Free, for good
The Brotherhood Op
A card game that gets men talking the first night you run it. Spin the wheel, draw a card, answer it. The questions do the work, so you do not have to be the man with the agenda.
Why men’s groups die
It is not that men will not talk. It is that nobody knows how to start.
Every men’s group starts the same way. Coffee, a devotional, and one man carrying the whole evening while everyone else waits to be asked something. Six weeks later it is two guys and a Bible, and then it is nobody.
The problem was never the men. It was asking one of them to be the entertainment, the teacher and the counselor at the same time. The Brotherhood Op takes that job off him.
How it works
Spin. Draw. Answer.
The wheel picks one of six decks. The card tells the table how to answer it. There are four ways, and a good night uses all of them.
Discussion
The whole table takes it. The best cards run long.
Individual
One man answers. Everybody else listens.
Debate
Two men, a minute each. The table votes with thumbs.
Sticky Note
Everybody writes. Some things are easier on paper.
Real cards from the deck
This is what gets read out loud
Before a man can lead his home, he has to lead himself. What’s one area of self-leadership you need to strengthen right now?
Who you are in private eventually shows up in public. Where do you feel the biggest gap between your private life and the leader you want to be?
Children imitate what they see more than what they’re told. What’s one thing your kids are picking up from your example, good or bad?
What’s one area of your life you’ve been neglecting that needs your leadership?
Write one way you can better organize your time this week to prioritize your wife and kids.
Give this to the man who consistently puts the needs of his wife and children above his own.
The six decks
Six decks, and the cards that keep score
Most of the points in this game come from another man. That is the whole idea.
Nobody gets cornered
Every man gets a Stand Down
One card per man. He can use it to pause, skip, or hand a question to somebody else. No explanation needed.
And the man running the game can open any hard individual card to the whole table, so a new guy is never left alone with a question he is not ready for. The cards serve the men. Not the other way around.
What is in the kit
Five files. Print what you need.
Questions men ask first
Before you run it
Do I need to be a pastor to run it?
No. The kit includes a Start Here guide written for whoever sits at the head of the table. The cards carry the weight. Your job is to keep the game moving and let the men talk.
How many men do I need?
Three other men is a table. There is no upper limit: in a big room, one man spins, reads the card out loud, and every table does what it says.
What if a man does not want to answer?
Every man gets a Stand Down card. He can use it to pause, skip, or hand a question to another man. The man running the game can also open any hard individual card to the whole table, so nobody is left alone with it.
How long does a night take?
Plan on at least forty minutes of play, which is long enough for every man to get a turn. Most nights run longer, and a long night plays close to two hours.
What do I need to play?
The free kit, a laptop to run the game wheel (or a die, if you would rather), pens, and a pad of sticky notes. The deck prints at home if you want physical cards.
Is it really free?
Yes. The kit is free, for good: print it, run it, keep it. We ask for a first name and an email. The kit opens on the next screen. After that, you get one email a week with the new episode. There is nothing to buy.
Can our church use it for a men's ministry?
Yes. The kit runs a room of fifty as well as a table of four, and nothing about it needs a budget. In a big room, one man spins, reads the card out loud, and every table does what it says.
For the man leading a ministry
Running it for a whole church?
Same kit. In a big room, one man spins, reads the card out loud, and every table does what it says. Run it, then tell us how it went and what would have helped. That is how the next version gets built.
Three men.
One table.
That is a start