Men and the Church
David Lawrence
March05 | 08
The 'Religious Trends 6' report found that adult males constitute just 41% of church goers in the UK, whereas Tearfund's 'Churchgoing in the UK' report put the figure even lower at 37%. Chris Ducker of Redcliffe College carried out further research which indicated that:
A clear majority of men (68%) said they felt women were more "at home" in church.
67% of men thought that church services appeal more to women (54% of women agreed).
There was no consensus why the church gender gap exists : 35% blamed church factors, 33% blamed social factors and 32% blamed "the nature of men".
There was some evidence that men and women use different language to describe becoming a Christian and when relating to God : women were more likely to call God "friend"; men were twice as likely as women to call God "judge" or "master".
76% of men and 67% of women said that men and women relate to God differently.
78% agreed that men-only church outreach was a good idea.
For those of you in the Bristol area, there is a Leaders morning focusing on Reaching Men with Professor Glyn Harrison. July 10th. Contact the Winning Ways office for booking details.
Some of the biggest turn-offs in the Church for men, in my opinion:
1. 'Gimmicky' services, arty ideas etc.
2. Focus on children's talks, family services etc. (often seen as more the domain of women).
3. Emphasis on feminine values, hence undervaluing of men's contribution to the church.
4. Lack of a clear Gospel message and challenge.
5. Lack of strong masculine role models in leadership.
I am now in membership of a Free Church of Scotland - no frills, no family services, clear preaching - and probably over 50% men...
* how much is formed due to media stereotypes - whether news items ("vicar has affair with organist" etc, etc , chat-shows, talk radio, Soap story-lines?
* how much is due to 'messages' the church unconsciously sends out(Warwick's first 3 points)
How can we begin to respond to the issues of PERCEPTION?
How about this for starters...
(1) identify positive male-centric stories from within our churches and feed them to local media is one that occurs to me?
(2) Be prepared to look at the 'messages' we send out. OK, it may take sometime to gather sufficient data to understand the extent to items 1,2,3 creates a 'non-masculine' image. However
(a) a 'straw poll' amongst those linked to our churches through a wife and or children might be a start? At the very least it might lead to some interesting conversations with those men, as well as demonstrate we are interested in how they perceive 'our' church! Is there anyone in 'blog-land' with any experience of doing this? If so ..what was the response
(b) Alternatively it might be easier to start with an 'audit' of our church/community newsletter Take the last 5 or six issues and count the number of photos of men v women/children. Then look at the stories - how many men are mentioned by name? Then look closely at the nature of the stories themselves - are they 'male-friendly' We need to remember the demographics of society - not all men are fathers of young children so unconsciously filling every edition with 'family-centric' stories could be unhelpful.
Better conclude at this point - hopefully these points should generate a few more comments on this blog!
