Today was an exciting day! Our church hosted a men’s breakfast where the men of our church could come together for fellowship and camaraderie. We spoke of wonderful ideas of getting our men more involved in the life of church and just being together as men in general. Men’s lack of participation in church has become a global reality. It’s not just a phenomenon in the United States or Western Culture. Check out some statistics at a blog called Church for Men.  Just one statistic from the site states, “More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only one out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church.” You can find out more by clicking the link Church For Men. So what do we do to get men back in to church? The answer is not an easy one, nor a simple one.

For decades the church has gradually become more attractive to women than men because church has more women than men. Rather than being a balance, church has become in many men’s minds something for the kids and the wives to go to. Men don’t like chick flicks typically or shopping may not be at the top of their list. Church has become shoved into this category for many men. Why? Maybe it’s that men think that they’ll be asked to “share” or “open up”. Maybe its they feel church is too predictable or safe. We have a lot of ground to cover for sure.

At our men’s breakfast this morning the men were engaged, they were spirited in wanting to get together and help our community, to get together and do stuff guys like to do: like the outdoors, like rebuilding broken homes and even broken families, preparing meals for those in prison, taking risks—things that Men connect with. I’m not saying women don’t connect with these issues, but by and large, men love the adventure! Men love the challenge! Men, as John Eldredge says in his book, are “Wild at Heart”!