Equipping Men for Mission through Brotherhood and Leadership

(Photo provided)

If you ask Patrick Nieukirk why he stepped into leadership for Summit Men’s Ministry, he won’t start with strategy or numbers. He’ll start with brotherhood.

“Today, men are isolated,” Nieukirk explained. “They’re leaving their families and struggling with addiction and loneliness. One in three men in the pews don’t have real male friendships in their parish. Brotherhood makes men stronger. It makes families stronger. It makes the Church stronger. That’s why I’m doing this.”

Nieukirk is the executive director of Summit Men, a Catholic men’s ministry rooted in the Archdiocese of Denver. He stepped into the role after years of active involvement in parish life, leadership development and personal outreach. At a pivotal moment, when the group’s former leader, Dan Donaldson, moved out of state, Summit Men faced a question: should they disband, merge with another group or would someone else step up as leader? When approached with the opportunity to lead, Nieukirk said yes.

“It’s not a title I was looking for,” he said. “But Dan encouraged me. He said, ‘You’ve done the work. You helped with the conference, you led the leadership training, you’ve got the skills.’ So, I said yes.”

Those skills come from decades of experience in business leadership, including sales and regional management roles at major technology firms. But for Nieukirk, the work of forming Catholic men isn’t about replicating the corporate world — it’s about equipping leaders for mission.

“The goal isn’t just a good conference,” he said. “It’s what comes next. What do we do to form men into missionary disciples in their parishes, in their deaneries and in their families?”

That’s the question Summit Men is working to answer. The ministry has hosted three annual conferences, most recently at Queen of Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Parish, featuring keynote speakers like Dr. Edward Sri, Father Doug Grandon and Andrew McGowan, archdiocesan executive director of evangelization and family ministries.

But after those conferences, Nieukirk and his team realized that a big event isn’t enough.

“It's nice to have a big-name speaker,” he said, “but if there’s no follow-up, what’s the lasting impact?”

To answer that, Summit Men launched an eight-week leadership formation program this spring in two locations: one led by Nieukirk, and one by Deacon Steve Stemper, a co-founder of the group. The program brought together men from multiple parishes and focused on practical missionary leadership, drawing from the spiritual multiplication model popularized by FOCUS.

“It wasn’t just a course. It was a relational workshop,” Nieukirk explained. “Some guys were new to men’s ministry, while others were already leading. We created a brotherhood, and that’s how you reach men. That’s how you form leaders.”

The training is just one part of a broader vision: regionalizing ministry across the archdiocese by connecting directly with the 13 regional deaneries. Nieukirk personally visited over a dozen men’s groups across the Boulder and Central West Deaneries, and Summit Men is now working to create leadership for Spanish-speaking communities as well.

“We want to be aligned with the parish and the deanery. That’s where the mission happens,” he said.

Nieukirk sees the growing network not as competition with existing men’s groups, but as a way to unite and strengthen them. Summit Men offers resources, visibility, training and, perhaps most importantly, a nudge toward mission.

“It’s not about joining Summit Men,” he said. “It’s about joining your parish men’s group and stepping into leadership there.”

Looking ahead, Nieukirk hopes to organize smaller, regional events in addition to the annual conference — things like father-son hikes, book discussions or informal gatherings like the “spiritual tap-in” he attended with Father Nathan Cromley at a local brewery.

“It brought in a different crowd,” he said. “It was approachable. Sometimes men just need an invitation and a space where they feel comfortable.”

The idea of invitation, accompaniment and mission is at the heart of everything Nieukirk is building.

“Jesus gave me the skills I used in business. Now I’m using them to reach men, to bring them into deeper discipleship, to create friendships that matter,” he said. “This is one way we evangelize and build up the Church. It all starts with brotherhood.”

For more information about Summit Men or to find a Catholic men’s group in your area, visit summitmen.co.

In recognition of his leadership and work to facilitate brotherhood, Patrick has been recognized as this month’s Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal Disciple of the Month. His love serves as an inspiring testament to the need for fraternal companionship in our church. 

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Congratulations, Patrick, for being named the Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal Disciple of the Month!

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