Leadership is all about influence. You can be a top salesperson, number one to finish a race, or the head of a department. But that’s just being first, that’s not leadership. Leadership is all about connecting to and growing people. Friday Morning Men’s Fellowships have a legacy of building relational leaders that is four decades strong. Now we are poised to expand our reach and see more men grow into effective, Christ-centered leaders than ever before.

We started with four men in the corner of a restaurant in 1982. From those humble beginnings, Friday Morning Men’s Fellowships have expanded to ten locations in four countries, with 60 tables of men meeting weekly. In recent years, we have experienced exponential growth online, with over 35,000 men accessing Christ-centered leadership training each month, hundreds listening to our weekly podcast, and over 150 requesting prayer each week for their own leadership journeys.

God has blessed our table gatherings, many of which now have multiple generations of leaders meeting together. Our development process is a simple, three-step formula: We learn about each other’s lives and challenges. We open the Bible to understand and live out its teachings. And in so doing, we lead with intention, making the most of each relationship in our sphere of influence.

We now have the opportunity to grow from hundreds of men and dozens of tables to thousands of both. We invite you to join us in support of this bold and vital vision, to build up a new generation of men who will walk with God through life and leadership, influencing those around them toward Christ.

A table might not seem to be the best possible platform for leadership development, but it is! A table is a tool that we use to gather, to work on, to eat with family, to negotiate. God thought so much of the table that He ordered one to be built for His tabernacle, the first mention of a table in the Bible (Exodus 35). For 42 years, men have gathered around tables at Friday Morning Men’s Fellowships. A recent survey of participants found that 97% of our men said that time at the table was the most life-changing aspect of their weekly meeting.

In order to grow our fellowships more effectively, we’re refocusing our efforts on the table. We’re updating and reformatting hundreds of Bible-centered leadership lessons to be available online and through mobile devices. We’re honing our training and mentoring process for table leaders. And we’re using our tremendous online reach to identify potential table leaders in cities across America and countries around the world, and encourage them to start a table in their area.

If you want to become a more effective man, husband, father and leader, it begins around a table. When you meet each week, you and your group will be mentored by the greatest leader of all time, Jesus Christ. Starting a table is easy. You don’t need a budget to make this happen. You don’t need a committee. You don’t need event calendars or mission statements or regulatory approval.

Any man can begin a men’s table in their area. Gather a group of 4-5 men at a table to meet. We will provide a strategy and best practices to get started. We’ll provide leadership lessons and discussion sheets to guide each table meeting. And we will provide proven tools for leadership growth that we have honed over 40 years of building men’s table groups.

How many tables are possible in the coming years? We believe as God has already blessed our table-based work in the past, we can continue to grow leaders through weekly table groups. Technologies and experience enable us to do this more readily and effectively than ever before.

Our vision is to see 500 active tables of men over the next five years. Today we are connecting to men in all 50 states, and will begin promoting relational leadership development through tables nationwide. Our reach also extends to 94 countries. Internationally, men have created tables in places like Kenya, Tanzania and the Congo.

Our strategy for growth is to identify potential table leaders, connect with them for a brief period of coaching, and support them as they begin tables locally, using our time-tested weekly meeting format. Unlike other leadership development groups, there is no expensive training or high monthly fee. Leadership curriculum is downloadable from our website, and will also be available through a new mobile app we will launch in the coming months.

In today’s frantic culture, meaningful relationships don’t just happen. They take intention and work. In order to become better men and better leaders, we need regular opportunities to sit across from others, look them in the eye, listen to their words and ask questions of them and of ourselves. As we grow to adulthood, our very nature is to learn through other people. We develop our vocabulary. We learn to read expressions and body language. We learn to value time with others, a smile, a genuine interest. When you grow relationships around a table, and your group is focused on living out the Word of God, you will also grow in leadership. Straightforward, biblical and excellent leadership development is coming to a table near you, and soon!