DOVER-FOXCROFT – Some 800 men are expected to participate next week in a Men to Men Conference planned for two days in a local high school gymnasium.

Reflecting the phenomenal growth since the 1980s of men-focused Christian ministries, the conference April 23-24 is sponsored by the Charleston Church of the Open Bible.

It will feature Steve Farrar, a Dallas-based author and speaker on men’s issues who has gained national prominence in evangelical circles in part through the popular Promise Keepers men’s movement.

Farrar’s organization, Men’s Leadership Ministries, is not affiliated with Promise Keepers, however, and the Dover-Foxcroft conference has become an annual, locally organized event.

David Kelly, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Sangerville, and Bob Young, pastor of the Charleston Church of the Open Bible, also will speak during the conference, designed specifically for men, according to organizer Randy Thibeau. Thibeau is men’s ministry leader for the sponsoring church.

He said the speakers will teach and challenge men to be real men of faith and will try to help them understand the will of God in their lives.

Farrar’s return visit will build on last year’s discussion.

He is author of the best-selling “Point Man: How a Man Can Lead His Family,” which his Web site says has more than 400,000 copies in print.

It was the “Point Man” book that was the catalyst for Farrar shifting from serving as a church pastor after 15 years and focusing his ministry on equipping men for spiritual leadership.

Many Christian denominations have had “men’s ministries” for years, but much of the movement’s growth in the 1980s and 1990s has been in nondenominational, nationally organized organizations that focus on large gatherings of men, often cutting across denominational and racial boundaries.

The cost of the Men to Men Conference in Dover-Foxcroft is $20 per person, and snacks will be provided. For information, call 564-7664 or to register, call 1-888-675-3046, or e-mail rdthibeau@midmaine.com or go to www.men-to-men.org.