I tried a new church a few weeks back. It promised "a blend of traditional and contemporary worship" and expository teaching. Expository preaching is a big thing. "Great," I can hear readers saying, "so what is that?" (They probably won't even try to pronounce it.) Most preaching today is topical. They'll cover marriage, politics, evangelism, and the entire gamut of self-help topics and pull their answers from Scripture (hopefully ... not always). Expository preaching is preaching the Word. It is a verse-by-verse, line-by-line preaching of Scripture. Topics come and go in this approach; the Word of God is central.
Well, this new church really did provide decent expository preaching. But I have to say I was left confused on their definition of "a blend of traditional and contemporary worship". What they had was a fairly talented worship band -- all young people -- singing songs I've never heard to tunes I've never heard. They did put the lyrics on the overhead (because it's not church without an overhead, right?), but trying to actually follow the stuff without knowing the songs or the tunes was hardly possible. And it's not that I'm an old fuddy-duddy (which is an admission that I am). When I looked around I saw the fairly crowded room full of people mostly listening. Maybe half the women were trying to sing along. I didn't see any of the men singing.
It made me wonder. Where are we now? There has been stuff written over recent years about men in the church and the problems therein. There is, in fact, an an entire website on the problem. Some complain about the feminization of the church, making more toward women than men. Some complain that there is precious little effort to include men because, after all, we all know that men are violent and women are loving and, seriously, ask yourself, which of those two options rightly represents Christ? I mean, come on! How hard can this be? Most complain that it's just too boring for men. Oh, sure, there are still men there, but their numbers are dwindling and their interest is dwindling. It looks bad for guys and the church.
After all, why are they there? It used to be that churches were patriarchal. Our enlightened times have put an end to that. It used to be that men were the ones doing most of the work while women played a supporting role. The decline of males in society has put an end to that. It used to be that men could at least sing in church. The modern "praise band" seems to have put an end to that. So where are we?
Men used to be able to lead, but that's being diminished and it has always been a limited number of leaders anyway. At least they could lead their families, but not so much these days. We know better now. They used to be able participate in Communion, but nowadays if it takes place at all, it takes place at relatively large intervals. They used to be able to participate in worship, but with the current climate, it appears that the idea is "Come for a concert and a sermon!" (I understand that in no small number of churches the concept of a "sermon" is no longer fashionable. Shall we go with "homily"?) So what is a man who is eager to do to do?
3 comments:
Are there any Independent/Fundamental Baptist churches in your locale? They would suit you well, I think.
Style isn't the point. The fact that men have been cut from church is. And Independent/Fundamentalist Baptist churches are suffering from the same problem. Most churches are.
For a moment, I thought you were describing the new church I attend (though not often enough, I confess). It was the overheard comment mostly. But I don't mind the overhead when there are unfamiliar songs. It's easier to learn when I can read them somehow. Used to be a hymnal.
Anyway, I don't dig the newer music at all. I prefer the service that uses the standard hymns that have been around forever.
This particular church seems to have no women in leadership that I can tell at two of the three locations I've attended. There are some, of course, in the women's groups and such.
As to the number of men in attendance, it seems to be fairly balanced here from what I can tell. Who sings and who doesn't I haven't taken time to notice. I used to sing in the choir at our former church, so I will sing boldly if I know the song.
I would have to say the same about my former church, which, although it was a UCC denomination (the reason I left), and it has used women preachers (never sat well with me), the men are only slightly outnumbered, with men involved in a variety of ways.
I live two blocks from a Catholic church. I often see couples from the immediate surrounding area walking to Mass and it seems men are in abundance there as well, with about 4,000 services throughout the weekend (big church---slight exaggeration).
I think it has always been the case that men have been less likely to want to bother with church than are women. I don't know why. I have no good excuse for myself. It's more a matter of habit as it was a habit to go regularly.
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