Moderating:
We’re not too strict about hijacks in IMHO, but this one has gone too far. All who are discussing the fine mechanics of anal douching v. enemas, please take it to a different thread. The OP is seeking opinions regarding the Men’s Alliance.
Sorry, it was my fault.
I’ll stop.
I will too.
Thank you for the gentle reminder.
Intellectual question.
Emotional responses.
Yeah, based on what I’m reading, it sounds like 50% Promise Keepers (a conservative Christian parachurch organization, which was big in the 1990s, and which focuses on supporting men in their roles as the leaders of their families), and 50% dude-bro workout and hangout “Tribes” (their own word for their local branches).
Any church which is sponsoring a Men’s Alliance group is likely a conservative one.
Got a “tribe” of them near us. Call themselves the Apex Trtibe, and they have leaders called “Scout”, “Flash”, “Endo” and “Clean Cut”. Apex Tribe Men’s Group in Beaverton, OR | Men’s Alliance (mensalliancetribe.com).
Note the brave tribal leaders around their fire.
In a parking lot.
With firefighters in the background.
This is not a parody video. I repeat, this is not a parody video.
On second thought, that fire looks a little photoshoppy to me, and those firefighters seem to be looking somewhere else.
I’m pulling these two quotes together because I don’t know much about the Men’s Alliance, but I do know about Methodism.
And right now, the United Methodist Church is in the middle of a denominational split, with (so far) about 1/4 of churches leaving the UMC, most of which are moving to the new, more traditionalist and conservative Global Methodist Church.
So if you see something odd in the parking lot of your local Methodist church, it’s possible that the church has “gone Global” and reaffiliated with the conservative denomination, or possibly is starting a new ministry to appease its more conservative members to avoid a split or change of affiliation.
Has the church’s signage changed? Is the cross and flame still up out front, or have they changed to have a little three-circle-Venn-diagram type of thing with a superimposed cross? If they have made that change, that’s a data point that the church has changed to the Global Methodist Church.
Hmmm…that’s interesting. This church HAS indeed taken down some of their older signage, but also put up some new signage pointing to the two different buildings, parking areas, etc. I don’t recall the cross and flame being prominent before. Now there are a couple signs with a stylized “a” (for “Asbury” of course) on them. I don’t see any of the GMC logos anywhere. Maybe new signs will go up soon.
UPDATE: Yes, in fact their website now describes them as “A Global Methodist Church.” Good call on your part.
Looks like boot camp for suburban bros and dads. They can get the whole military thing going on without all the commitment, in the name of Jay-sus, of course. The only thing missing was a drum. IMHO this group is a gateway to some of the harder stuff.
I’m also a UMC Methodist. We’ve had a couple of threads here on the schism over the past few years; the root of the schism was a desire by the church’s liberal wing to change the church’s stance on homosexuality (including allowing openly gay pastors to serve, and supporting SSM). This was vehemently opposed by the conservative wing, who are now parting ways with the UMC over it.
What’s so new about muscular Christianity? The Dark Ages church gave the Vikings Normandy and made St. Michael their patron saint so they’d convert.
The 1926 novel Elmer Gantry was about a grifter who latched onto fundamentalism. But what had to be left out of the Burt Lancaster movie was Elmer’s Bible college classmate Frank Shallard. Shallard had become a mainline minister, and spoke out against the excesses of Gantry’s evangelicalism. In a well-written passage, a gang of barroom toughs turned Christian warriors take him out into the countryside and tear out his eyes with a bullwhip.
Why is it men have to have fires and burn things to feel manly?
These men look strong enough in that video their time could be put to better use:
Say:
Cleaning the church grounds.
Building ramps for handicapped persons.
Loading boxes of groceries into cars for the poor.
So wasteful of time and strength.
What? Those aren’t fun, even when you’re high.
They are warriors! Warriors train their bodies for the struggle, not to do acts of service that Jesus might have actually done…well, except for that “smiting the money-changers at the temple” incident.
Where’s the fun in that? What about sweaty shirtless hugs after a day of wrestling?
I’m surprised they don’t have an audience.
I saw houses in the background so it’s not like they are in a wooded area.
Unlike the fire burning, manly feeling yokels around here(who also have contests and smell bad) who no one wants to watch.
I can get behind that philosophy, only not in the way the Men’s Alliance intended.
Seriously. How can one feel toxically superior to others unless you can, ya know, physically intimidate them. Sheesh!