Male statistics

[RadMan]

• The typical U.S. Congregation draws an adult crowd that’s 61% female, 39% male. This gender gap shows up in all age categories. • On any given Sunday there are 13 million more adult women than men in America’s churches. • This Sunday almost 25 percent of married, churchgoing women will worship without their husbands. • Midweek activities often draw 70 to 80 percent female participants. • The majority of church employees are women (except for ordained clergy, who are overwhelmingly male). • As many as 90 percent of the boys who are being raised in church will abandon it by their 20th birthday. Many of these boys will never return. • More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church.

 

[DaSeminarian]

• The typical U.S. Congregation draws an adult crowd that’s 61% female, 39% male. This gender gap shows up in all age categories. • On any given Sunday there are 13 million more adult women than men in America’s churches. • This Sunday almost 25 percent of married, churchgoing women will worship without their husbands. • Midweek activities often draw 70 to 80 percent female participants. • The majority of church employees are women (except for ordained clergy, who are overwhelmingly male). • As many as 90 percent of the boys who are being raised in church will abandon it by their 20th birthday. Many of these boys will never return. • More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church.

Rad,

When citing statistics such as this it is appropriate to list your source for the statics (i.e. Barna Research) Just so we know you are not making these numbers up in your head and reporting them.

 

[RadMan]

Like I have the time to sit around and make things up.......sheeesh. Even if it was half wrong it would be disturbing. It wouldn't make any difference if I did have a source you would still argue with me.

 

[DaSeminarian]

Like I have the time to sit around and make things up.......sheeesh. Even if it was half wrong it would be disturbing. It wouldn't make any difference if I did have a source you would still argue with me.

It wouldn't make me argue with you, but rather with whom you got your statistics. At least if you put some reference down we can't come down on you for the numbers (unless of course you are the person conducting the research ). I would rather you took a few extra seconds to note the source than to suppose that you pulled the numbers out of thin air.

 

[synger]

Looks like it's taken from the Church For Men web site. I found others that cite it, but most of them point back there. It comes from David Murrow author of Why Men Hate Going To Church

I'm pretty sure we had a thread a while back about this book.

From their "For Pastors/Leaders" page:

Like a glove that gradually conforms to the hand of its wearer, Christianity has, over the centuries, subtly conformed to the needs and expectations of its most faithful constituency, women age 40 and older. So instead taking up the epic struggle Jesus promised his disciples, today’s congregations focus on creating a warm, nurturing environment where the top priority is making everyone feel loved and accepted. We gather. We worship. We love each other. We sing. We instruct children. We comfort the hurting. This lineup is both beneficial and biblical, but these things alone will not galvanize men.

The section on "signals we send men" is telling:

Every Sunday, without even realizing it, we send subtle signals to guys: you are in feminine territory.
The signals start in Sunday school. Think of the pictures of Jesus you saw as a child. Didn’t they suggest a tender, sweet man in a shining white dress? As our boys grow up, whom will they choose as a role model: gentle Jesus, meek and mild, or Arnold Schwarzenegger, the action hero? The irony here is that the real Jesus is the ultimate hero, bold and courageous as any man alive, but we’ve turned him into a wimp.
There are signals in the sanctuary. Let’s say a common working stiff named Nick visits your church. What’s the first thing Nick sees? Fresh flowers on the altar. Soft, cushiony pews with boxes of Kleenex underneath. Neutral carpet abutting lavender walls, adorned with quilted banners (or worse: Thomas Kinkade paintings). Honestly, how do we expect Nick to connect with God in a space that feels so feminine?
Nick looks around at the men. Some are obviously there against their will, dragged by a wife or mother. Others are softies. Research finds that men who are interested in Christianity are less masculine than average; seminarians also exhibit more feminine characteristics than the typical male. Even the vocabulary of churchgoing men is softer. Christian men use terms such as precious, share, and relationship, words you’d never hear on the lips of a typical man.
The signals keep coming during the service. Nick may be asked to hold hands with his neighbor. He may be asked to sing a love song to Christ, such as, “Lord, You’re Beautiful,” or “Jesus, I am so in love with You.” Someone may weep. Then Nick will have his 8-minute male attention span put to the test by a 30-minute sermon. When this torture test is finally over, Nick is invited to have a personal relationship with Jesus.
Let’s spend a moment on that last one: a personal relationship with Jesus. That phrase never appears in the Bible. Yet in the past 50 years it’s become the number one way the evangelical church describes the Christian walk. It’s turned the gospel into a puzzle for men, because most guys don’t think in terms of relationships. Let’s say Lenny approaches Nick and says, “Nick, would you like to have a personal relationship with me?” Yuck! Men don’t talk or think like this, yet we’ve wrapped the gospel in this man-repellent package.
The signals keep coming: Nick comes alive outdoors, but 99% of church life takes place indoors. Nick was never much of a student, but taking classes, reading the Bible and studying books are presented as cornerstones of a living faith. He lacks the verbal skills to pray aloud, or to sit in a circle and share his feelings.
Let’s say Nick makes it through this minefield and decides to volunteer. The typical church needs people to care for infants, to teach children and youth, to sing, to cook meals, to serve on committees and to usher. Given that list, where do you think Nick will sign up? Somewhere in church history, most of the masculine roles were discarded (or assigned to professional clergy), while roles for laywomen multiplied. Today, Christian service revolves around tasks that women have traditionally performed. Men want to serve God, but many feel ill-prepared or even emasculated by the ministry opportunities we’re offering them.
Bottom line: today’s church is no longer designed to do what Jesus did: reach men with the good news. To borrow a term from advertising: women are the target audience of the modern church. The feminine atmosphere in our churches causes women to feel loved and nurtured, but men to feel hesitant and restrained. The only men who can function in this feminine milieu are those who happen to be particularly sensitive, verbal, dutiful or studious. The more masculine the man, the more alienated he feels in the modern congregation.

And, of course, they offer a 19 page PDF document outlining a program through which you can designate certain Sundays to target the men in your congregation, to give them the sort of support they're obviously not getting with all the feminization of Christian worship on other Sundays.

Personally, I think if a church is focused on the Law and Gospel the way it needs to be, most of the so-called "feminization" of worship won't have crept in in the first place. If men are asked and expected to take leadership roles, they will step up to the plate and do so.

But that's my decidedly feminine take on the matter. Do guys really feel left out of worship because it's too fluffy or they can't connect to it or get the support and encouragement they need?

 

[DaSeminarian]

Looks like it's taken from the Church For Men web site. I found others that cite it, but most of them point back there. It comes from David Murrow author of Why Men Hate Going To Church

I'm pretty sure we had a thread a while back about this book.

From their "For Pastors/Leaders" page:



The section on "signals we send men" is telling:



And, of course, they offer a 19 page PDF document outlining a program through which you can designate certain Sundays to target the men in your congregation, to give them the sort of support they're obviously not getting with all the feminization of Christian worship on other Sundays.

Personally, I think if a church is focused on the Law and Gospel the way it needs to be, most of the so-called "feminization" of worship won't have crept in in the first place. If men are asked and expected to take leadership roles, they will step up to the plate and do so.

But that's my decidedly feminine take on the matter. Do guys really feel left out of worship because it's too fluffy or they can't connect to it or get the support and encouragement they need?

What I think men want is an authentic worship experience. I think that by doing the true divine service and not some mamby pamby feel good contemporary service with lots of "Love Songs to Jesus" that will do the trick. Also a good catechetical bible study on why we do the liturgy in this way and what the liturgy does for us. Sermons should engage everyone from the he-man like Nick to the effeminate in the crowd.

Jesus should be shown as compassionate, but also as a strong male figure in sermons particularly. What he did in the temple to the money-changers. Men in particular like justice and if they see and hear Jesus doing just things it will appeal to them.

 

[Confess]

Like I have the time to sit around and make things up.......sheeesh. Even if it was half wrong it would be disturbing. It wouldn't make any difference if I did have a source you would still argue with me.

I just read this in the Enquirer. LOL!


(Just Kidding)

 

[jcj3803]

What I think men want is an authentic worship experience. I think that by doing the true divine service and not some mamby pamby feel good contemporary service with lots of "Love Songs to Jesus" that will do the trick.

Oh well said! I intensely dislike contemporary services and praise music. I'll get up at 6AM just to avoid contemporary services.

Nick may be asked to hold hands with his neighbor.

Yeah, I hated doing that at the Methodist Church that I'm in the process of leaving. We even did that in "traditional" services. Ok, honestly, it was ok if there was a good looking woman next to me, but otherwise...

 

[DaSeminarian]

Oh well said! I intensely dislike contemporary services and praise music. I'll get up at 6AM just to avoid contemporary services.

Yeah, I hated doing that at the Methodist Church that I'm in the process of leaving. We even did that in "traditional" services. Ok, honestly, it was ok if there was a good looking woman next to me, but otherwise...

In my case she had better be drop dead gorgeous or my wife. I hate holding hands in church.

 

[RadMan]

I just read this in the Enquirer. LOL!


(Just Kidding)

Thanks for posting the link Confess. I think this whole "feel good" movement that started with the charismatic movement and has infiltrated many churches. It has brought in too much fluff and has initiated the "feel good about yourself" philosophy to. Although we haven't seen much of it yet in Lutheran circles we are in danger of it coming here to. Some churches are afraid to preach an "equal" balance of law and gospel so they don't offend someone by showing them their sins. That promotes a "comfy" feeling for people. You will very rarely hear a sermon in a feel good church that has law. That's why you hear so much about not judging people and that promotes aberrant behavior to infiltrate churches because people are afraid that if they don't point out people's sins they will be labeled "judging". Hence the increase of homosexuality, woman pastors, etc. Walther and Luther never had that problem.

 

[NoMoreHopelessness]

I hate holding hands in church.

I could not agree more. Holding hands with people I do not know and who coincidentely happen to go to the same church as me is .

It is supposed to produce "Unity" but is just utter nonsense.

 

[RadMan]

http://www.churchformen.com/formen.php Men and young adults are drawn to risk, challenge and adventure. But these things are discouraged in the local church. Instead, most congregations offer a safe, nurturing community-an oasis of stability and predictability. Studies show that women and seniors gravitate toward these things. Although our official mission is one of adventure, the actual mission of most congregations is making people feel comfortable and safe-especially longtime members. How did Christianity, founded by a man and his 12 male disciples, become the province of women? There is a pattern of feminization in Christianity going back at least 700 years, according to Dr. Leon Podles, author of The Church Impotent: the Feminization of Christianity. But the ball really got rolling in the 1800s. With the dawning of the industrial revolution, large numbers of men sought work in mines, mills and factories, far from home and familiar parish. Women stayed behind, and began remaking the church in their image. The Victorian era saw the rise of church nurseries, Sunday schools, lay choirs, quilting circles, ladies’ teas, soup kitchens, girls’ societies, potluck dinners, etc. Soon, the very definition of a good Christian had changed: boldness and aggression were out; passivity and receptivity were in. Christians were to be gentle, sensitive and nurturing, focused on home and family rather than accomplishment and career. Believers were not supposed to like sex, tobacco, dancing or other worldly pleasures. The godly were always calm, polite and sociable.This feminine spirituality still dominates our churches. Those of us who grew up in church hardly notice it; we can’t imagine things any other way. But a male visitor detects the feminine spirit the moment he walks in the sanctuary door. He may feel like Tom Sawyer in Aunt Polly’s parlor; he must watch his language, mind his manners and be extra polite. It’s hard for a man to be real in church because he must squeeze himself into this feminine religious mold.

 

[DaRev]

While I don't see the need to hold hands during a church service, I do have the confirmation students hold hands during our opening prayer before class. It helps encourage bonding and a closeness among the kids which I feel is important.

 

[RadMan]

All that hugging and holding hands just takes my mind off of what I'm there for. I can just imagine hugging or asking some bikers at a rally to hold hands and pray. Probably have to go to the infirmary for sustained injuries.

 

[Ukrainia]

Guys are just not as comfortable being emotional during a church service. And if we’re talking about conservative Lutheran synods, hopefully this isn’t too much of a problem.

Education seems to be another problem for both men and women. I went to both a Lutheran grade school and high school where each day their would be either a devotion or chapel service in order to keep the gospel message present in every day life. Chapel was kind of like (if you’ll excuse my bad analogy) eating a meal - it’s something that you always have to do because it’s actually good for you. A religion class was also required, so including an hour of church 6 days a week for at least an hour I was able to learn about Christianity. For whatever reason - maybe a lot does have to do with the emotionalism - when this is not a scheduled part of everyday life guys seem less likely to stay with the church.

Public schools on the other hand not only don’t teach Christianity but they’re counterproductive. They put science (what people can figure out solely by human reasoning) over faith (what we believe through God’s Word). Guys seem to tend towards being scientist and have the arogence to believe they can figure everything out by themselves. Long before evolution or Biblical criticism were popular Luther said :

“The universities ... where their only concern is numbers and where everybody wants a doctors degree. ... I advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not the rule. Every institution where Gods word is not studied unceasingly must become corrupt; and so we see what manner of men there are now in the universities. ... I greatly fear the universities are nothing but great gates of hell, unless they diligently study the Holy Scriptures and teach them to the young people.”

That said, I go to a public university. But I did spend 12 years going to Christian schools beforehand and that’s been a great blessing to me. My uncle is a pastor and he said if he had the choice to renovate either his Christian church or it's Christian school he would choose the school. You have so much more time with the children at school in which you can help strengthan their faith. With church it's usually an hour a week and that's it.

 

[DaSeminarian]

Guys are just not as comfortable being emotional during a church service. And if we’re talking about conservative Lutheran synods, hopefully this isn’t too much of a problem.

Education seems to be another problem for both men and women. I went to both a Lutheran grade school and high school where each day their would be either a devotion or chapel service in order to keep the gospel message present in every day life. Chapel was kind of like (if you’ll excuse my bad analogy) eating a meal - it’s something that you always have to do because it’s actually good for you. A religion class was also required, so including an hour of church 6 days a week for at least an hour I was able to learn about Christianity. For whatever reason - maybe a lot does have to do with the emotionalism - when this is not a scheduled part of everyday life guys seem less likely to stay with the church.

Public schools on the other hand not only don’t teach Christianity but they’re counterproductive. They put science (what people can figure out solely by human reasoning) over faith (what we believe through God’s Word). Guys seem to tend towards being scientist and have the arogence to believe they can figure everything out by themselves. Long before evolution or Biblical criticism were popular Luther said :

“The universities ... where their only concern is numbers and where everybody wants a doctors degree. ... I advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not the rule. Every institution where Gods word is not studied unceasingly must become corrupt; and so we see what manner of men there are now in the universities. ... I greatly fear the universities are nothing but great gates of hell, unless they diligently study the Holy Scriptures and teach them to the young people.”

That said, I go to a public university. But I did spend 12 years going to Christian schools beforehand and that’s been a great blessing to me. My uncle is a pastor and he said if he had the choice to renovate either his Christian church or it's Christian school he would choose the school. You have so much more time with the children at school in which you can help strengthan their faith. With church it's usually an hour a week and that's it.

As someone who went through his whole primary education (K-12) in public schools I can attest that I did not receive a daily dose of the word as did those who went to a Lutheran school. Maturity wise I wasn't ready that steady a diet of "religion" as I would have called it back then.

Now I have my own children enrolled at a Lutheran School and see the benefits they are receiving because of it.

I attend a seminary and quite frankly I don't attend chapel everyday there. I do go at least once a week to the Divine Service to receive communion.

Emotion is alright at church as long as it is the result of hearing the word and recognizing your failure to do anything good of your own. Too often emotion is what drives the service. This is I think what repels men most. When men meet the real Jesus Christ through scripture they do meet a man who is not afraid to show emotions and that includes anger.

 

[DaRev]

I always believed that chapel attendance at seminary should be mandatory, although I understand the implications of such a requirement. I attended chapel every day at sem. I must qualify that by saying that I also worked at practically every chapel service at sem. We had an audio/video room where the PA was controlled and the sermons were recorded. We also had video control to record special services and to do video streaming on the net. It was a job custom made for me when I arrived at sem since I had worked 15 years doing video and TV production. But even on those rare occasions that I didn't "work" chapel, I attended anyway.