The Silent Burdens of Men in Elders Quorum | An Interview with Joe Speredon

Hailing from the heart of Utah, Joe Speredon's diverse background
and experience led him into leadership within men's work. Having
embarked on his own path of crisis and self-discovery, Joe
discovered the healing nature of brotherhood and masculine support.
From that place he founded the Utah Men's Circle and later the
Algiz Guard. Working with Sacred Sons and many other influential
leaders and groups, Joe has had the opportunity to travel all over
the world, meet men from diverse backgrounds, and guide them
through their own healing and evolution as a coach, leader and
inspirational speaker. Joe currently serves in the Church as a
Sunday School teacher and as a stake emergency preparedness
specialist. Links UtahMensCircle.com Instagram: @utahmenscircle
Facebook: Utah Men's Circle AlgizGuard.com Instagram:
@thealgizguard Facebook: The Algiz Guard The Intentional Father: A
Practical Guide to Raise Sons of Courage and Character There is
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access to the Core Leader Library Highlights 1:40 Introduction to
Joe Speredon and his background 4:20 Joe shares why mens work is so
important to him and how he got started in it. 6:00 Too many men
are suffering in silence. However, when men open up they will find
that they are suffering with the same things. 8:00 We have the
engine (elders quorum) but we don’t know how to turn it on. We need
men to be courageous enough to open up during elders quorum. 10:00
What is brotherhood? We’ve had a cultural shift that the cool thing
is to be a lone wolf. Men think they have to do it all and do it
alone. 14:30 The war that we fight is mostly against ourselves. The
idea of brotherhood is it's me against myself and having brothers
to help us be the best version of ourselves. 15:30 How can an
elders quorum president stimulate brotherhood in Sunday meetings?
Take off your own mask as the leader. Be open with your struggles.
Be the first to be vulnerable and authentic and others will follow.
17:30 Joe created the Utah Men's Circle, a gathering twice a month
for a couple hours, a time to check in and talk about how you are
really feeling. 21:40 Have less formal gatherings and activities to
connect and have conversations. 23:00 Doing men's work outside of
elders quorum. We need to create a place for active and inactive
members to connect without preaching. 26:00 The vilification of men
and toxic masculinity 30:30 Due to wounding and conditioning and
because they are mortal, men can turn into: The sadist, meaning I’m
going to hurt you before you hurt me The masochist, meaning I’m
going to hurt me before you can hurt me 32:00 To become more
realigned is more than just getting your behaviors in check. You
have to know where you are going and why you are doing it. 33:50 An
archetype that gets thrown around a lot and is related to toxic
masculinity is "king". We can have a reframing of the word king by
doing self work. 36:40 As a society we have lost a lot of rights of
passage for young men. We need to be giving young men opportunities
to set up from boyhood to manhood. 40:10 Resources for fathers and
men to find ways to step up and change. 42:10 Unrighteous dominion
is another way to say toxic masculinity. What exactly is
unrighteous dominion? 43:20 We are teaching young men that what you
do is not so much the problem but it's about how everyone else
feels about what you are doing. Instead, we need to help them focus
on WHY they did what they did. 47:40 Joe wasn’t called to do men’s
circle or help men but he reminds us that we don’t have to be
commanded in all things and we should be anxiously engaged in good
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