Has church turned into the province of women? David Murrow thinks so and says that is part of why our men are turned off by church. This article is based on his new book, Why Men Hate Church, and his basic premise is that churches have becoming these safe, nuturing communities, the essense of stability and predictability. Men are drawn to risk, challenge and daring, not worship music that sounds like a love song and touchy-feely sermons.
His article offers seven principles the church can follow to make church more appealing to men or you can check out his website for more information.
My husband was in total agreement and I am as well. I’m not the most girly of girls, so there are times when I’m uncomfortable with the amount of touch-feely that gets into church activities. How do we balance nurture and action? Safety and challenge? And what is our role as women in making sure church doesn’t become an emasculating experience?
After reading this article, I had to stop myself from giggling during the music at our church this past Sunday. One song we sang included the lines “and in my Savior’s arms, there are 10,000 charms.” This is exactly the kind of thing Murrow is addressing. I just hadn’t really noticed it before, but it is quite true that our songs are on the feminine side. (Doesn’t help that they’re all in really high keys either!)
As an antidote, I went home and listened to my Petra Means Rock album. Nothing girly with those guys! (At least their old stuff.) Lots of fighting and standing tall and calling Satan on the carpet. Shake up the house!!
(BTW, I found out about this book, article and website at one of my favorite blogs, churchmarketingsucks.com. Worth reading for everyone in church leadership. And check out the comments that this entry brought. Some nice additional insight.)