The Five Reasons I Don’t Trust Christian Men’s Ministries

How Evangelical Masculinity Became a Distorted Model of Formation

Image created by author on Sora

I remember the last church men’s event I went to.

It was called the Men’s Meat Meet.

Yes. That was the actual name. I wish I were making it up. When I first saw the flyer, I genuinely thought it was a joke. The font looked like it had been borrowed from a CrossFit poster. There were flames. Tongs. A slab of meat that looked vaguely sentient.

It didn’t look like a spiritual gathering. It looked like an accidental gay sauna invitation, designed by someone’s uncle who just discovered Canva and testosterone supplements.

The flyer had a flaming grill on it. The tagline read: “For the man who hungers for God — and good steak.” It promised an afternoon of mateship, meat, and messages “to fire up your faith.” I should’ve known right then. But I was trying to stay open. Maybe it would surprise me. Maybe there’d be depth. Maybe someone would mention the soul.

Instead, I found myself standing in a church car park surrounded by folding tables, bulk packs of coleslaw, and men trying very hard not to talk about anything real. There was a lot of “How’s work?” and “Busy, mate.” I watched one guy aggressively flip sausages like…