I’ve been at churches that have been both male-led and female-led. Here is what tends to happen:
MALE-LED:
1. Men generally respect a male-led institution, so they show up.
2. Women are delighted that their husbands are taking an interest in religion, so they show up as well.
3. Ambitious women who can’t be in leadership or preaching positions decide to show they are as smart as anyone by taking over other areas of the church and often do a great job at it. Children’s programs, music, and arts flourish. Life is good.
WOMEN-LED:
1. While some women want to provide good leadership, women with grievances about organized religion worm their way into leadership positions. The problem is that honorable women sometimes have a problem telling other women that certain ideas are unworkable. Furthermore, men will often not want to get involved in a dispute between two women. It’s just human nature.
2. All areas of the church become open to women. Women start dominating all areas as men don’t feel like competing with women.
3. Men drop out.
4. The families drop out with them.
5. The church starts to get really liberal as unmarried women dominate the leadership.
6. Conservatives leave.
7. The church goes on with empty pews, budget deficits and “a commit to social justice.”
It’s unfair, I know, and I apologize to the many conservative women out there who would make great pastors and church leaders. But I’m just writing about what I’ve seen.
Excellent analysis.
A lot of women like "consensus-based" decision making, which inevitably turns into a "dictatorship of the most obstinate".
And you're right about men not liking to get into disputes with women. Faced with one or more women who like to just keep arguing until they get their way, men tend to just leave.
That’s a great analysis!