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Men's Brotherhood

INTRODUCTION

“ How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1

The declining involvement and participation of men in church is a worldwide trend. The Brotherhood as a vital constituent of the church body provides an avenue for male involvement and participation in the life of the church. In addition it provides an environment in which men can build camaraderie and find both temporal and spiritual support in pursuit of living a Christian life. The brotherhood aims to highlight the roles and responsibility of men in the life of the church and their obligation to each other, and by extension youths, with respect to good morals, and values.

HISTORY

The Brotherhood of the Church is a branch of the Jamaica Baptist Union Brotherhood, a movement which began in 1927, under the Chairmanship of the late Dr. Aurthur Stephenson, Lay-Pastor of the Morant Bay circuit of Baptist Churches.

One of the movement's objectives is "To provide a medium through which the men can serve efficiently in promoting the full programme of the Church and denomination".

Here at Barbican, the Brotherhood began in 1965 under the leadership of brother Angus Scott, who along with co-workers: Sydney Greaves, Hugh Atkins, Locksley Miller and Stanley Hanlan  laid the foundation for the movement.

Over the years, the Brotherhood has endeavoured to exercise a ministry directed at our men in particular, in the Church, as well as outside, but much needs to be done in portraying the Christian life as that dynamic enterprise in which men might joyfully and adventurously engage in the task of kingdom building. Towards the end the old administration, under the leadership of Brother Dobson Rankin, is working on certain innovtive ideas as a means of creating a wider area of interest and participation among the membership.

PURPOSE

“ Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”.  Matthew 4:19

The purpose of the Brotherhood is to win men for Christ and support their spiritual development and involvement in the life of the church.

VISION

“To be a support group for men catering to their spiritual, physical, and social needs.”

SITUATION ANALYSIS (SWOT)

  1. Strengths
    • Small cohort of willing participants
    • Diverse cross-section of skills set
    • Strong project orientation   
  2. Weaknesses
    • Predominantly aging male population in the church
    • Wide generational gap between young and mature men
    • Lack of participation of the wider male membership in church related physical projects/activities
    • Lack of strong male leadership in the church
    • Most of the brothers live outside the Barbican community 
  3. Opportunities
    • Increasing development of Barbican community (residential and business)
    • Geographic advantage of church positioned in the center of the community
    • Large number of unattached young men in the community with no church affiliation
    • Ability to serving the needs of men through Seminars, Workshops, Mentorship
    • Ability to successfully engage men in  hands -on approach to activity based project execution
    • Ability to successfully engage men in Sports and social activities
    • Affiliation and Access to resources of the Jamaica Baptist Union
  4. Threats
    • Absence of an infrastructure to absorb and direct the energies and activities of young men during the teenage years.
    • Community sports and entertainment activities capturing the attention and participation of males

 

 

OBJECTIVES

  • To increase active male membership in the church
  • To be a reference to guide the youths of the church
  • To contribute to the physical upkeep and maintenance of the church
  • To engage the wider community through involvement in activities

STRATEGIES

  1. Develop initiatives to engage both the business and new residential communities – planned visitations, prepare and disseminate fliers inviting church participation
  2. Create activities and events aimed at attracting the large number of unattached young men in the community with no church affiliation – Skills training workshop, Men’s fun day, men’s health seminar, savings and money management seminar
  3. Host regular Seminars, Workshops, Support system for men
  4. Have activity based projects throughout each year – hospital visitation, old age home, children’s home
  5. Fund raising -  yard sale, installation of multimedia system to create revenue generating content
  6. Sports tournament - Develop a sports and social program for male involvement and participation

ACTIVITIES

  • Mother’s Day treat
  • Live streaming of information
  • Online payments  - Paypal
  • Need to develop activity list, time frame and break out cost

BUDGET  

$400,000