Men in Ministry, Horseshoes; Are you kidding?

Horseshoes? What the heck are you thinking? Horseshoes in San Francisco, California the cosmopolitan city and you want to have a Men in Ministry event around Horseshoes? That is a dramatization of the response which pastor gave me when we first suggested a Men in Ministry Horseshoe Tournament. What trust! He agreed to it and supported it. That was 4 years ago. The first tournament was a smashing success!

May have never played, the intensity and the fun becomes
obvious very quickly

The success is not by chance it is designed into the shared experience around horseshoes. That shared experience is no experience. Yes, no previous experience throwing horseshoes is the common ground, which creates a tremendous bond the men share. In other words, few men have any experience at throwing horseshoes or competing in a horseshoe tournament. This creates a natural bond among the men. It gives them the one thing necessary to begin to fellowship; something in common, which then becomes the seed to a conversation. From this simple seed, the conversation can then build into other common interests.

The common ground, when put into a competitive event, creates excitement and fun. There is one social rule in the Glad Tidings Men’s Ministry International Horseshoe tournaments. All the 2 man teams are made up of men who either do not know each other or know each other very little. This creates the potential for new friendships; men creating a bond and a purpose to serve God with another man.

I believe God created man to be in Christian relationship with other men. This is evident throughout the Bible. Moses and his brother Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Timothy, Jesus and James, John and Peter just to name a few close supporting relationships. “When 2 or three are gathered in my Name.” God is present when we are alone and seek no question, but when 2 or 3 are gathered in His name there is power!

Plenty of time for conversation

Certainly at the beginning of the event everyone is practicing and talking with their friends. After the opening prayer; a photograph of 50 men in a circle praying wow! Back to the story; after the opening prayer and before we eat, BBQ is always a part of the event. Each man will choose a man he does not know as a team-mate. After the teams are decided, I do a casual check with the purpose of pairing people who will benefit from the pairing and breaking up teams of friends. The teams eat together. The tournament begins.

It is an exciting competition. It is structured in such a way that the games move quickly and everyone will play at least 5 games. Every team will have at least one win! The competitive juices start to flow; the bond between the new friends has an opportunity to gain traction. It is keen to see the excitement and the friendships that start in a few short hours of sheer fun.

Everybody wins, one team finishes first

This last year was the best as the tournament went down to the wire. Possibly the two most unlikely men, who a few hours earlier did not know each other and did not know which end of the horseshoe to hold, won it all. They came from behind with multiple ringers in the final throws to win. No one in the tournament lost we all won with fellowship. We each met men we did not know. The Glad Tidings; Godly fellowship gave us greater potential to grow and become a disciple of the living God.

That is what it is all about: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”

Men in Ministry