The Adventure of Men of Iron

The adventure of Men of Iron is discipleship and mentoring ministry for young and seasoned men who are Christ followers.
 
Based on the history and lore of the European medieval knight, the premise is that as born again Christians we have become of noble birth by virtue of their decision to follow the Savior. Just as young men in the Middle Ages were required to be of a noble house to become a knight, so we as children of the King are noble citizens of Heaven and by right can become a knight in the ranks of Men of Iron.
No one was born a knight. Boys were trained as a Page. As they grew to young men they became Squires. Squires trained with older more experienced knights until they were granted knighthood by their lord. Men of Iron follows that same pattern through our advancement path.

We are not cosplayers, re-enactors nor larpers, but rather followers of Christ that seek to reach the young and seasoned men around us for the King through the use of period outfits, swords and armor, and knightly activities. We bring the excitement and adventure of becoming a modern day knight to life.

Men of Iron establishes households in local churches. Members meet in their household for fellowship, tournaments, feasts, work meetings, tournament practice and personal challenges. Great adventure awaits all those who join!

But why this? Why start this program in the church? We already have so many. That is an excellent question!

Through studies conducted by various research groups it has been found that the church loses 64% of 18-29 year old members. These are not those who attend casually. Many of these are those who have grown up in church and come from dedicated families. In that same study, it was found that some of those who do leave return after some time, but most don’t return for a number of reasons. What these studies found is that there are two key aspects that churches lacked in particular. The first is meaningful relationships within the church. The second is a desire for authentic faith from those they worship with. Alarmingly, these two needs were mentioned numerous times by those surveyed as deeply needed by those who leave.

Building authentic faith takes time. Too often young men have experienced those in the church who have a shallow faith or they find church boring, stale and not very appealing to the masculine heart. What these young men crave is to embark on a manhood journey with mentors that they can trust to show them that a life devoted to the Lord is anything but boring. The pairing of a sage mentor to an aspiring warrior helps to forge these young men into deeply committed lifelong Christ followers. By inviting them to experience the excitement of becoming a warrior in service to the King of Kings and developing through mentoring relationships, authentic faith is seen, lived and replicated for a lifetime. Warriors? Mentors? Serving a King? Where might one find these things today?

Enter Men of Iron.

How is this done? Is it by a program alone? Not at all. The program is simply the vehicle. The key to that vehicle is building relationships with and strengthening the faith of our members.

Meaningful relationships are accomplished through genuine mentoring and not just casual connections or a name on a page. Living out his faith and making himself available to be called upon, the sage mentor becomes more than just a mentor in the process, he becomes a trusted friend for a lifetime. This one on one relationship of a sage mentor and a young man just starting out is also core to our advancement path to become a knight, in our activities and our fellowship.

Why Knights? Again, research has provided an answer. Looking to history, the best example of mentoring for a lifetime is found in the life of the knight of the Middle Ages. Then there is the large amount of Middle Ages and knighthood themed media. The influence of pop culture on our society is massive, especially on our young men. In all entertainment mediums, TV, movies, gaming and print media there is one repeating theme targeted at this group that has revealed itself over and over again. It is the knight of the Middle Ages.

By using this already popular theme and building a mentoring program around it we have developed a unique and exciting way to capture the interest of the young men of the church and those who don’t yet know the King by using the themes that they are already engaging to build the next generation of men in the local church and fulfil the Great Commission.

All of that combined makes for the most unique ministry you will ever find. Men of Iron the only Christian Knighthood ministry in America that is for young and seasoned men. Nothing else is like it.
 
Who is this for?
Men of Iron is for Young men in high school (9th-12th grade), and men 18 and older who are Christ followers. We also work to fulfil the Great Commission to reach those who have not yet come to faith in Christ by demonstrating His love for them in our lives and inviting them to become a part of the family of God.
There are many young men in midweek discipleship programs are finishing high school and will age out of these groups. To remain involved in these discipleship programs, they must become leaders or they must move on. The tragedy of this is the number of young men who transition into leadership during this time is very low. Those who don’t transition into leadership eventually leave the church because they are not ready to lead, have no interest in leadership, or feel displaced by the change with no alternatives.

What they want is to continue the fellowship that the program provided but for one reason or another circumstances prevent them from doing so. It is in this moment that they must make a decision is to either stay and watch from a distance or leave and never look back. Sadly, because there is nothing to offer these young men, the tendency is they choose to leave. We cannot be satisfied with this outcome.

There are some denominations that have college campus ministries, but they focus on those who attend college, leaving those who don’t attend university after high school with no further discipleship options that provide the adventure they crave.

In every instance these changes can be disheartening to these young men and the end result is they seek adventure and relationships elsewhere, often times outside the body of believers. Why? Because they make a space for them.

Men of Iron provides a connection to the body of Christ and the brotherhood and adventure they seek. Whether they are in high school, college, attend a trade school, a member of the military or joined the workforce, all are equally welcome to become Men of Iron. Men of Iron is a conduit for young men to continue to find adventure in this period of life by using the color and excitement of the knight of the middle ages while encouraging them to develop and strengthen their bond with Christ through a mentoring relationship with seasoned Godly men. These mentoring relationships are key in their walk with the King as they transition to this new phase of life.

This is not just for the young men! For the older, seasoned men of the church it provides a way to help guide a young man in his walk with Christ as a mentor, while providing him a doorway to adventure as a knight.

Proverbs 27:17 sums up the mission of Men of Iron, “As Iron sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another”. We will sharpen each other so that when the time comes to serve our churches, communities and our world for the King, we will serve with excellence.

Are you ready to start your journey to become a knight? All it takes is making a first step toward becoming a warrior.

Start your journey here.