Tim Thoma says there’s an epidemic in Butler County.

But the Saxonburg man is not referring to drugs or poverty. Instead, he believes the problem has a more spiritual reason.

“Men don’t read God’s Word,” he said. “God gave us a plan and we need to follow it.”

Thoma said men used to be present in the home, heading the family and acting as the family’s spiritual leader.

But today, families are fractured; fathers are not in the home and there is no spiritual leadership.

Five years ago, Thoma and his friend, Ernie Westerman, decided to try to change things, to bring God back into men’s lives.

Their answer was Reverse the Curse.

The conference will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the First United Methodist Church’s Crossfire Campus at the corner of Duffy Road and Route 8.

“We challenge men to get into God’s Word and let it convince them and change them,” he said.

The annual conference brings together spiritual leaders both from local and national churches.

Thoma said the retreat will be “good, solid preaching and good, solid Christian music.”

“The main objective is to bring men into saving, to know of Jesus Christ through the Word of God, which is the Bible,” he said.

The first Reverse the Curse was in 2011 at the Saxonburg Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Thoma said before that he attended more than a dozen men’s conferences that caused him to study his own life and he came to a realization.

“I was sick and tired of being sick and tired,” he said. “I needed a change.”

He talked with his friend Westerman, and the pair decided something needed to be done. After consideration and prayer, the men decided to hold their own conference.

Reverse the Curse refers to Malachi 4:6. The Bible verse says, in part, “He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers…”

“We want to get it right, we want to be right before God,” Thoma said.

In the past five years, attendance has swelled and organizers expect nearly 600 participants this year, according to Henry McNutt, who is organizing the refreshments for the event.

The event will feature speakers T.C. Stallings and Robert Amaya from the movie “Courageous,” Pastor James “Lu” Lewellyn from the Murrysville Alliance Church and Steve Chiles from the Shartel Church of God in Oklahoma City, Okla.

McNutt of Butler attended his first Reverse the Curse conference three years ago.

He was so moved that now he is one of the organizers.

“You don’t know what it’s like to see 550 men giving praise to God,” he said.

This year, organizers are moving the event to the First United Methodist Church’s Crossfire Campus.

Thoma said it is through the “glory of God” that the event has outgrown the original venue.

“We’re excited though, of course,” he said.

McNutt said leftover food and money from the event will be donated to local shelters, youth groups and families in need.

“There isn’t one dime going into anyone’s pocket,” he said.

Tickets are available through www.reversethecurse.org, at Thoma’s Meat Market in Saxonburg and are also available at the door.