Author, local pastor, Alabama star team up for men’s weekend in Mobile

An event promising to help local men deal with the struggles of work, family, friends and faith kicks off Friday evening at Hank Aaron Stadium. 

The men’s weekend event, called “Man Up: How God Makes Man,” features author Patrick Morley, Alabama Crimson Tide football legend Jeremiah Castille and local pastor the Rev. Leon Bell Jr. The event will consist of each man giving examples from their own lives to help inspire others. 

Tim Smith, an event organizer, said the whole idea started a couple of months ago with a group of eight men got together to discuss Morley’s book entitled “How God Makes Man.” 

“We called ourselves the Great Eight because there were eight of us,” Smith said. “Pat has a God-given ability to discern the issues that cause men to itch. Pat has a unique understanding of how to address the itches.” 

The event, which requires a $20 registration fee and includes a copy of the book, a meal and a snack, is meant to encourage, inspire and challenge men, Morley said. 

“There are several pain points for men these days,” he said. “They include career, marriage and how to be a parent.” 

In addition to these pressures adult men in their 20s and 30s need companions and friends and those can be difficult to find, Morley said. 

“So many guys have childhood wounds for various reasons,” he said. “They have reasons they feel isolated.” 

Morley has ministered thousands of times and wants to help men express what’s going on inside of them. In his book Morley uses examples from a number of Biblical characters to help illustrate his points. 

Bell, pastor at St. Joseph Missionary Baptist Church, said Morley’s book resonated with him because he understands that through God no part of your life is wasted. 

“The good, the bad or the ugly. God can use it to push in a better direction,” he said.

Bell said he relates not only to the book, but to Morley’s ministry as well. 

“I’ve been that young father, newly married with kids, successfully failing at it all,” he said. 

In addition to Morley and Bell, Castille will speak about his experiences in life as well. 

“I’ll talk about my own personal testimonies,” he said. “I’ll look at the scriptures out of Romans about the power of the Gospels.” 

Castille said he wants to focus on the power of the principles of Biblical characters. 

“For me it was a Christ-like characters that helped build a foundation in my life,” he said.