Salvo blokes gather across Australia for International Men’s Day
- deansimpson7
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
In celebration of International Men’s Day on 19 November, The Salvation Army was asked to participate in a discussion at the International Men’s Forum in Canberra, centred around the theme: ‘Supporting Men and Boys’. Salvos Online journalist LAUREN MARTIN reports on this event, and other events held around the Australia Territory in honour of the annual day.
Canberra, ACT
NSW/ACT Men’s Champion Keven Williams took a table of Salvation Army ministry leaders to the forum on 21 November and said it was an honour to be invited by Phil Gouldson, from the Men’s Health and Wellbeing Association in the ACT, who was the first to bring International Men’s Day to Australia in 2003.
“I spoke in the ‘lightning round’ where a number of participants were given seven minutes to share,” Keven said. “I spoke about what The Salvation Army is doing and the need for more spaces for our men to be able to feel safe and be able to talk about their stuff, life, and about the issues they are going through.”
The following day, Keven, the Eastern Beaches Corps Officer in Sydney, spoke at the inaugural The Salvation Army Southern NSW/ACT Men’s Summit held at Gungahlin Salvation Army.
NSW/ACT Men’s Champion Lieutenant Keven Williams speaks at the Men’s Summit at Gungahlin Corps.
“It was fantastic,” said Keven. “Men came together and talked about how we are better together than we are apart.”
The guest speaker for the summit was Baptist Pastor Gary Steenbergen, who spoke about his time working as a butcher and how the parts of the body of Christ work together for the glory of God. He encouraged men across The Salvation Army to “do life together” and to support one another.
“It’s definitely not a coincidence that God is speaking into unity and men coming together across multiple different denominations at this time,” said Keven.
“I think that God is calling our men, God is calling our youth, God is calling our young adults. We are seeing more and more across our corps and mission centres that men are deliberately and intentionally coming together to support each other’s walks with God.
“I’m excited!”
Lismore, NSW
Northern Rivers Salvos hosted its third International Men’s Day Community Dinner on Friday 21 November.
More than 95 men of all ages attended to celebrate men and boys and discuss the importance of recognising the role men play in the community.
“It was great to have local musician Chris James, who encouraged all the guys to get up out of their seats, open up and find their voices,” said Captain Phil Sutcliffe.
“There was something special about seeing nearly 100 guys get comfortable with each other in the room and sing Amazing Grace.”
Men worship at the Northern Rivers International Men’s Day event at Lismore Corps where the guest speaker was James Carson, social entrepreneur and holistic health coach.
Local Chef, Everton Martins, from ‘Brazil on the Grill’, provided an amazing feast of chicken and beef all cooked over coals, with more than 32kg of meat consumed!
Guest speaker, social entrepreneur and holistic health coach, James Carson, shared his personal journey with body image issues and finding his place in the world.
“James shared some really practical habits that the guys could adopt into their daily lives to help improve their mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing,” said Phil.
One of those tips was practising a daily gratitude journal, and every attendee was gifted a personalised journal to take home with them on the night.
“Each year, the International Men’s Day dinner in our area is growing,” said Phil. “I’m so thankful to the amazing business community that donates and supports the event so that it can be provided to the men in our community free of charge.”
Cairns, QLD
An International Men’s Day breakfast in Cairns, north Queensland, was hosted by the new Cairns Men’s Collective, of which The Salvation Army is a member.
Lieutenant Edward Conteh from Cairns Corps said the collective is about all the different support agencies working together for the wellbeing of men in the city.
“Coming together [people] will bring their own strength, their own skills, their own expertise. If we draw all the strengths together, we will definitely support men in their journey,” he said.
The breakfast included a First Nations performance, a men’s panel discussion, and a barbeque and ‘international cuisine’ breakfast.
The International Men’s Day breakfast was just one of six men’s breakfasts the Cairns Corps has hosted this year as part of its men’s ministry.
“There is still a lot of work to do to get men motivated to make a difference in the corps and community,” said Major Ben Johnson from Cairns Corps. “Many men feel powerless.”
The corps also uses sport to engage with men and has a men’s basketball team. “This is a great team of mainly young adults, and it keeps them connected,” Ben said.
