Guys and God
by Richard Berry
Director of African American Ministries
Men
don't go to church. That is, compared to women, men are almost
non-existent in the pew on Sundays. This is true for virtually every
church in America as well as in most other countries.
Regarding the urban church, authors Edward Thompson and Jawanza Kunjufu contend that the lack of men is at epidemic levels. According to these authors, 75 to 90 percent of the members in mainline urban churches are women. Conversely, ninety percent of Muslim recruits among African Americans are men.
David Murrow author of Why Men Hate Going to Church says in urban America it is as if Christianity is for women and children, and Islam is for men. For anyone who is concerned about the advance of the gospel to urban America, please know that we have a problem.
Murrow argues that preaching, more often than not, has a strong bias toward comforting and the softer side of living, rather than a strong mission centeredness that would appeal to men. Men aren't challenged and as a result, they don't take church seriously.
It is not that men are unspiritual. Promise Keepers, Man Power and numerous men's groups give overwhelming evidence that men are spiritual. My own ministry attests to that. When we were working with the military and college students our work was coed, but we always had significantly more men than women.
I recall on one occasion we took our college ministry to a church camp and a woman, clearly moved by the appearance of so many Black men, asked how we got them. All I could think of telling her was that we went after them. As I look back on that simplistic answer, it really made sense. We had a plan to go after men and we got them. They responded to a challenge and many of those men are in ministry today.
If men are religious and will attend spiritual activities why then don't they fill churches? Church leaders must first accept that the Sunday sermon content and their style of ministry has everything to do with who fills their pews. I have talked to numbers of preachers who seem to be detached from the current realities of their own ministries. They don't seem to understand that they must make changes to get men. In our campus days we had men because we adjusted our ministry to get them. We did not wait for them to drop in. If a church is not missional, it must take a serious look at itself and make changes.
I recommend three steps that could increase the number of men in a church:
Men and Women and Church - George Barna
Director of African American Ministries
Men
don't go to church. That is, compared to women, men are almost
non-existent in the pew on Sundays. This is true for virtually every
church in America as well as in most other countries.Regarding the urban church, authors Edward Thompson and Jawanza Kunjufu contend that the lack of men is at epidemic levels. According to these authors, 75 to 90 percent of the members in mainline urban churches are women. Conversely, ninety percent of Muslim recruits among African Americans are men.
David Murrow author of Why Men Hate Going to Church says in urban America it is as if Christianity is for women and children, and Islam is for men. For anyone who is concerned about the advance of the gospel to urban America, please know that we have a problem.
Murrow argues that preaching, more often than not, has a strong bias toward comforting and the softer side of living, rather than a strong mission centeredness that would appeal to men. Men aren't challenged and as a result, they don't take church seriously.
It is not that men are unspiritual. Promise Keepers, Man Power and numerous men's groups give overwhelming evidence that men are spiritual. My own ministry attests to that. When we were working with the military and college students our work was coed, but we always had significantly more men than women.
I recall on one occasion we took our college ministry to a church camp and a woman, clearly moved by the appearance of so many Black men, asked how we got them. All I could think of telling her was that we went after them. As I look back on that simplistic answer, it really made sense. We had a plan to go after men and we got them. They responded to a challenge and many of those men are in ministry today.
If men are religious and will attend spiritual activities why then don't they fill churches? Church leaders must first accept that the Sunday sermon content and their style of ministry has everything to do with who fills their pews. I have talked to numbers of preachers who seem to be detached from the current realities of their own ministries. They don't seem to understand that they must make changes to get men. In our campus days we had men because we adjusted our ministry to get them. We did not wait for them to drop in. If a church is not missional, it must take a serious look at itself and make changes.
I recommend three steps that could increase the number of men in a church:
- Go after them. When Jesus said he would make his disciples fishers of men, he had in mind that the they would intentionally and aggressively evangelize the lost. In the same way, the church should fish for people in general and men in particular. The church must see itself with a missional rather than a maintenance style of ministry. This will take training and developing the membership to make this happen. It will take vision casting and modeling by the leadership.
- Design a discipleship plan that grows them. Churches don't get strong by simply adding people to the pews, but rather by multiplying disciples committed to the vision of changing our world. The church should therefore have a systematic way of discipling men from the early stages of their spiritual lives to maturity. In my work with men, I have seen them respond to discipline and accountability.
- Use them in critical missional positions. A deliberate attempt to place men in key positions that will utilize their gifts and their energies to reach others is a must. This means that men should be carefully and personally recruited. Ask any church with a lot of men and they will tell you that men will work and work hard when given training and opportunity to serve.
Men and Women and Church - George Barna
- 57% Of women are more likely to attend Sunday school than men
- 56% Of women are more likely to hold a position of leadership than men
- 33% Of women are more likely to volunteer for church than men
- 23% Of women are more likely to donate money to church than men
