If you are a pastor or staff leader in a local church and you desire to reach and disciple men then you need to get a copy of the book, How to Disciple Men (Short and Sweet) by Jay Payleitner and David Morrow. It’s 45 short essays written by leaders in the effort to reach men. The book is divided into several sections. Section 1 is the case for ministry to men. The essays deal with the why of the effort in large part. This is a great section if your church hasn’t yet decided to go after men in a systematic effort. Section 2 deals with how to plan and conduct successful events for men. This can help you move your ministry to a new level. Section 3 deals with the various aspects of discipling men in your church. If you are looking to move beyond the attractional events in the ministry to men, this will be a place you will want to spend some time. Section 4 is about men and small groups. This section could have been a little larger to have made it more useful, but the stuff there is really good stuff. Section 5 deals with targeting subgroups within the whole ministry to men. If you are looking to find a smaller section of the population you might find what you are looking for here. Section 6 spends five chapters dealing with how to teach men and how to get them involved in prayer and evangelism. Every ministry needs help in that area! Section 7 provides more organizational info regarding taxes, volunteers, and full time ministry opportunity. Section 8 focuses on the personal health of the leader of the men’s ministry.

I found the book to be an engaging resource for those who long to see more men involved fully in the life of the church as a whole. Some chapters are going to be more critical depending on where you are and where your passions lie in the effort to reach men and help them reach more men. I would encourage another volume in this series to really drill down into the practical nuts and bolts of how you accomplish the things laid out in each of these short essays. Almost every one of these chapters could be a book if fleshed out and many of them are by folks who have done just that. But who has time to read 45 books these days?

This is definitely a book you should have on your shelf if you are on staff at any church in America. If you are blessed to have someone leading your church’s effort to reach men, I would highly recommend you buy this book for him. If you don’t, then maybe you can buy two copies and get together with the person you want to lead your ministry to men and discuss how these chapters might apply to your local situation. It’s hard to read these essays and not come away with a renewed or new vision for the impact reaching men in our churches could have on the kingdom of God and the world around us.

When I requested to review this book, I didn't realize that it was meant to be a guide for men only to disciple men, which leaves me, as a woman, in a difficult spot to offer an unbiased view.

That being said, each section of the book was laid out in a completely logical format that did offer great suggestions. The chosen authors felt passionately about their topics, and laid it out in concise, easy to follow steps. I would definitely buy this book for a man in my church life who was looking to help disciple others.

Very interesting book, I enjoyed reading it. Highly recommend