At our session meeting Wednesday night, our elders decided to begin a Men's Society at Sycamore Reformed Presbyterian Church. Having seen a need to help men grow in the grace of Christ, and becoming excited in what he is seeing in church history through his study with Dr. Roy Blackwood, Jason Camery gave a presentation of how the Reformation spread as men had rigorous studies and discussions with one another over the Scriptures. John Calvin referred to these meetings as "prophecying" and John Knox called them the "Exercises." They followed a certain format. Our particular meeting will have the following structure patterned after these Exercises:
- Have a twenty minute study on the passage preached in the previous Lord's Day sermon.
- Have an elder give a ten minute presentation on his own study of the passage, stressing application.
- Give time for questions and further discussion.
- Pray together in accountability pairs.
- Conclude with some robust psalm singing.
In recent years "Reformation Societies" have been popping up in different communities based on a similar format which have transcended denominational lines. Our hope is that others will join us in due time.
The only hitch? Jason proposed that we call this the "Men's Reformation Society." Later that night when I got home I realized something. What will invariably happen is that this gathering will be acronymized and be referred to as MRS. Inviting men to come to the "Missus" will not work. So we still have to work a bit on the name, but we are excited about the potential.
Our first one is scheduled for Wednesday, June 7th, at 6:30 p.m. at Sycamore RPC. Hope to see you there!
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