why men?

Churches from Moscow to Melbourne, from Cardiff to Chester are asking: Where are the men?

Women comprise more than 60% of the adults in the typical worship service in America and the UK. Some overseas congregations report ten women for every man in attendance. Volunteer ranks are heavily female.

No other religion suffers the enormous gender gaps that plague Christianity.

It’s not just attendance where men trail women. Men are less likely to lead, volunteer, and give in the church. They pray less, share their faith less, and read the Bible less.

The men who do go to church seem passive and bored. It’s often impossible to get churchgoing men to do anything other than attend services.

The church’s gender gap is often invisible because the top tier of church leadership is still heavily male. Over 90% of Protestant pastors and 100% of Catholic priests are male. But Leon Podles put it best:

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“The modern church is an army of women led by a few male generals.”

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Men need the church but, more importantly, the church needs men. The presence of enthusiastic men is one of the surest predictors of church health, growth, giving, and expansion. Meanwhile, a man shortage is a sure sign of congregational paralysis and decline.