as information about men’s spirituality and faith formation. The site
averages 30,000 downloads a month.
Source of Inspiration
The reason
for the Pittsburgh gathering’s success, said Brad Tupi, who serves on the board
of the CMF, is simple.
“Spirituality
is part of our wiring,” he explained. “When we realize that happiness lies not
in sex or money, but in God’s truth, it changes our lives. And that kind of
happiness is contagious. When we see it in other men, we want to have it. The
gatherings give men the opportunity to see what they usually don’t see in the
culture.”
That also
explains, at least in part, why the number of regional Catholic men’s
conferences continues to climb.
“Men are
feeling nervous right now,” said Joseph McClane, one of the organizers for the
Catholic men’s conference in Houston. “Politics, the economy, being out of
work, all those factors make a man feel vulnerable. They show us that we’re not
in control like we thought we were.”
“In times
of trouble,” he continued, “we turn back to what we once knew. When God hits us
with a Mack truck, we turn back to faith. Men want to be inspired. They want to
be led. And these conferences have become a place where they can find the
inspiration and leadership they’re looking for.”
Quest for Knowledge
Ken Ogorek,
the director of catechesis for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the master
of ceremonies for Indianapolis’ 2009 men’s conference, also believes that men’s
“hunger for knowledge of the faith” accounts for both the increasing number of
conferences and for the increasing numbers at the conferences.
“Due to the
deficiencies in catechesis in the ’70s and ’80s, there are a lot of men out
there who feel ill-equipped to deal with the challenges our culture presents
them with,” he said, adding that, in Indianapolis, the men leave not only with
memories of the talks they’ve heard, but also with armloads of books.
“The
conferences make them hungry to learn more and share more,” he explained.
Accommodating Schedules
Despite
that hunger, the biggest obstacle for conference organizers in Indianapolis and
elsewhere remains convincing men that it’s worth taking time out of their busy
lives to fill that hunger. That’s especially true of men who have fallen away
from the Church or who don’t always make it to Mass on Sunday — two key demographics
most conferences attempt to reach.
“Everyone
is so busy, and guys don’t always see what they’ll get out of giving up a
Saturday for this,” said McClane. “It takes more than an announcement in the
bulletin. A tap on the shoulder from another man is what does it. Even better
is a tap on the shoulder from a priest.”
Along with
urging men and priests to “tap” other men, the Houston conference attempts to
accommodate busy schedules by beginning at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday and ending
at 1:30 the same day. Conference organizers also encourage parishes to rent
buses so that men can travel together to and from the conference.
“Time with
other men, fellowship, that’s the selling point for a lot of guys,” he
explained.
That’s a
selling point that almost always pays off.
Explained
Ogorek: “Once the guys are there, whether they came willingly or were cajoled
into it, they see men just like them who have been moved by the power and
beauty of the faith — that’s huge and powerful.”
And that’s
also a selling point that many more men still need to hear.
“In this
diocese alone there are hundreds of thousands of men who are slowly and
steadily dying,” said McClane. “If we don’t reach them, who will?”
Emily
Stimpson is an OSV contributing editor.
By the Numbers
Over the last
decade, the number of Catholic men’s conferences have steadily grown. The
National Fellowship of Catholic Men, based in Waco, Texas, has charted that
growth, as well as assisted in that growth by providing local organizers with
resources and speakers. According to the NFCM, here’s how the conferences have
grown.
12 - Number of
conferences in 2001
16 - Number of
conferences in 2002
26 - Number of
conferences in 2003
30 - Number of
conferences in 2004
37 - Number of
conferences in 2005
40 - Number of
conferences in 2006
46 - Number of
conferences in 2007
51 - Number of
conferences in 2008
55 - Number of
conferences in 2009
60-plus -
Estimated number of conferences in 2010
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