More than 200 Catholic men from as far away as Altus and the Searcy area braved icy roads on Feb. 5 to attend the first Catholic Men’s Conference at Christ the King Church in Little Rock.
The event, held at the church’s ministry building, was sponsored by Men of Faith Little Rock. The goal for the event, the first of what organizers plan to be an annual happening, is to give Catholic men a chance to learn and discuss their roles in the Church and, conversely, its role in their lives.
After celebrating Mass, attendees were welcomed with an opening prayer delivered by pastor Msgr. Francis I. Malone. Keynote speaker Gus Lloyd delivered three lectures, “Marriage and Family,” “Apologetics” and “Culture Wars”.
“I want people to know the beauty and majesty of our faith,” Lloyd told the audience. “I believe when you are armed with information about what Mother Church teaches, you will find it even more beautiful.”
Lloyd, a lecturer, author and commentator on Catholic apologetics, is host of the daily radio program “Seize the Day,” which airs on the Catholic Channel on Sirius XM satellite radio. He speaks at about 20 conferences a year, but this was his first visit to Little Rock. He said the attendance was on par with all-men’s events at which he speaks across the country, saying the Catholic men’s movement is still “in its infancy.”
“These are challenging times we are living in,” he said. “Catholic men have been marginalized and put down, and we bought into all the lies and nonsense the world was saying about us. However, more and more men are starting to wake up.
“God has a plan for our lives and he wants you to be the husbands and fathers we are called to be. To do that, we have to be equipped.”
Chris Fray, one of the event’s coordinators, said the goal of the event was to break down barriers that men typically have to overcome when discussing topics of faith, fear and the search for meaning in life.
“In our culture, we’ve been taught to think ‘I’m the man, I’m independent,’ and if you’re not, then there’s something wrong” Fray said.
Lloyd, who as a teen drifted from his Catholic upbringing only to return in the late 1980s, said one of the reasons so many myths and half truths exist about the faith is because a typical Catholic is ill-equipped to explain or even defend the faith from a biblical stance. He said Catholics growing up in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s were largely “under catechized” and the resulting lack of scriptural understanding has left many Catholics “in spiritual infancy.”
“Most of the people sitting next to you in the pews every Sunday don’t know what our faith is all about,” he said. “If you are not reading the Bible on a daily basis — do.”
It is this desire for a greater understanding of Scripture and Catholic doctrine that led to the formation of the event’s sponsoring group, Men of Faith. The group grew out of four all-men’s Why Catholic? study groups at Christ the King.
“It was a natural outgrowth,” Fray said. “Our deacon, Don Greenway, said at the time that just because the course was over, it didn’t mean we had to stop meeting.”
What started as a book discussion group in 2009 evolved into a scriptural discussion group that has grown to roughly 70 members. The group meets Friday mornings from 6 to 7:30 a.m. The meetings open with a Scripture reading followed by a short commentary by clergy and the rest of the time is spent in small group discussion.
The group’s membership is more heavily populated by men over 55, but a healthy number are younger family men or single, engaged men. Fray said he would like to see more younger members in the group, acknowledging that time, even early morning time, isn’t always available for men in that phase of life.
“I got a lot out of this,” said Mark Parker, 53, a member of St. Edward Church in Little Rock. “I think we tend to get too focused on things that aren’t really important and an event like this reminds you what your real calling is, from the male perspective.”
