There is an 85 year old man who comes into my office for his ‘sermon’ on a regular basis. He has one subject and that is “what’s happening to the men in the church? The women are taking over.” I check daily to see who is coming to my blog and what they are searching for. “Why don’t men go to church?” is searched for weekly. Why don’t men go to church? I asked some men, and this is what they came up with.
- Many men work on Sunday.
- They don’t feel a need for religion as much as they did 30 or so years ago when they were expected to be in church. Years ago, it was a normal thing to do, but not so much in our society today.
- Less accountability to others whether or not they go to church.
- Some want to stay at home and let their wife go to church so they will have some free time at home alone to mow the grass, putter around or surf the net. Women are more social and like the gossipy part of church that the men don’t like.
- They like the smell of horse manure in the air. This was given as the reason men in particular like to go to cowboy churches that are prevalent in the south, rather than attend BBC (Big Baptist Church).
What does this have to do with equality?
I am not sure what the searchers are hoping to find when they come to my blog – I don’t know if they are looking for equality or if they are trying to find out why their husband or son won’t go to church.
“Why don’t men go to church” is tied to the women’s equality situation. Even though that was not a reason listed as to why men don’t go to church, it is usual to find that women are blamed for men not going to church. Seems there are too many of us there and we have feminized the church. Let me count the ways: Male pastor, male song leader, male ushers, male deacons, males taking up the collection, males teaching women.
Huh?
Let’s start over with that. Women have feminized the church because we want to be equal. By golly, we want to preach, lead a song, tell somebody where to sit, attend deacon meetings, pass the money plate, and teach men what the Bible says.
By wanting to do those things alongside the men, the Manly Men pastors would have us believe that women who want equality are causing men to stay at home from church.
Number 5 says “They like the smell of horse manure in the air.” On second thought, maybe they ought to attend BBC because there is plenty of that smell there.
If you want a fresh breath of air, tell your pastor that women pass plates all day long to men and children in the home, and some women work where they pass the plate, and that there is no reason they can’t pass the collection plate at church. Will you join me in speaking up and telling it like it is?
bWe Baptist Women for Equality's Blog 
Horse manure. I like that. 🙂
After looking into this matter for over a year now, I have come to the conclusion that in churches where men don’t go, it’s mostly because they’re bored and unchallenged. Women, who do a lot of what they do for others and not themselves, will go to church anyway, “for the sake of the children.” Many meen simply won’t go if there’s nothing in it for them, personally.
But whose fault is it if the church isn’t challenging Christians to do and be their best? The leadership’s. And who are the leaders? Men. And what might make the church a little less boring and unchallenging? If everyone, men and women alike, were encouraged to use their gifts, talents and servant’s hearts for the sake of the gospel. Last I checked in the Bible, there were no gifts or talents labeled “boy” and “girl.”
If a man goes to church and a woman is passing communion, taking up the offering, leading prayer, etc., guess what? If he’s naturally competitive as many men are, he’s going to feel more challenged. He’s going to think, “Hey, maybe I can do something in the church service too, rather than sitting here on my butt!” And maybe that’s the wrong reason to get up and serve– but at least he’d be serving, wouldn’t he?
The men need to stop pointing fingers at us and start presenting Jesus’ teachings as they really are. He said, “If you want to follow me, you’ve got to count the cost.” Deep down, men like that message and want to rise up to it. And women do, too.
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Amen! Have you seen a food pantry in action? Men and women work together to sack up groceries. That is a big ministry and it is a wonder they allow women to do it because the Bible had the men feeding the widows and orphans.
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This whole “issue” is so bogus I am surprised that any one claims it. And yet they do. This just tells me there are some powerful reality distortion machines in operation in some places.
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They are powerful. The pastor of a BBC in our area made the ridiculous statement in his daily newspaper column “when the wife does not work outside the home, the husband will make more money in his job.” I wrote him and told him that he ought to let go his female staff if that was the case. Her family could have more money if the church let her go.” They want to tell women that their place is in the home, and yet 3/4 of their staff is women in lower jobs. From this statement you can see that he believes that women should not work outside the home. And of course, if women are not to work outside the home, they cannot be pastors, or have other leadership positions in the church. However, the churches employ many women. So who is it that they want to stay at home? The BIGGEST question here is “who buys into this stuff?”
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