Although there is some evidence that feminization goes back hundreds of years,
my study revealed a real acceleration of this during the Victorian Era. And
it was not due to some spiritual crisis — it was due to the practical effects
of the Industrial Revolution. We had, for the first time in human history, large
numbers of men leaving home to find work in mills, mines, and factories. So
with them away for large periods of time at work camps and these places, pastors
looked out at their congregations and saw rows full of women, children and aged
men. So finding these women with their husbands gone, they began to subtly tailor
their messages to comfort those lonely women, and the ministries began to evolve
to give them something to do.
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During
the 1800’s you see an explosion of women-oriented ministries in the church.
During the 1850’s the Sunday School was invented for the first time. Church
nurseries took off in large numbers. Women’s circles began to multiply.
Ladies teas, ceremonial gatherings became rooted in the church. We saw the rise
of youth societies toward the end of the Victorian Era.
There
was this huge mushrooming of ministries that took advantage of women’s
skills and interests because men weren’t there and these women needed to
stay busy. And that’s still sort of the ministry pattern that we have today
in our church. Most ministries are oriented toward women’s gifts and interests.
There is very little for a man to do unless he wants to squeeze himself into
a role which he probably regards as feminine — a role that life has not
prepared him for. And so we still have these same ministry patterns and we still
have the same attendance patterns. Our churches still attract large numbers
of women, children and aged men but men and young adults are largely absent.
Preaching:
Some might ask: what’s wrong with that? Why does the church need men?
Murrow:
I think the church needs men for a couple of reasons. First, if you look at
the example of Jesus, He was a magnet to men. He focused His ministry on twelve
men. His example makes it clear that men are an essential part of the body of
Christ.
The
second reason we need men is a practical one. Men bring certain gifts to the
church. They tend to be externally focused, where most churches tend to turn
inward after a time. Men focus on achievement, on challenging each other. Men
bring wealth to a church. They tend to earn more than women and when a man is
involved he brings money to the collection plate.
Men
provide an example to the boys. Right now in our churches up to 90% of the boys
who are currently raised in Christian churches abandon the faith by the time
they are 20-years-old. Now some of them do return when the kids come or when
they get married but a lot of them don’t return. And I think the main reason
we have such apostasy among young men is the fact that they have never seen
a man follow Jesus Christ other than a pastor, who is paid to follow Jesus Christ.
That’s why we need men.