Here is my (Joe's) article as it appeared in the February newsletter:
Disappearing Men
“Where have all the men gone?” This is the predominant demographic question that mainstream Protestant and Catholic churches have asked for the past 10+ years. It has been the topic of articles, books, synod conventions, etc. A provocative 2005 book entitled, Why Men Hate Going To Church, by David Murrow, points to a lack of masculinity in the church as the reason men make up only 40% of the weekly attendance and an even smaller percentage of church workers and volunteers. Quotes from this book have me thinking. Are comments like those below accurate descriptions of church in general and Good Shepherd, in particular? Please read these over, think about your church, discuss with one another, consider blogging about your thoughts, and pray. Pray for the men of this congregation and for our ability to minister to them. (Disclaimer: I do not think that these quotes are necessarily true of the church at-large, let alone Good Shepherd, but I am interested to hear your thoughts on this.)
“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.”
“When men need spiritual sustenance, they go to the wilderness, the workplace, the garage, or the corner bar. They watch their heroes in the stadium or on the racetrack… Church is one of the last places men look for God.”
“Today’s church has developed a culture that is driving men away. Almost every man in America has tried church, but two-thirds find it unworthy of a couple of hours once a week. A wise Texan once told me, “Men don’t go to church ’cuz they’ve been.”
“...the church has gained a reputation as a ladies’ club in the minds of men. Cliff does not attend church for the same reason he does not wear pink: neither is proper to his gender.”
“of the men who do attend church, most decline to invest themselves in the Christian life as their wives and mothers do. The majority of men attend services and nothing more. Jay is such a man. He’s in church most Sundays, but he’s not very excited about it. “I go mainly for my kids and my wife,” he says. “Church is okay, but it really doesn’t enthrall me like it does her.”
“Visit the church during the week, and you’ll find most of the people working there are female. Drop in on a committee meeting, and you’ll find a majority of the volunteers are women—unless it’s that small bastion of male presence, the building committee.”
“Men’s disinterest in Christianity is so consistent around the world, it can’t be explained by pride, father issues, sin, or distraction. Neither can we say, “Well, men are just less religious,” because this is untrue. Male and female participation are roughly equal in Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. In the Islamic world men are publicly and unashamedly religious—often more so than women.”
So, What do you think?
Please do not be shy. Write how you feel about this author's claims and about the state of men in the church. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the larger church and especially on Good Shepherd.
For more on the book from it's author visit http://www.churchformen.com/, especially the "where are the men?" tab OR do a search on Why Men Hate Going to Church to look for varying points of view. (Sorry, I can't find any one site that gives more than one or two viewpoints/reviews, so you'll have to search also).
8 comments:
I think you wrote a thought-provoking article, Joe. I hadn't previously given much thought to the subject.
Did any of your sources compare Christian men's church attendance in this country with other countries? The US is known for its rugged individualism and kind of macho attitude (not all men of course), and I wonder whether the perception of church could be a place where people who can't help themselves go, whether it seems "weak" to some men to confess one's sinfulness or to confess one actually IS weak?
Good question, Judie. The one author from whom these quotes were taken found similar disparity between men and women in Christian churches throughout the world. It seems to be a distinctly Christian problem, not just an American Christian problem.
Also, please note that "my" article was merely the introduction to thoughts that have all come from the one author of Why Men Hate Going To Church. I have not seen his bibliography or looked into the research that he did, but was merely interested in the ideas that he put forth.
The author who wrote Why Men Hate Going to Church has written something important. One dimension he does not pick up is that men are starting to join the traditional, liturgical churches in droves . . . this omission may be due to the author's own religious tastes. But it's true: go to youtube and type "why men are joining the orthodox church" and listen to the video on this subject by Frederica Mathews-Greene (sp?). Christian churches used to be filled with men and men-led. The Victorian era changed that for a variety of reasons . . . But today's churches are just too intimate and touchy-feely for most guys, caught up in a pseudo-Gospel that emphasizes feelings and self-worth over repentance, forgiveness, missions, doctrine, and God. Protestant churches who have accepted the ordination of women also have a challenge here . . . it's not to say such ordination should be rejected for this reason, but if accepted, it will be an obstacle. Just some thoughts.
Actually, its Why More Men are Becoming Orthodox, by Frederica Mathewes-Green.
Thanks Fence. You bring up a good point. Since my initial post I have also found some who claim that the Eastern Orthodox church does quite well with men because it demands strict adherence to Christian discipline (I know Troy Paluomalo, the hard hitting safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is Eastern Orthodox).
That is an interesting angle on this discussion.
My question for folks here at Good Shepherd is, "where do we fall?"
So, Joe, in your reading so far, has anyone broken the numbers down by generations? Is there a difference in men's church involvement when you group those, for instance, who are in their 20's & 30's compared to those in the 50's & 60's?
Yes, a tremendous difference between the 20 and 30 crowd versus those in their 40's, 50's, and up. It is particularly the younger men who seem to be missing. The question is will they return, and what are the avenues that will bring them back? Certainly some folks simply become more interested in the church and their faith life as they mature, but not everyone. And not everyone, even if they do become more interested in life's big questions, turn to the church or Christianity for answers. So, I think that it remains to be seen whether or not today's young men (and women too) who are not part of the church will, in any numbers, turn to Christianity later in life.
(This article takes a look at some extreme view points within the conversation about men, masculinity, and the church.)
Hyper-Muscular Christianity
by Joseph Laycock
From "Sightings," a list service from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School
In Seattle, self-described "charismatic Calvinist" Mark Driscoll preaches that "Jesus is a pride fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand, and the willingness to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship…I cannot worship a guy I can beat up." Justin Fatica, founder of the Catholic ministry group Hard as Nails, found a different way of demonstrating the rugged power of Christ when he appeared in an HBO documentary shouting "Jesus loves you!" as a colleague beat him with a folding chair.
Although Fatica is Catholic and Driscoll is Protestant, there are remarkable similarities between the two: Both were raised Catholic but had a lackadaisical approach to their faith until a conversion experience in their late teens (at age seventeen for Fatica, and age nineteen for Driscoll). Both men also emphasize their tough origins. Driscoll believes Jesus had calluses and does not hesitate to compare Joseph's vocation as a carpenter with his own father's career as a drywaller. Fatica comes from affluence but emphasizes that prior to his conversion he lived a shady, worldly life in New Jersey where he "hung out with some characters." These narratives generate the capital of manliness necessary for their sermons.
The preaching styles of Driscoll and Fatica–which are both controversial and confrontational–appear to be motivated by a concern that Jesus has been emasculated by a bloodless church that is more concerned with culture than salvation. They are not alone in this view. Fundamentalist cartoonist Jack Chick produces a comic tract entitled "The Sissy," in which a hirsute trucker named Duke mocks a fellow trucker's Christianity because "Jesus was a sissy." Have we actually reduced Jesus to, "a limp-wristed hippy in a dress with a lot of product in His hair," as Driscoll claims? Or are there other cultural forces behind these types of extreme preaching?
As Molly Worthen notes in a New York Times piece on Driscoll, men from Billy Sunday to the Promise Keepers have railed against the feminization of the church. "Muscular Christianity," which emphasized an ideal of vigorous masculinity, first appeared in Victorian England. The term was coined to describe the writings of Charles Kingsley and Thomas Hughes, who felt that sports and athleticism would produce Christians who were more fit for civic duty. Hughes and Kingsley also shared a concern over the changes of industrialism and worried whether traditional morality would be able to adapt.
Driscoll and Fatica appear to embody a sort of muscular Christianity on steroids. Rather than sports, Driscoll and Fatica tie Christianity to modern spectacles of violence. Fatica admits that his signature use of folding chairs is borrowed from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Driscoll has organized an event called "Fighting with God" in which he discusses spiritual warfare with Christian athletes from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
If Kingsley and Hughes were concerned about industrialism, Driscoll and Fatica seem to blame consumerism for feminizing Jesus. Driscoll writes in his book Vintage Jesus, "Jesus did not have Elton John or the Spice Girls on his iPod, The View on his TiVo, or a lemon-yellow Volkswagen Beetle in his garage." Tim Hanley, a speaker for Hard as Nails Ministries, has commented, "We've had enough of the facades and the fake people…We live in a world that's so fabricated." According to Worthen, the most popular movie at Driscoll's church is Fight Club, a tale of manly emancipation from consumer culture.
However, the perception that manliness must be restored to the church seems suspiciously linked the rise of women as well as gays and lesbians in the ministry. Another similarity between Driscoll and Fatica is that both have been cited making misogynistic comments. Fatica is known for pointing out overweight women in his audience and yelling, "You're fat!" He claims this is done to demonstrate the cruelty of consigning people to their categories. While Fatica encourages women to join the Hard as Nails ministry, Driscoll reminds his congregation that women must submit to their husbands and are forbidden from taking preaching roles. On his blog, Driscoll implied that Ted Haggard's wife contributed to his downfall: "A wife who lets herself go is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband's sin, but she may not be helping him either." These comments beg the question: Is this hyper-muscular Christianity really a radical, transgressive approach to ministry? Or is it actually the death-throes of an outmoded patriarchy?
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