For Our Partners: A Ministry Update from the President
May 11, 2020
I want to tell you how grateful I am for your partnership and give you a brief update on the ministry at this point.
This has been a difficult couple of months. After seven weeks, I’m feeling a great desire for the physical presence of my co-workers, my brothers and sisters at church, and frankly, I’d really like to go for dinner and a movie!
All around me, I have seen just how critical it is right now for men to stay connected to others and to be grounded in their faith in God, rather than their social standing, career or net worth. So while our mission hasn’t changed, we have been adapting to the circumstances in order to carry it out.
In early March, we received wise counsel from our Board and advisors that COVID-19 would have a dramatic impact on the culture, the church, and the family. We immediately started analyzing our finances, as well as our discipleship methods and services, and, with much prayer, began to make substantive changes to the ministry.
Discipleship Update
We immediately stopped doing any ministries that churches can’t use right now. All live men’s events and in-person leadership trainings were postponed or cancelled.
But the need to support men has gone up, not down. We believe God wants us to innovate. So we formed work groups to develop relevant new methods to help churches and men. Capitalizing on some existing content and developing new content as needed, we:
- Moved the weekly Man in the Mirror Bible Study 100% online and started a new series, Walking with God in a Pandemic, while helping men form online discussion groups.
- Revamped our popular GO Men’s Study with all digital materials.
- Made The Christian Man book available for less than $3 each to get the material into men’s hands when they need it most, along with a free, downloadable coaching guide.
- Offered our first online class, Abiding with the Father, in partnership with Elite Warrior Consulting.
New products are launching in the weeks ahead, including:
- An 8-week online Master Class, with eight experts on issues men are facing right now.
- Success that Matters as a new digital event that gives men the opportunity to respond to the gospel and join a follow-up group.
- Two new podcasts, The Best Guy I Know and Sage. (More to come on those!)
Click here to access the resources above, in addition to helpful and encouraging articles.
Our Area Directors have stepped up to help the pastors and leaders they serve navigate the challenges of online gatherings without sacrificing discipleship. They are coaching them on using technology, keeping men connected, making the most of heart-oriented resources, and providing prayer and encouragement.
Financial Update
The next step was more painful. To be good stewards of your gifts, we took a hard look at our budget.
We cancelled two large fundraising events for the ministry, knowing we could not responsibly gather people in a ballroom or venue. This caused a significant projected decrease in net revenue.
Unfortunately, this created the need to make some significant budget reductions, including reduced staffing and pay rates for the indefinite future.
That said, we rejoice that hundreds of faithful partners are continuing to invest in transforming men through their monthly, quarterly, and annual commitments. Several have also made or promised special gifts in the next few months.
We were blessed to be approved for Paycheck Protection Program funding, which will cover most of payroll through early June—not only for our Orlando team, but for all of our hired Area Directors out in the field. This gives us much-needed cushion as we enter the summer, a season that is often more difficult for nonprofits even in normal circumstances.
Going forward, we are trusting in God’s provision through God’s people who have time and again proven faithful. We are so grateful for you!
How Can We Serve You?
Let me conclude with two final questions and a challenge. Please feel free to reply to me via email with your thoughts, or to set up a time to talk on the phone to answer:
- How can we pray for you? We have weekly prayer meetings as a team on Thursdays and would be honored to lift you up.
- How can we support you, spiritually? If you would be interested in joining an online small group study, please let me know.
- Challenge—please keep your pastor in your prayers. We are seeing some of the “wear and tear” on our shepherds firsthand. A note or text message of encouragement will be a great service to those charged with spiritual leadership.
We recognize that these are extraordinary times with extraordinary opportunities. Please let us know how we can help you minister to the men around you—your sons and their friends, your neighbors, co-workers, brothers, or men from your church. We are standing with you as we face a new day in our ministry.
With you in the Great Adventure,
Brett Clemmer
President & CEO
Man in the Mirror
