Photo by Aneta Blaszczyk
“Real men don’t like going to church because they don’t want to “sing love songs to a man”, because the “vicar wears a dress”, because they feel like “mongrels on parade at Crufts” and because they want to be waited on by women rather than queue for coffee after the service.”
At least that is what a TimesOnline story said the charity, Christian Vision for Men, were concerned about.
Read the whole story here.
So how do me ‘man up’ churches while not alienating women? I know the Men’s Shed movement is doing great things but how do we get a bit of that into the Sunday morning service? Or is that not what men want?
on Jan 29th, 2010 at 8:53 am
Well since God is not really a man as such, and both man and woman are made in the image of God. I carn’t see a problem, with men singing songs to God. It’s nice to have a balance of men and woman preachers, because they all bring something different to the service. Real men ? maybe they could have a beer after the service instead of tea or coffee.
on Jan 29th, 2010 at 10:29 am
One of the experts on this is David Murrow, and I thoroughly recommend his book “Why Men Hate Going to Church” (see Journey – May ‘07). If you can read it with a spirit of acceptance, it is a real eye-opener.
He also names some of the traps that we can fall into. This discussion has already slightly headed towards two of these traps.
Trap 1 – I refuse to believe there is a problem. (Because admitting there is a problem might mean change, and I am quite comfortable with the way things are – even if it means turning men away from Christ).
Trap 2 – The solution to an overly feminine church is to create an overly masculine church. Surely two complete distortions will somehow average out into an accurate portrayal of Christ. Don’t two wrongs make a right?
Having said that, a balanced church might appear ‘manly’ to people who have spent many years in churches that strive more for being ladylike than being Christlike.