Men of Christ did not begin with a massive budget, a professional staff or an elaborate national strategy.

It began with a handful of Catholic men sitting around a dinner table.

“They were talking about how to grow in faith and to build virtue as men inside of their families and inside of their friend groups and their neighborhoods,” said Pat Masterson, one of the ministry’s current leaders.

That conversation eventually sparked the idea of bringing a larger group of men together for a Catholic men’s conference.

The first year, roughly 700 men showed up.

“Our very first presider at Mass at the very first Men of Christ conference was Cardinal Timothy Dolan,” Masterson said. “At the time he was based here in Milwaukee and was a great advocate and supporter of us as we started.”

Twenty years later, Men of Christ has become far more than a one-day conference.

In 2026, the ministry celebrated its 20th conference, drawing more than 3,000 men to downtown Milwaukee.

But Masterson and fellow leader AJ Garcia say the size of the conference is not the real story.

The real story is friendship.

‘Five of Us Are Going to Go for This’

Garcia said the early history of Men of Christ contains a lesson for Catholic men who see a need in their parish but do not know where to begin.

“You see a group of friends that are ready and willing to go for it,” Garcia said. “I love hearing the stories of the origins of this conference and many like it. We’re like, ‘Hey, five of us are going to go for this. We’ll invite our networks. We’ll see what happens.’”

The response to the first conference exceeded expectations.

Garcia recalled hearing how organizers were “scrambling, running out to Subway to buy more sandwiches because so many guys showed up.”

For him, that story illustrates something deeper.

“It really is just about the camaraderie, the community of a handful of guys and then the prayer and sacrifice behind it,” he said. “Seeing the need and just going for it.”

That same approach continues to shape the ministry today.

Men of Christ provides videos, promotional materials, bulletin inserts, flyers, posters and other resources that parishes can use to host their own gatherings or stream the Milwaukee conference remotely.

But Garcia said the tools are secondary.

“Whether you use our resources or not, just get something started.”

Men Are Hungry to Be Together

Garcia has been involved with Men of Christ for about five years and attended conferences before joining the leadership team.

He watched the ministry adapt during the COVID era, transitioning from gatherings of more than 2,500 men to virtual events and distributed host sites.

In 2026, more than 3,000 men returned for the 20th conference.

Through those changes, Garcia said one reality became increasingly clear.

“I’ve just seen this hunger and desire for men to be together,” he said.

The conference gives Catholic men an easy opportunity to invite a friend, brother, son or family member who may have fallen away from the faith.

“There’s not a lot of risk, not a lot on the line,” Garcia said. “Men of Christ just provides a great conference experience for them.”

Sometimes those invitations lead to profound moments of conversion.

Garcia said some of his favorite stories come from men returning to the sacrament of reconciliation after decades away.

“I think two years ago, someone said 50 years. I mean, at least 40,” he said.

Confession lines are among the most striking sights at the conference.

“It’s pretty much always flowing and at different points backed up,” Garcia said.

More than 30 priests may be available to hear confessions.

“One of the biggest gifts and most inspiring moments of the conference every year is seeing those guys in that long line and knowing somewhere in there this is the first time they’ve returned to this in a long time.”

One Invitation Changed Pat Masterson’s Life

Masterson’s connection to Catholic men’s ministry began before he joined Men of Christ.

About 2011, a young associate pastor, Father John Burns, and one of Masterson’s best friends, Bob Simi, started a men’s group at his parish.

At the time, Masterson said he was “a very lukewarm Catholic.”

“I was not really praying, not really studying my faith, and I think I was just kind of going through the motions,” he said.

Then came an invitation.

“It was literally like over a beer at a bar after playing pickup basketball,” Masterson said.

His friend became a mentor, and the men’s group helped draw him deeper into his faith.

Masterson has since heard variations of that same story repeatedly.

“The game changer in people is when someone else cares enough to invite them,” he said.

That invitation requires vulnerability.

A man may have to tell a friend, “‘Look, I’m going to be a little bit vulnerable here and share: My Catholic faith is really important. My love of Christ is really important.’”

“I think that makes all the difference,” Masterson said.

He has watched men make dramatic changes after re-engaging with the Church.

He recalled one married man who gave up recreational drug use and pornography. He and his wife began practicing natural family planning and went on to have a large family.

Before that, Masterson said, the man had been “very, very far away from the faith.”

“He re-embraced his Catholic faith through the invitation and coming back to the sacrament of confession.”

An ‘Apostolate of Friendship’

Garcia has a phrase for what Men of Christ is trying to create.

“An apostolate of friendship.”

The ministry’s commitment to prayer and the sacraments comes first, he said, but closely connected to that is a commitment to other men.

“It is to one another,” Garcia said. “It’s to friendship, to encouraging one another.”

That might begin with an invitation to a conference and eventually become an invitation into a parish men’s group.

“Just knowing that other men need support, offering that to others, and all the while also benefiting from that as you’re making those invitations,” he said.

Masterson said those relationships have become deeply personal.

“The group of our Men of Christ leaders, our regional leaders, they’re my best friends,” he said.

During recent family struggles, members of the team prayed for Masterson daily.

“I’m not sure you can put a price on it,” he said.

There is a difference, he added, between someone saying, “I’m thinking about you,” and knowing other Catholic men are offering Mass, adoration and the rosary for you.

“They’re not just friends here on earth, but they also care for your soul.”

More Than 200 Parishes Represented

The reach of Men of Christ has grown considerably.

At the 2026 conference, about 3,100 men attended in person.

Masterson said 143 parishes from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee were represented, along with another 87 parishes from outside the archdiocese.

The ministry has even drawn international interest.

Two priests from Bermuda flew to Milwaukee for the conference after their bishop contacted Men of Christ.

The priests heard confessions, spent time with ministry leaders and asked questions about building a men’s group at their cathedral parish.

Their bishop had effectively told them, Masterson recalled, “You’re going to Men of Christ this year.”

Garcia admitted the first email seemed unusual.

“A bishop emails us and is like, ‘Is this real? Is this legit?’” he said.

Once the ministry confirmed the request, the answer was simple.

“Send them up. We’ll take care of them.”

Supported by the Archdiocese

Men of Christ has also benefited from long-standing relationships with the leadership of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Garcia pointed to Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop Jerome Listecki and current Archbishop Jeffrey Grob as part of the ministry’s history.

Archbishop Listecki, in particular, regularly met with Men of Christ leaders.

Those meetings were not only opportunities for the ministry to share success stories.

They were also a chance to receive direction.

As Men of Christ considered expanding nationally, Garcia said Archbishop Listecki offered a simple instruction:

“Take care of the people here. Take care of the people in this Archdiocese.”

The ministry took that seriously.

“We’re always trying not just to get more men for the sake of filling seats at the conference,” Garcia said, “but more men who are engaged in living out this apostolate of friendship and a life of prayer in their parishes.”

The Conference Is Only Part of the Mission

Men of Christ describes December through March as “conference season.”

But the ministry continues throughout the year.

Ahead of the conference, Men of Christ hosts three Saturday leadership meetings, typically in December, January and February.

The gatherings may be held at a parish, the cathedral or the seminary.

About 100 to 150 men attend.

They begin with Mass.

The men pray for the conference, receive formation, hear speakers and work through practical planning.

“They are the parish captains,” Masterson said. “They are the leaders at their parish.”

Some run small groups. Others oversee broader ministries to men.

Over time, those leadership meetings helped generate additional events, including retreats, rosary walks, pilgrimages and an event called Aiming for Christ, which combines trap shooting, Mass and a chili cook-off.

Other gatherings may be as simple as a baseball game, a cookout or several men sitting on a back porch sharing bourbon.

The goal is the same.

“Making sure that the isolation, that idea of separation, we break that cycle,” Masterson said.

How Men of Christ Pays for It

The conference and broader ministry are supported largely through private donations.

“We’ve been blessed in a lot of ways,” Masterson said.

Benefactors who have either seen or personally experienced the impact of the ministry help fund the work.

The conference charges what Masterson described as an affordable ticket price that largely covers food.

“The budget for the conference is significantly bigger than the ticket admission that we bring in,” he said.

Men of Christ also makes its remote conference available free to parishes and groups wishing to stream it on the day of the event.

Several years of recorded talks are also available online at no cost.

For smaller parish events, Garcia recommended looking close to home.

During the years when more parishes hosted streamed conferences, local businesses frequently stepped in to help.

“Would you donate the coffee? Would you donate sandwiches?” Garcia recalled leaders asking.

No matter the size of the gathering, he said, men should not be afraid to ask for help.

Start With Two Men — Then Find Four or Five

For parishes interested in hosting a satellite conference, Men of Christ has created a playbook based on years of experience.

But Masterson said one principle matters more than almost anything else.

Do not try to do it alone.

“Doing it alone is really hard,” he said.

Add one other man, he said, “and the success rate’s going to go up by 100%.”

Build a core group of four or five committed men and “your results are going to be a 1,000% different than trying to go it alone.”

The same applies when working with a pastor.

Instead of bringing the pastor another major responsibility, Masterson recommends forming the team first.

Tell the priest, in effect: We have a core group. We will run it. We want to bring 20 men together. We will attend Mass and handle the logistics. Join us if you can.

“You just have to do it,” Masterson said. “You have to pray about it and then you have to just try.”

There will be rejection.

“Put aside the fear,” he said. “Yes, you’ll get some no’s along the way.”

From Satellite Sites to Full Affiliates

Some groups simply stream the Milwaukee conference.

Others eventually grow into something larger.

Men of Christ Joliet, for example, began as a satellite-style relationship but eventually became an affiliate.

Its leaders established their own nonprofit serving the Diocese of Joliet.

In recent years, the group has drawn more than 400 men to its gatherings and has moved from streaming Milwaukee’s speakers to hosting its own live national Catholic speakers.

Men of Christ can support either model.

The important thing, Garcia said, is recognizing a need and acting on it.

“A guy seeing a need, asking for it, a little bit of planning and bringing men together.”

The Future Is Not About Bigger Numbers

After years of national outreach, Men of Christ has recently placed renewed emphasis on Milwaukee.

Masterson described the vision in three parts: build strong fathers, help form holy families and create “the most vibrant parish possible.”

That kind of parish is built through invitation.

“You have somebody new join the parish, invite them,” Masterson said. “Go talk to them. Make them feel welcome. Ask how you can help them.”

He called that “a very small version of evangelization.”

The ministry would like to reach every parish in the archdiocese.

But Masterson said that does not mean the goal is simply increasing conference attendance.

“We’ve gone back to basics,” he said.

The question is how to reach the man on the fringe — the parishioner who comes occasionally, the man who has drifted away or the father who has never been personally invited deeper.

TAP: Touch a Person

Men of Christ has turned that personal invitation into a simple principle called TAP: Touch a Person.

Masterson said it is often the hardest part of the ministry.

“The resistance is there,” he said. “It is easy to say someone else will make that invitation.”

Some Men of Christ leaders personally invite hundreds of men.

“They will literally pick up the phone and go down their phone list in their iPhone and one by one invite: phone call, text, phone call, text.”

The math is not always encouraging at first.

“We say to get 20 guys to the conference, you have to invite 100,” Masterson said.

And some of those men may require repeated invitations.

“They need to be tapped three, four, five times, maybe 10. Maybe over the years.”

Sometimes nothing appears to happen.

But the invitation may still matter.

“Maybe you’re planting a seed for something that might come to a bloom 10 years from now.”

‘Evangelize, Catechize and Unify’

Garcia said Men of Christ ultimately wants to keep its mission simple.

“Evangelize, catechize and unify.”

The goal is one man.

“Encourage that one man to come back to the faith and then that ripple effect it will have on, God willing, his family and then the parish community.”

TAP is bigger than an invitation to a conference.

“It’s an invitation to an intentional conversation about what Jesus is doing in your life,” Garcia said, “or just the encouragement you need to take that next step closer to him.”

Again, he returned to the same idea that has fueled the ministry for two decades.

“The apostolate of friendship.”

The Next Mission: High School Boys

One significant new initiative is taking shape ahead of the next conference.

Men of Christ is placing a new emphasis on high school-age young men.

“Our goal is for a man to bring his sons or to bring his grandsons, his brothers, his uncle,” Masterson said.

The ministry tested the idea at Catholic Memorial High School in Milwaukee.

Leaders worked with the school’s faith formation staff and teachers to invite young men to the conference and provide discounted tickets.

Afterward, Masterson returned to the school to give a talk on virtue.

Then he made the boys another offer.

“I invited all of those young men to come back to next year’s conference for free, and we would find a sponsor to pay for all of those young men.”

That could mean roughly 250 boys from one school.

Now Men of Christ hopes to make a concerted effort at about 12 Catholic high schools in the archdiocese.

The plan is to identify fathers and school leaders, partner with presidents, principals and faith formation directors and bring busloads of young men to the conference.

The ministry has already seen similar momentum with college students.

About 50 students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison attended the 2026 conference through the St. Paul Catholic Center.

Those college men went on stage and prayed the rosary together.

“Think about those grade school boys or high school boys looking at 50 college boys up there praying the rosary together,” Masterson said. “It was great.”

The message to the next generation is straightforward.

“We want to make sure they know that they are invited,” Masterson said, “and that there are great, strong male leaders who care about their faith and care about God and care about them.”

One Spark Can Become a Fire

Near the end of the conversation, host Tom Honercheck pointed to Luke 12:49: “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled.”

For Honercheck, the verse captures what happens when one Catholic man invites another.

“You have no idea — we have no idea — when we talk to another man, invite another man, and he comes to a conference, or these high school kids, or these college kids, the spark that ignites that blaze of faith and the difference it makes.”

Men of Christ began with a handful of men willing to act on that spark.

Twenty years later, thousands of men gather each year, hundreds of parishes participate and men who have been away from confession for decades are finding their way back.

Still, the strategy has hardly changed.

Pray.

Build friendships.

Pick up the phone.

Invite the next man.

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