A Review of: Why Men Hate Going to Church
By: David Murrow
David Murrow has come out with a revised edition of "Why Men Hate Going to Church". Murrow's general understanding is that most men do not want to go to church because the church has really catered to the female population. At the beginning of the book Mr. Murrow establishes various stats and figures that demonstrate the widening gap between the female and male population in most churches. This widening gap leads to the question, why are more men leaving the church? And in such high numbers? David Murrow not only attempts to answer this question but also seeks to formulate some thoughts on what the church can and should do to 'stop the bleeding' if you will.
In general this book is probably most useful for church staff and church leaders. While he has an easy to read and follow writing style, the point of the book is really for church leaders to heed the warning and make changes within their own congregation. So I would recommend this book to any pastors, elders, church planters, church strategists, or denominational leaders that see a growing threat of man-less-ness (word I just made up) within their congregations.
At first, I must say that the Politically Correctness flags were popping up as I read the first few chapters. As a pastor myself I feel pressured to make sure that everyone within the congregation feels as comfortable as possible, but also that the gospel is preached to everyone's level. The first few chapters served as a good starting point to kind of break me out of the conditioned structure that I had created and ask questions within my own church context. If you can push through the conditioned tendencies of political correctness that pervade our culture and our church, this book will be very useful in forming a mission that grows the church through a strong male presence. The greatest example of this is the last few pages of the book when Rev. Dr. Jennifer Wilson uses the policies and structure within the book to grow the male population in her congregation (read the book to find out what I'm talking about)
This book should be required reading for the leaders of churches that are stagnant, dying, of just starting off. How could your church benefit from an influx of men within the congregation?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
