tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post657654040773201289..comments2023-11-03T05:46:44.728-04:00Comments on RevGalBlogPals: Ask the Matriarch — Man, Oh ManStephanie Anthony/She Revhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089531643725874239noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-83997827165812801242007-02-17T20:30:00.000-05:002007-02-17T20:30:00.000-05:00Our men formed a breakfast club and they meet once...Our men formed a breakfast club and they meet once a month and take turns making breakfast. they chip in $5 and they eat well.<BR/><BR/>They bring in speakers such as the Community College President..a woman. They invited the women to come to that one. They've brought in people to talk about the water issues, and other church things as well. It's well attended.<BR/><BR/>They're are men in our weekly Study group. The group has different churches involved as well as different denominations. We now lead the group ourselves..taking turns.<BR/><BR/>We do have a fairly even mix, but it tends still to be male dominated as far as decision making is concerned. The 'old boys network' is still in tact which has been hard on getting new thinking men in and it tends to not to 'hear' women.....we're working on it!<BR/><BR/>Getting anyone to study theology except those already involved is very hard.Free Flying Spirithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15383200295283942042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-12636939602159057562007-02-16T20:40:00.000-05:002007-02-16T20:40:00.000-05:00There is a book out entitled, "Why Men Hate Going ...There is a book out entitled, "Why Men Hate Going to Church" that has some good insights on how to reach men. <BR/><BR/>Our culture is becoming feminine in many ways and it seems like every time I turn around we have a new women's program or a women's event. Teachers are told to teach to the learning styles of the girls in math and science. Our local college is 2/3 female. Males are not being encouraged to get a higher education like females. Girls make up the majority of those at the top of their high school classes. The male/female thing is a whole cultural shift.<BR/><BR/>The sexes need to be equal. As a sibling with brothers and the mother of sons, I find the anti male trend disturbing. I'm concerned that boys don't find Sunday school interesting, they don't care much for youth groups and they drop out of church as a general rule. As you have said, they also drop out of church. The average church has a lot more females than males. We need to work on reversing the trend.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-37696508172971572362007-02-16T12:05:00.000-05:002007-02-16T12:05:00.000-05:00Noted author Debra Farrington taught a one day sem...Noted author Debra Farrington taught a one day seminar this last Saturday on spiritual discernment at our local 1st Presby church where both Episcopalians and Prebys were in attendance. We were expecting maybe 50 people to show up, and we expected them to be all women. Instead 70 people showed and about 20 of them were men, which tilted our expections and made our day; we had no idea that this would happen but we were all very happy and pleased at the turn out of guys as well as the 70 total. And they actually participated in discussions and some simple practices Debra had us do. They were amazingly open to questions and sharing...we thought we were in a slice of heaven!Catherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04267544451078638468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-85157214959635424332007-02-16T09:47:00.000-05:002007-02-16T09:47:00.000-05:00My DFH adores this prayer, which I scooped up off ...My DFH adores this prayer, which I scooped up off one of our blogs last year and hear at least a few times a week, usually rattled off in an affected Irish accent:<BR/><BR/>Bless, O Lord, this creature beer, that Thou hast been pleased to bring forth from the sweetness of the grain: that it might be a salutary remedy for the human race: and grant by the invocation of Thy holy name, that, whosoever drinks of it may obtain health of body and a sure safeguard for the soul. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.Gallycathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00347338626554551296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-44341922922607646242007-02-16T08:39:00.000-05:002007-02-16T08:39:00.000-05:00the charismatic-type guy who leads 'mens' events a...the charismatic-type guy who leads 'mens' events at my church suggests that men's activities are successful when they focus on beer, golf, or guns. So we've had a seminar on beer-making, a golf outing, an a q and a with a retired 3-star general. Big turnouts. Then we had bible study. Not so much.Nina Reederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164699526587736134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-9042032147920997322007-02-15T22:22:00.000-05:002007-02-15T22:22:00.000-05:00Wow, thanks for the tips and the wealth of info he...Wow, thanks for the tips and the wealth of info here! I'm adding this to my files...<BR/><BR/>I think I've been frustrated that the guys in church don't seem hungry for more spiritual growth - but I've been defining spiritual growth as MY kind. Of course, theirs will look different!<BR/><BR/>Thanks againAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-43555403396536313752007-02-15T16:43:00.000-05:002007-02-15T16:43:00.000-05:00I would especially say AMEN to putting the men in ...I would especially say AMEN to putting the men in charge of it. <BR/><BR/>One church I knew had a group of older men who not only were wonderful at getting together for lunch once a week, but they were the mainstay of their Sunday school class (Darn, I forget what it was called, but it was clever, and it met before church, to take advantage of the fact that they all got up at dawn anyway) They were also very good at mentoring the younger men, leading them into the group. They did several charity-type projects--a thrift shop, the St. Andrews potato project, and so on. When I designed a memorial garden, they went to work digging and planting. But if I had suggested that the garden was a good way to get to know each other, they wouldn't have wanted to get involved, I suspect.<BR/><BR/>And a negative example--we offered a women's dance (that's the kind of thing we do in GLBTTA churches from time to time...) and some of the men were upset that there wasn't a men's dance planned. I pointed out to them--gently--that they were certainly free to plan one, and that I would support them in it, but it wasn't something I could do effectively, being a woman. They got the point, but there was no men's dance. However, they knew it was because they didn't put it together, not because I (or church leadership) didn't want it.<BR/><BR/>Oops, didn't mean to be so long-winded!Rainbow Pastorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16294525557328362313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-65879288326357543302007-02-15T15:13:00.000-05:002007-02-15T15:13:00.000-05:00At our church our current new-sanctuary project ha...At our church our current new-sanctuary project has galvanized the men of the church -- including otherwise marginal attendees who have suddenly been showing up every day to help pound nails, put up drywall, etc. <BR/><BR/>We also used to have a kind of men's Kaffeeklatsch at the cafe down the street that seemed to provide a safer space for men (generally the older ones) to "do theology."<BR/><BR/>We are fortunate in that our church leadership -- council, committees, the general go-to people -- is pretty well even genderwise. Where we have real gender inequity is in worship leadership like lectoring, assisting with the Eucharist, worship committee, etc....we just can't get most of the men to participate <I>at all</I>. And we have a male pastor, so it isn't a matter of not being able to relate to our clergyperson in a "manly-man" way.LutheranChikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02685566332651377907noreply@blogger.com