I have believed for a while that church is structured to appeal more to feminine tastes and needs than masculine tastes and needs. I am not saying that church is entirely feminine, but rather it leans that way. I am also do not want anyone to think I am griping about this right now. It is just something that is on my mind.
There are a few examples that I see. The music in a church service tends to be more targeted to women. The focus of a service is on sitting quietly for periods of time to listen to teaching or preaching. The socialization aspect of church seems more feminine than masculine. Even the motivations for going to church are more feminine, as a lot of women feel the need to bring their families to church for reasons that would not concern most men.
I know that a typical response to this is that it is easier for men to get into leadership in church, so the main influence in the church is masculine. My current concern has more to do with the user experience than with church leadership, however. It is possible that the official leadership is all or mostly male while the appeal of the church remains feminine.
When I mentioned this to my mom this past weekend her response was to ask, if church is more slanted to the feminine, what would make it more masculine. I am ashamed to say that I have no idea. Because I do not know, I would like to pose the question to my readers. Do you agree that church structure has more feminine than masculine appeal? If you agree with me, what is an acceptable means of adding masculinity to church? If you disagree with me, can you elaborate on why?
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Is it possible to describe a personal blog without it sounding self-absorbed?
The title Off the Bridge is to reflect that I created this blog in part due to peer pressure. When I created and named it I did not anticipate still using it years down the road.
I generally post my thoughts on topics that have been floating around in my head in the previous days. I hope you find something interesting. In any case, thanks for stopping by.
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6 comments:
I think religion in general leans more to the feminine side of things. Religion is about relationships and triggers emotions. Men are generally appointed to more leadership roles because they tend to be able to balance out emotion and make objective decisions. Certain men (usually in leadership roles) tend to have a certain wisdom about them as well, which can be lead people willing to follow. Lastly, men can speak with authority that more softer spoken women can't. Please keep in mind that this is generally speaking. I think women can see compassion and needs a lot easier than men.
Darn! I agree with you, but I was going to ask you for an example of a more masculine church or what it would look like.
oh wait....I know what it would look like.
The POWER TEAM!
Since God is both Masculine and Feminine (or neither, however you want to argue) that should be the goal of the service- to be both, centered, and balanced. But how?
I also wonder if this is a cultural change. All of our movie heros are now female. Thanks Sidney Bristow.
I guess drums and bass guitar can make a worship service masculine. Maybe you need to tap into your emotional side? : )
(Church fishing trips, Royal Rangers, and Men's Retreats are masculine : )
I have never really thought about this until recently. Our Pastor has spoken openly about his goal to make men comfortable in the church setting.
I do not know if it's because I have a "man's" personality or what, but I have never liked frilly churches with a lot of touchy feely stuff. It could also be dash's influence on me over the years?
Regardless, our church's attempt to make it more comfortable for men:
1. Black bookshelves in the pastor's office
2. NOTHING pink anywhere!
3. Limited floral arrangements
Those are a few of the things we are doing to try to make it more comfortable for men.
I still am not sure that I completely agree that it's a gender thing, but if it is, it's the not the first time I've fallen on the male side of things! :)
The Bible does tell mom's to teach the children, so I think the instinctive drive in a woman that draws her to have her kids in church is spirit lead.
Off topic somewhat--
I also think that great dad's are the ones who not only take their kids to church but dad's who talk openly to their kids about God and spiritual things. My dad wasn't always in church but I got more spiritual education from him then I did my mom. I think she left it to the church and she prayed for God to show me, where dad was more open to my questions and thoughts and helped me process through things I felt God was showing me.
OPAG was more feminine than our current church, Imago Dei. Everything was pretty with flowers everywhere there. People all looked nice, it was a pleasant atmosphere. And the services were very emotional there as well. Our current church is not very feminine really. Here, we met in a school, bare and drab. Our preacher never wears a suit and few people dress up. They do not have an emotional worship service (more baptist than pentecostal) or an emotional alter call ever. They only get emotional at mission projects in the community. BB am I right?
Honestly, I really don't notice if Imago is less feminine that our old church. I don't think anyone really cares. The focus of the church is art and community outreach. That is kind of feminine.
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