Why Do Men Really Not Attend Church?

Another look at some reasons for the non-attendance of men at church

As I look around our church I know that there are more women in attendance. A couple of reasons may be work related, or that there are more widows than widowers. Or it could be we have an old country church.

But I know there are deeper rooted causes. And I want to uncover them.

After I had written a post on this subject I read it to my hubby. The post was based on the book “Why Men Hate Going to Church”, by David Murrow. The post had statistics to back up the claim.

This started some major discussions both here on Medium, with my hubby and on Facebook. There are many theories and I want to explore some more of those today.

My hubby said after reading my post, “Those are good reasons. I read that book. But here are a few more.”

They want to be actively involved. Men who join the choir, work in ministry, or help with serving are more active in attending church.

One commenter, Bobby Benavides, said:

Many of the stories about Jesus told from the pulpit, centre on acceptance, grace and peace. Maybe men would like sermons on initiative, excitement, action and adventure.

Men might not like the one way monologue of the church service. They might like to be involved in discussion; even argument. But they can’t do that from their seats. So let’s get the church out of the pews.

I remember teaching a grade one class with a preponderance of boys. They couldn’t sit still. They wanted to be on the move. So I sat in the middle of the room and let them come to me. It worked very well. They liked the freedom to move and I certainly felt better not bending over so much.

Men and boys need big muscle activity. Let’s give it to them.

And timing of services. I know that after more than a 1/2 hour sermon, that man beside me gets restless and starts to look at his watch. He has had enough. Now he starts to think of other things he will do later.

Some men make the excuse that football is on, or kids need to go to hockey or swimming. That’s decision making. What’s your priority?

One time I heard that a men’s ministry started in a town. Men joined because it was held in a non-threatening venu. They wanted to be involved and help others. One project was started. Then the person who started the ministry stopped and it all fell apart. The men had actually paid to join as well.

Pastors might feel threatened in their leadership position and feel unable to let others take on responsibilities. Possibly Bible colleges need to focus more on teaching pastors how to reach the men in their congregations. We need whole family attendance to make church intergenerational.

I am hoping that another post will be how we can overcome some of these problems. What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you. Let’s start discussions.

CALL TO ACTION:

One way to continue to grow in God’s Word is online.

Janis is a creativity catalyst with a heart to connect people to God. She specializes in creating art based on Scripture so that the Truth penetrates hearts and not just minds.The world needs more pictures, art and colour.

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