A Research Note: Real Men and Church Participation

Abstract

Although more women than men have attended religious services and other church events for some centuries across denominations, periodically a denomination views the relative absence of men in the pews as a new problem they must face. Data from a 2002 survey of 2,200 lay persons who are at least titular members of Episcopal congregations located in different regions of the USA are used to explore why men are not as involved in church life as some may want. Survey results indicate that the presence of women in ordained or in lay church leadership does not significantly diminish men's feelings of being appreciated by their congregations. Rather, both lay men and women feel more valued for their church participation if they are currently involved in a variety of parish activities and if they were elected to the church governing board. Younger men, however, feel more appreciated than older men even if they do relatively little in church, while women's age is unrelated to their sense of being valued for their participation. Survey comments and other analyses are used to explain these findings.