Join us this Saturday, August 15 for our Catapult Conference at River Oak Church in Chesapeake as we launch a timeless definition of biblical manhood across Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic. Get your tickets now!

by Evans Hodges and Mike Young

Men’s Fraternity. 33 The Series. BetterMan.

For some men, these names bring back a weekly meeting and a season of life they still think about often. For others, they might sound like separate brands with no real connection. Yet, they’re all tied together in a single question: what does it mean to be a man who follows and loves the Lord?

How It Started

In 1990, Robert Lewis, then a pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, began meeting with a small group of men to develop a language around biblical manhood and what it looked like to live that out. The group didn’t stay small for long. Within a few years, it grew to more than 1,000 men from Lewis’ church and the surrounding community started showing up. The gathering eventually took on the name that some might be familiar with: Men’s Fraternity.

By 1995, Lewis had curated the Men’s Fraternity film series. It began to spread quickly and widely. Not only did churches join this movement, but businesses, colleges, prisons, and places far beyond Lewis’ home in Arkansas. Before you could blink, Men’s Fraternity was established in 20 countries.

By 2000, ‘Men’s Fraternity’ was being published by LifeWay Christian Resources and went on to impact millions of men in churches and small groups across the U.S.

 

The Second Chapter

The next chapter came in the form of 33: The Series, a video series created by Lewis to push men toward biblical masculinity in 2012. The 33 title points to our ultimate standard: Jesus Christ, who spent 33 years on Earth.

The series was composed of six volumes each with six sessions, with each session lasting about 90 minutes and focusing on a single topic. It pointed toward the character of Christ and moved men to biblical truth in the common places where it commonly falls apart in our fallen world; marriages, family, work, friendships, and the local church. Men’s Fraternity and 33: The Series both became widespread tools for discipling men worldwide. Although not as widely used as it was 10-15 years ago, some churches and men continue to use this series.

Where We’re At Now

Into the late 2010s, a rising generation began stepping into adulthood in a noticeably different environment than the one that shaped the early Men’s Fraternity and 33: The Series years. Enter businessmen Barry Davis and Austin Adams. These two and Lewis began imagining a men’s ministry built to reach millennials and younger generations more effectively.

In 2018, Davis, Adams, Lewis, and others joined forces, and the seeds of BetterMan were planted. BetterMan was later catapulted into existence in the renowned year of 2020. This new ministry wasn’t scraping off the foundation of Men’s Fraternity and 33: The Series. It’s the same conversation restructured for a new generation.

BetterMan currently offers several different group studies, including a Spanish-language version released in 2021, with Chief Storyteller Chris Harper currently at the helm:

-Core (9 Week): This curriculum centers on four pillars: 

-courageously following God’s Word 

-loving and protecting God’s woman

-excelling at God’s work, 

-bettering God’s world. 

(If you want to learn more, we’ll dive into these at this weekend’s Catapult Conference in Chesapeake!)

-Defined (5 Weeks for each Core pillar): a free follow-up series built on the 9-week BetterMan Core curriculum. BetterMan Defined is a series of four 5-week curriculums, diving deep into the key principles of biblical manhood.

-MejorHombre (9 Week): The same Core curriculum, spelled out in Spanish.

BetterMan didn’t drop out of thin air. It sits inside a legacy that began at a ‘little’ meeting in Little Rock. Through it all, the initiative and mission has stayed the same: help men discover God’s definition and design for manhood and equip them with the tools to live that out faithfully.

Men need God’s Word. Men need other men. Men need older, wiser men walking alongside them. And men need a clear and consistent picture of what it means to follow Jesus. 

This is deeper than a curriculum. It’s a long legacy of men equipping men, and a reminder that every generation has to decide whether it will carry that legacy forward for our Lord. Will you join us in carrying this legacy forward?

 

Register for Catapult! (or come Saturday and buy a ticket at the door)

BetterMan website: betterman.com