A few years ago, a group of senior pastors approached Michael with an idea about how to reach the men of their respective churches about the devastating issues of pornography and sexual sin. The result was the BraveHearts Men’s Conference, a church-sponsored, father and son event designed to help men battle sexual temptation and lead lives of sexual integrity.
The BraveHearts Men’s Conference was intentionally promoted from the pulpit by this group of senior pastors as a father-son event, immediately removing the stigma normally associated with attending such an event. They all agreed to tell their congregation on the Sunday before the event “I’m bringing my son, you need to bring your sons, too, so they can ALL hear this powerful message!” That immediately removed the stigma and took the pressure off the men to attend an event like this.
“Twelve years ago I watched up close & personal as the enemy wrecked the family of Michael Leahy, and tonight I watched as the power of God used what the “enemy intended for evil” for good!” Mike Linch, Sr. Pastor, North Star Church
The result was overwhelming – over 1,200 men and boys, middle school age and older, showed up on a Friday night at West Ridge Church in suburban Atlanta. Brian Bloye, the Senior Pastor of the host church, opened and closed the one-hour event with a few key comments and prayer. In between, the men and boys heard the powerful personal redemption story of Michael Leahy shared in an engaging interview format. Mike Linch, Sr. Pastor of North Star Church in Kennesaw, GA, interviewed Michael.
This inaugural father-son event was deemed by that group of senior pastors and their staff’s to be a huge success and opened the door for many significant conversations throughout those churches about this all-important topic.
The new BraveHearts Men’s Conference we’ve since created and are launching in fall 2011 is an engaging, one-of-a-kind, 2-hour awareness and equipping event for men. Our overall goal is to inspire and equip them to lead lives of sexual integrity. We’ve also added some compelling videos and fitting music in just the right places (the music we include is pre-recorded, or you can add live music as an option, using your worship team or ours). Overall, the conference moves along at a pace that keeps every man fully engaged.
And for those churches who want to create a true father-son event their men will be talking about for years, you have the option of including Michael’s son Chris as a live speaker for your event. Only 10 when his parents divorced, Chris is now 24 and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. An excellent communicator, Chris shares a son’s perspective on how the choices his father made changed his life and affect the choices he makes today.
Over time, we’ll continue developing new equipping tools and resources as well as follow-up strategies for your church ministry leaders and the men in your congregation. But more importantly, BraveHearts isn’t the kind of organization that pops into town to put on an event only to leave you holding the bag with no plan for follow-up and little or no resources.
“I realized that this could be the most important night in some of these men’s lives. Generations could possibly be affected by the decisions that were going to be made.” Brian Bloye, Sr. Pastor, West Ridge Church, Dallas, GA
We believe that what you really want to see is changed lives, and we know that real life change happens in community. That’s why we’re building a missions-based organization staffed by teams of full and part-time missionaries and volunteers, many from your own church and local community. We want to create teams of people who are motivated and resourced to build lasting relationships and respond to the needs of the local church.
So are you ready to really connect with the men of your church? Go here to learn more about hosting an event, or contact us and let’s talk about it.
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