TIPS ON HOW TO GET SHED NIGHT HAPPENING

“SHED HAPPENS”

by Watto

 

SHED is best seen as an extension of God's KINGDOM. It works best without a denominational tag on it and is more suited to be held away from the church grounds. It makes it easier for blokes who don't 'do' church and those who don't have any Christian background.

 

SHED VENUE

Must be bloke friendly and cosy so blokes can get close together in a confined area. Formality is not required for blokes – a shed ( industrial, rural or suburban), a truckyard or wherever blokes feel good and safe. You can push 20-50 chairs or drums or hay bales up close to 2 tall stools. Have a stage just a little higher so you’re not looking down on the bloke. Don’t make the chairs look like a school room. Half circle the chairs if possible – and blokes don’t want too many bright lights because if something said touches their heart they don’t want to be seen.

 

SOUND SYSTEM

is required if you have more than about 20 blokes so that all can hear. The two blokes having the chat sit on the stools and don’t have to fiddle with the mikes. Blokes get put off if they can’t hear properly. Have someone to take charge of the sound gear so it’s right. Make sure the speaker can be heard.

 

BARBECUE

Food Table. Esky for cool non-alcoholic drinks. Urn to boil the billy for tea or coffee. Give a man a decent steak-burger, a cool drink and let him get a tea or good coffee at the end of the night and eat a Tim Tam or a Peppermint Cream chocky biscuit. Have the burger making team (no women) there early so you are ready to eat at 6:30pm. Blokes do the lot. Have a clean-up and stack-up team at the end of the night. Don’t forget that a new bloke may feel better helping with a little job – like the barbecue or setting up the chairs. Don’t be lousy with the food. Thin steaks of best quality, sausages or rissoles  – add a slice of cheese, bacon or an egg for something special. Serve on bread or a roll plus the usual salad and sauce.

 

START

6:30pm eating. Interviews at 7.00pm – 8:30pm. Be ready as many will arrive at the same time and be hungry. It's important to move them through fairly quickly.

 

FINISH

Finish sharp at 8:30pm so blokes can leave, or chat for the next 1-2 hours if they wish. Make

sure blokes are free to chat at the end with the speaker they connected with. It could be the most important time of the Shed night.

 

SPEAKERS

Every bloke’s a champion – and there’s no need to chase high profile blokes as speakers. All blokes have a good story and it’s their story or part thereof.

 

NB It’s not to be their whole of life story. It’s what’s going on now – between them and God. This may be good, bad, happy or sad. What’s their battle? High profile or no profile. Ordained or not - same for everyone.

 

NB Most Aussie blokes don’t rush to go out front and speak but they will when they know that their battle might help some other bloke in his battle.

 

It's best if you interview the speaker so that the one, two or three main points are reached and the speaker doesn't spend too long on lead up information. If you let the speaker just tell his story for 20 minutes you may miss the real gems within his heart and it can border on information download or entertainment. A speaker can avoid answering the hard issues by just telling his story just the way he wants to.

 

TO SUS OUT A SHED SPEAKER

Ask around your blokes. Say “When would you like to have a chat up the front at a Shed night?” A bloke will let you know. He may be ready any time or he may take 2-3 years. It doesn’t matter. When it’s right – do it. God will make it happen.

 

Ask God “Who do you have to chat up front this month?” and trust him to show you. He has supplied speakers for Murrumba Downs for 8 years. It will work out. Don’t try to talk anyone into chatting up front.

 

PREPARATION OF SPEAKERS – very important

One week before the Shed Night run through the list of questions with your man and it will usually uncover the points worth chatting about on the night. Listen to his story and jot down a few moments that God will have you hear that you know should be passed on to all blokes.

 

Men learn from men as “iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17).

 

Ask the bloke to let you know if any question rings a bell in his head and then listen to his story about this part. A day or two before the Shed night, have another chat with him and see if God has put any other point on his mind that he needs to bring up.

 

NB On the night, no-one preaches. Be real! Don’t try to spiritualise the night. No information down-load. Keep the chats sharp and relevant. No patronising. Let it be said straight from the heart. The better preparation by the interviewer, the better result.

 

God is in charge. He speaks to the speaker, and through the speaker, to whichever bloke needs to hear the point on the night. No questions from the floor. Questions over a cuppa only.

 

Don't allow the  Shed to be a place to sell stuff or advertises courses etc. but if something comes out during the Shed chat that's OK.

 

Ask this question - “So you and God, do you know him – or do you know about him?”

 

FINISH ON TIME NO MATTER WHAT!

 

MINISTRY

This is ‘blokie’ outreach ministry. No grace before the meal, but prayer by the organising blokes as and when required over the whole night. Let God’s Spirit be in charge of all moments. You want the non-churched blokes to be welcome. They don’t know the church lingo.

 

You may have some one-on-one with blokes after the main chat up front or during coffee or clean-up time.

 

LAY LED – PASTOR BLESSED

This ministry gives the pastor the opportunity to sit with the blokes and get to know them and vice versa. This allows for more open and blokie connection. The pastor does not have to be on show and therefore can quietly chat and encourage where best suited.

 

FOR THE INTERVIEWER

This is the hardest job! Pray to God for his wisdom and discernment and sensitivity to hear your speaker’s heart. You need God's courage to ask the 'tell us more' questions and to go a little deeper.

 

We can help you learn to do the interviews. Not everyone is suited to do the interviewing. Don't hesitate to call us if you need help.

 

• Do the pre-night time with him – know his story before the night, especially the main points.
• Move him on to relevant moments.
• Do not take any attention away from him.
• Watch your time. Get him to the end.
• Don’t spend too much time on the first part of his life.
• Get him to the now part.
• Have another of your close men sit in the front row and watch the time and be your extra ear for giving you a sign to move onto another question or get it rolling.
• If the chat is over a heavy battle, ensure the bloke being interviewed gets to finish on how the victory is looking.
• Have someone be alert to any offensive or off-putting remarks that may turn men away.
• Enjoy the night and hand all consequences over to God.
• Do not tamper with God’s glory.
• Watch and hear God’s mighty hand in the lives of his men.
• Go hard – go for God.
• Every bloke’s a champion.
• Make your Shed a place where all men can feel safe and not judged.

 

Shed Happens gets down to James 5:16 “Confess your sins one to another so you may be healed”. The sharing of men in front of men releases us of fear and guilt like you have never seen before. The ‘shedding’ of all our junk.

 

COMMUNICATION WITH BLOKES

Blokes love a text message one week out and then a reminder on the morning of the Shed night. Monday night seems to be easiest for blokes to make Shed as it disrupts the family the least. Make sure everyone is welcomed on the night, and if you have time, ask new blokes to stand up and say where they come from.

 

Two speakers for 20 minutes each is much more appealing to men than one for 40 minutes. Blokes like action, reality and 'keep it pumping'.

 

A good connector between speakers can be the simple “turn to the bloke beside you and exchange with him your thumbs up/thumbs down for the week” for 5 minutes only.

 

ALCOHOL

Listeners could go home thinking that a bloke only spills his guts if he’s got a few grogs under his belt. Also, you may have blokes present who have addictions to alcohol.

 

SHED IS NOT A CHURCH OR A MOVEMENT

It’s a safe non-judgmental place for all men. It is not into clergy-bashing or denominational church-bashing. It’s where men can learn to be better husbands, fathers, mates and better human beings who will be drawn into wanting to be part of a Christian fellowship.

 

ENJOY

Do your best and let God do the rest. Don’t hold back encouragement when it is within your power to do so (Proverbs 3:27).

 

TIPS FOR THE INTERVIEWS AT SHED NIGHT

Some questions to consider in the pre-Shed chat to get to know the bloke’s main parts of interest and for him to realize how he ticks. Use only those questions that suit. 

Tell us a few words about yourself.

• Where were you born and raised?
• Where do you belong?
• Some special things that your father and mother taught you? Values? Life’s ways?
• Your mentors or role models? Now, or when growing up.
• The wisest person you’ve met and his or her relevance to your life.
• What do you value in your friends/mates?
• Your favourite journey?
• Your greatest fear and how you’ll overcome it?
• Your greatest achievement?
• What makes you laugh? What do you do for fun now?
• What do you enjoy most about what you do?
• Your defining moment(s) as a man? Any category.
• From where do you draw your strength and inspiration?
• The key issues for men in the 21^st century?
• What’s your special interest?
• What’s the hardest thing you’ve had to face so far?
• What’s your battle/victory?

(relationships, money, sex, health, play, fear, loneliness, isolation, work, future)

• Is your spirit alive or dead?
• When was your most spiritual moment?
• Is God for real?
• God – Do you know him? Or do you know about him?
• How did you get on with your father in the first 12 years of your life?
• What does mateship mean to you?
• Do you have a true mate now? Or do you only have acquaintances?
• Anxiety – what things make you anxious?
• Your weakest point?
• What gets you out of bed in the morning? What lights your fire?
• If there is one think that you could have changed in your life that would have made a significant difference in the lives of others, what is it?
• What do tough love and soft love mean to you?
• Are you a head or heart person? (or both?)
• What is the tragedy that has left you with the deepest scar?
• What would your obituary say if you had to write it today?

 

After the pre-Shed chat, ask the bloke to have a red-hot talk to God asking him what particular points he’d like him to speak about at Shed Night interview. Then leave it to God’s Spirit to do his work in both the interviewer and interviewee.

 

SHED QUESTIONS FOR MARRIAGE

1. Have you left home and left your mother to go into marriage?
2. After starting out 'in love', did you ever consider you may not like your wife or that she may not like you?
3. If you were both Christians when you fell in love, did you expect that would make your marriage happy?
4. Did you have high expectations that life was going to be beautiful after marriage?
5. What were your expectations of your wife?
6. Did you expect your wife to serve you if you provided the food on the table and paid the bills?
7. Have you ever thought you married the wrong person?
8. Have you thought that if your wife just listened to you that you would have a good marriage?
9. Have you ever felt you were trapped into marriage?
10. Are you married and miserable? Is it getting better or bitter?
11. Do either you or your wife give the silent treatment after arguments or disagreements? (passive aggressive)
12. Are you able to say sorry to your wife? And ask God to forgive you?
13. Do you have in-law issues?
14. How are you and your wife's sleep habits and are they a cause for problems?
15. Do you sleep in separate rooms?
16. How do you speak to your wife?
17. How is your personal hygiene?
18. What is your love language? Your wife's love language?
19. Have you left the raising of the children to your wife?
20. Who wears the pants?
21. Who taught you the difference between love and lust?
22. Do either threaten to 'go elsewhere' for sex?
23. Do you have any sexual 'skeletons'?
24. Have you invited God into your sexual intimacy?
25. Do you have a wow factor in your marriage? Do you want one?
26. What do you do for fun in your marriage?
27. In re-marriage, how are you treating your own kids and your step-kids? (acceptance, love and favour)
28. What dreams do you have for the future of your marriage?
29. Do you pray with and for your wife aloud?

 

If you are aware of any problems in your mate's marriage or relationship these questions might help. Have you given him a non judgemental word or an ear.

“Men learn from men as iron sharpens iron.” Proverbs 27:17

 

What’s the next step?

Tell Watto (0412 722 455), and he’ll do what he can to get you going. He has gone as far afield as, Walla Walla, Deniliquin and Adelaide just to help run the first night and get you started!