*Do men hate going to church? David Murrow says yes.
“Christianity’s primary delivery system, the local church, is perfectly designed to reach women,” says Murrow, author of the book Why Men Hate Going to Church.
Noting that studies in the U.S. show that women make up 60 percent of a typical congregation, he asks: “What is it about modern Christianity that is driving men away?”
For him, the answer is simple: Churches today are designed for women.
“Christianity’s primary delivery system, the local church, is perfectly designed to reach women,” he says of the warm colours, robes, candles, flowers, sharing, tapestries, long sermons and soft, romantic worship music that are the hallmarks of many churches today.
“This church system offers little to stir the masculine heart, so men find it dull and irrelevant,” he states, adding that men who do go to church seem passive and bored.
Why is church not inviting for men? According to Murrow, it’s because men are drawn to risk, challenge and adventure. “But these things are discouraged in the local church,” he says. “Instead, most congregations offer a safe, nurturing community — an oasis of stability and predictability.”
At the same time, he maintains, the very definition of a good Christian has become feminized. Christians, he says, are supposed to be gentle, sensitive and nurturing, focused on home, family and hospitality. The godly are supposed to be calm, gentle, polite and sociable.
