#41 – Why Men Hate Going to Church
Guest David Murrow
Act Like Men – Men’s Leadership Podcast
Sponsored by Men’s Ministry Catalyst

Podcast Show Notes:

Everyone says the church is male-dominated, and while that may be true in
the pulpit, the pews are pink!! The average church in America is 61% female.
Where are the men? That is the question that caused David Murrow to write
the book Why Men Hate Going to Church.

In his book, David Murrow looked at this topic from a sociological space, not a
religious space or spiritual space. He is looking to focus on the environment in
which you are drawing or not drawing men to your church, and ultimately to a
drawing or not drawing your men to Christ.

How do we build a sermon for men? No longer are we living in the lecture
hall era, which is what many of our churches have been for so long. Two key
ideas to get to men quickly: Get to your point right away. Most men are
looking for a reason to stay engaged or a reason to check out. Your first few
seconds determine that outcome. Second, use a visual that gets men to draw
in. When the visual aid is visible during the sermon and men are waiting to
see what you are going to do with this. It creates interest and excitement.
The visual aid ties the concept to a visual to which men will relate, understand
the concept concretely, and are much more able to integrate it into their life.
The world is very good as this on our phones with Social media and even TV
and movies are now part of the fast-moving scene. How do we capture the
audience, especially the men, in a few seconds, on the weekend services?

A secondary issue, although no less important is how we reach our boys
today. Usually today, the children’s ministry is boy-friendly. Lots of fast-
moving activities like object lessons, and strong visuals keep the boys
attention. When we get to the student's age (teenage years), some of that
changes. Now we have long worship sets, much less visual stimulation for the
boys, now teens, so they either become uninterested or drop out. In addition,
when the boys need strong men around, there is now an influx of young
women becoming youth pastors. Male students do not relate to them as they
would a man – even a young man. Consequently, we are losing boys in many
settings like this. Take the challenge and focus on reaching our young men.

David Murrow’s website has many options to help you evaluate your church
to see how you measure up to at least be gender-neutral as opposed to a
feminine context where so many churches have been. In addition, he has a list
of Free Stuff, as well as other books, courses, and ideas to evaluate as you are
committed to reaching men in your church and community.

To reach David Murrow go to https://www.davidmurrow.com

Just a reminder these podcasts are released on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of
each month.

For additional podcasts or resources go to:
https://www.mensministrycatalyst.org/podcasts/

Book: Why Men Hate Going to Church, David Murrow
Why Men Hate Going to Church: Murrow, David: 9780785232155:
Amazon.com: Books