Fairbanks Men Form "Ironworkers" for Fun and Service When Fairbanks pastor Odea Sigh asked Jerry Potts to be the men’s ministry director for this year, Potts was reluctant. “All I could remember the men’s ministry doing was men’s retreat once a year,” said Potts. “I told Pastor Sigh that if I was to head it up, we were going to do some men’s stuff, like snowmachine trips, motorcycle trips, bowling nights and laser tag.” When new officers took over, Potts asked interested men to stay after church to discuss ideas. These initial meetings evolved into twice-monthly breakfasts at Denny’s. Though Potts admits that he was skeptical about participation at first, 18 men showed up that first Sunday and strong involvement has continued. The men chose "Ironworkers" as their name, based on Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” While spending time together, Potts reports that the men enjoy “great fellowship [and] guy-talk about spiritual things, home life, politics and life issues men deal with.” Community service projects have included a vehicle pre-winter weatherization clinic, building a handicap access ramp for an accident victim, and packing and moving a family. They have intentionally included the church's young men, especially those without a father at home. The men take advantage of local recreational opportunities like a recent weekend snowmachine trip to the White Mountains, north of Fairbanks. When the men formed a choir for a Christmas program, they threw a challenge to the women to do likewise, which resulted in a combined choir. “The big picture for the Ironworkers is not to try to get every guy involved in everything,” concluded Potts, “but to get every guy involved in at least one thing.”
Fairbanks Men Form "Ironworkers"
for Fun and Service
When Fairbanks pastor Odea Sigh asked Jerry Potts to be the men’s ministry director for this year, Potts was reluctant.
“All I could remember the men’s ministry doing was men’s retreat once a year,” said Potts. “I told Pastor Sigh that if I was to head it up, we were going to do some men’s stuff, like snowmachine trips, motorcycle trips, bowling nights and laser tag.”
When new officers took over, Potts asked interested men to stay after church to discuss ideas. These initial meetings evolved into twice-monthly breakfasts at Denny’s. Though Potts admits that he was skeptical about participation at first, 18 men showed up that first Sunday and strong involvement has continued.
The men chose "Ironworkers" as their name, based on Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” While spending time together, Potts reports that the men enjoy “great fellowship [and] guy-talk about spiritual things, home life, politics and life issues men deal with.” Community service projects have included a vehicle pre-winter weatherization clinic, building a handicap access ramp for an accident victim, and packing and moving a family.
They have intentionally included the church's young men, especially those without a father at home. The men take advantage of local recreational opportunities like a recent weekend snowmachine trip to the White Mountains, north of Fairbanks. When the men formed a choir for a Christmas program, they threw a challenge to the women to do likewise, which resulted in a combined choir.
“The big picture for the Ironworkers is not to try to get every guy involved in everything,” concluded Potts, “but to get every guy involved in at least one thing.”
The Ironworkers, Fairbanks Mens ministry participants, enjoyed a weekend of fellowship and renewal in the White Mountains north of Fairbanks.
