Christian conference urges men to strive for maximum

In most church services women outnumber men -- often by two to one.

But in the past few decades, a movement to reinvigorate male spirituality -- and get them back in church -- has been gaining steam. One of its incarnations is the Maximum Man Conference, which begins tonight at North Raleigh Christian Academy.

The two-day conference is designed to help men grow in their Christian faith and try to live up to the ideals of Jesus, whom organizers tout as the Maximum Man. The event features a dozen male speakers who will guide husbands and fathers to use biblical principles in their relationships with their wives and children.

As of early this week, 400 men had registered.

"It helps men get back into the role that God intended them to be -- the spiritual leader in the church and in the home," said Rob Blackmon, a commercial electrical contractor who led the Maximum Man Conference committee.

In this, Maximum Man is no different from Promise Keepers rallies, No Man Left Behind conferences or even Letters from Dad, a program designed to help men write letters to their loved ones. All are aimed at strengthening men's traditional roles as evangelical Christians understand them to be.

At this conference, as in many others across the South, former athletes are a conspicuous part of the lineup. Johnny Evans of Raleigh, a former N.C. State University quarterback, will speak about fatherhood. Joe Ehrmann, a onetime Baltimore Colts football player, will talk about citizenship. Lee Jenkins, a former New York Giants player, will talk about money management.

Most men tend to relate to sports because they are geared to be more physically active and goal-oriented, said Charles Lowery, a psychologist and a former Baptist pastor from Dallas who is one of the speakers.

"We like to fidget and talk," Lowery said. "That's the way men communicate."

The conference is nondenominational and draws both whites and African-Americans. Fifty-two churches, mostly from North Carolina, are promoting the event. They include some of the largest in the Triangle -- Raleigh's Providence Baptist, Bay Leaf Baptist, Wake Chapel, Crossroads Fellowship and Cary's First United Methodist.

This is not the first Maximum Man conference in Raleigh. A foundation with the name Maximum Man was established by a group of Memphis businessmen in 1982, and its first conference took place three years later at Bellevue Baptist in Memphis -- a Southern Baptist congregation. In 1992, Crossroads Fellowship sponsored the first Raleigh conference.

Support for one another

Scholars who study the intersection of religion and gender say devotion and prayer are so often associated with women that men can find it difficult to feel comfortable in religious settings, preferring the office or the ballpark. Conferences such as Maximum Man try to break that mold.

"They're taking qualities identified in our culture as feminine and saying, 'It's not just for the women,'" said Charles Lippy, a professor of religion and American culture at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "You can still be macho and pray with your wife."

In addition, as women gain increasing parity in the workplace, men may feel dislocated from their traditional social roles.

So long as such conferences reinforce men's responsibilities toward their wives and children, scholars say, they ought to be applauded. "If these men become more actively engaged, that's good," Lippy said.

Blackmon, who has attended more than a half-dozen Maximum Men conferences, said he sees the impact it has on men's lives, including his.

"Men are torn between the secular and the spiritual worlds," Blackmon said. "A conference like this helps them with their priorities. It helps them live out a life based on biblical principles."

Men also need each other to share their spiritual journeys, said Evans of Raleigh, who has led a popular men's Bible study at Providence Baptist Church for the past 11 years.

"Guys just really need other men that have walked down similar paths to say, 'This is what we've done that's been successful,'" he said.

His Bible study is proof men need mutual support. About 500 men show up each Monday night.