Posted on 06/13/2006 6:25:48 AM PDT by hiho hiho
"We don't have to have hand-to-hand combat during the worship service to get men there," Murrow said. "We just have to start speaking [their language], use the metaphors they understand and create an environment that feels masculine to them."
"My background is in marketing and advertising, and one day I was sitting in church, and all of a sudden it dawned on me that the target audience of almost everything about church culture was a 50- to 55-year-old woman," said Murrow, a Presbyterian elder who's now a member of a nondenominational congregation in Anchorage.
The gender gap is not a distinctly American one but it is a Christian one, according to Murrow. The theology and practices of Judaism, Buddhism and Islam offer "uniquely masculine" experiences for men, he said.
Concern about the perceived femininization of Christianity-- and the subsequent backlash-- is nothing new.
"These guys have really come out because it's something they can do," Hale said. "They feel like they've made a contribution. . . . I think men like to do things that they feel comfortable doing."
Yet come Sunday morning, "we're going to sing love songs to Jesus and there's going to be fresh flowers on the altar and quilted banners on the walls," Murrow said.
Men aren't the only ones alienated by such an environment. According to Murrow, young people aren't that keen on it either. Both groups are challenge-oriented and appreciate risk, adventure, variety, pleasure and reward-- values some churches "ignore or vilify," according to Murrow.
Churches have to help men and women use their gifts, not just fit them into old religious molds, Murrow said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You're not paying a whit of attention. I'm offended because it is NOT true. At least not of me, or most of the Christian men I know (I do know some "church mice" but they are not the norm around here.)
And, I should note, modern Christian women, for the most part, do NOT really want good old-fashioned masculine leaders as much as they say they do. I insisted on being one anyway, in defiance of the culture, and got rejected a lot for it. Yet you go on to imply that I'm the opposite --
God's truths are not meant to be fuzzy-wuzzy declarations of, you can accept them if you like, then discard the ones you don't like. The 10 Commandments are exactly that. They are commands, not suggestions, or rules to be ignored when convenient...
All absolutely true, but all totally irrelevant to this discussion.
Alright then, I'm sorry...
No problem, in fact I can see how some of my complaining (re: how some church girls aren't interested in relationships at all, and others prefer jerks, etc), could make me *sound* like one of those guys over net communications (in the absence of any realworld interaction that would inform you differently.)
But it all worked out in the end, I'm happily married now. I just hope this dysfunctional church culture changes before my boys hit 16 and start wife-hunting...
The church won't change. They've lollygagged around, time and time again. It's all up to you and your wife. And prayer always helps too...
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