The article was mostly about how the statistics are dubious, and I don't have any better statistics to offer at the moment, so I don't have much to say about the numbers. (I also noted that one way readership was being measured was through book-buying -- but this ignores the existence of libraries. The last few fiction books my husband and I read were checked out of the local library.)
I agree, though, that many people are finding it difficult to form in-person communities. I think this is true across many demographics, but let's focus on men and boys for the moment, since that's the topic of this thread.
Since I have some influence in my congregation's planning (I'm on the vestry), I'm interested in your ideas about what makes church more welcoming to men and boys. You said:
Can you elaborate on this observation? What kinds of church activities would you find inviting, as an adult man? What would make a church a serious adult place where you could find community?
Your question is a serious question. But (your question) it is a marketting approach
(that is more for evangelism). My comments are more from the viewpoint of what
Christians ought to be, rather than how they could market a Christian lifestyle to the
average American.
And this is where things get difficult. I have not found ANY challenging activities
at local congregations (I'm talking about activities outside worship). There are
sometime entertainment activities. I have attended a lot of amateur "Bible
studies", but most have no one there with critical Bible study skills. What
I commonly find, is a lack of serious commitment among Christian men,
to create a very different (alternative) culture in America, and spend time in
that culture. "Lifestyle" may be a better word, than "culture".
This may seem amorphous, to younger American Christians.
"Why would I need an alternative lifestyle?"
My answer is that (in opposition to some American Christians), I simply cannot
see American culture as Christian.
I ask over and over again, "Where is the People of God?"
Frankly, sharing a worship liturgy with a bunch of people, does not mean that
I know where the People of God are. And, this certainly is not producing an
alternative culture and lifestyle, to the current pagan American culture.
(That, is a controversial statement, among some Christian groups.)
We DO NOT LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, WITHIN A CHURCH BUILDING.
We must live a Christian life, substantially, in the presence of other Christians.
If we cannot understand this, then I would say that we no longer have any idea
what the phrase "People of God" means.
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As for being "welcoming to men and boys", this is a difficult question, over many
different Christian groups. ...
1. The common shared liturgy of Christianity, over the first 1,000 years, is pretty
standard. This would be a "high church" order of service, and would contain
many of the elements that you saw in the funeral service of Jimmy Carter, at
the National Cathedral. High church Christians would recognize the elements of a
common liturgy used by high church Protestants, and Roman Catholics, and the
Eastern Orthodox, and high church Protestant groups.
This form of high church liturgy, is neutral to your question, although the high
church theologies regularly only allow men to serve as priests, and officiate in
liturgies.
2 What I would focus on, is activities that I would call "regular Christian life", and
whether or not that engages men and boys. These would be activities outside
of the worship service, and not particularly happening in church buildings or
on a church property (unless the congregation has a lot of resources).
North American Christians need to take aspects of non-Christian lifestyle, and
change them into Christian activities heavily taking place among Christians. Such
as...
Take the 2-3 hours a day that kids live on social media, and offer completely
different activities. Activities should be skill centered, or health centered,
and should be in a group setting (not individual pursuits).
Serious skills that fall into the arena of a Christian education, are prime
targets...
Reading skills
Writing skills
Critical thinking skills
Tutoring in school subjects
But there are many other life skills, that need to be developed...
Physical exercise
Everyone should learn basic cooking skills
How to make and keep a schedule
How to plan for a future career job
Managing money
I think that Christian congregations ought to offer professional quality
teaching of critical Bible study skills. This includes
Biblical Greek (I don't think that Hebrew is so important)
Formal logic, and how biblical authors reason
An introduction to Moral-Ethical models, and which ones have components
that are compatible with Christianity
Professional reference guides to biblical Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic.
(I would leave the topic of commentaries, alone.)
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Critical Bible study skills (even an introduction to what the biblical languages
are like, and what the world-class reference tools for biblical languages are),
produce a basic foundation for developping biblical literacy. Without these
objective skills, individuals tend to parrot the commentaries that are popular,
without having the ability to evaluate the quality of the commentaries.
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The problem of not having competent teachers, is recursive.
"We don't have teachers, who can teach these subjects."
You don't have competent teachers, because you had no pipeline to
develop competent teachers.
"We don't have men and boys who are interested in learning
serious life skills."
This is a problem involving how evangelism is done. Is your evangelism
calling men and boys OUT OF the pagan American lifestyle? Why do you accept
men and boys in your congregation, is they are not willing to leave the pagan
American lifestyle?
And that, is the problem of the intellectual decay of North American
Christianity, over a number of generations.
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The importance of reading, and reading skills, is that they open up
possibilities that we, personally, have never seen, and never personally
experienced. That is, reading Christian classics, can introduce the younger
American generations to a Christian lifestyle, that they have never seen, in
their current Christian congregation.
There is much more that should be said about this topic.