The online gender gap: hope for church growth among men

I was interested to see the demographic breakdown of our church's YouTube channel.

Scrolling through the various analytics, I was surprised to find that a majority are males - 55%, watching our content. This trend is being recognised across many other theologically based YouTube channels with some reporting up to an 86% male audience.

These are unexpected statistics when you consider the female dominance in church attendance. A Tearfund report back in 2011 stated that women make up two-thirds of congregations across the UK and they predicted from this downward trend that by 2028 men would have disappeared from the pews altogether. However, from the online statistics I’ve seen, men seem to be more interested in Christianity than it would appear.

There are many theories as to why there has been such a dramatic decline in men attending their local church. Male-dominated trades work overtime on weekends, more men play sport on Sundays. In many cases, the majority of church outreach targets women, with Mother and Toddler groups, and other social events that do not appeal to the typical British man.

There are also several theological challenges to consider. Too easily Jesus is presented from the pulpit in a way some men struggle to relate to: as weak and passive, who walked around in a white dress, loved without challenge, and requires you to give up your masculinity to follow Him.

The language used in the church can be overly sensitive, and the melodies of the hymns can be embarrassingly high for men to sing. The more contemporary 'worship music' can present Jesus as the perfect boyfriend. The service may even end with tea in a little china cup that you struggle to hold on to while having a conversation about the flower rota.

Has the culture within many local churches created a self-fulfilling perception that it is not a place for men to go to - leading men who are interested in Jesus to access Christian content online instead?

So, what can be done to convert online male-dominated audiences into regular in-person churchgoers? Can the local church create a more open and casual environment where men can build real, authentic friendships like those formed in a pub? Can we sing hymns, like men are happy to chant in football stadiums? Can we have our tea in mugs? Can the church faithfully preach the Biblical Jesus who was not weak, but meek and was followed by a variety of people including tough men willing to die for the offence of the gospel?

The statistics show that the more apologetic the Christian content, the greater the male audience. It is clear that millions of men want to engage with Christianity, they want to challenge and be challenged by the gospel. But sadly feel more able to do this online. Why not in person? Why not in your local church?

I am the pastor of a church in a post-industrial Welsh Valley, where our largest demographic is young men. From my experience, I can say that men do not want small talk when they come to church, they want raw debate (like they can have in the comment section on YouTube). They want to know how the gospel can be applied in daily life, they crave purpose and responsibility, they want to Father the fatherless. Can your local church accommodate for this?

We need to be better as a church in our messaging to men. We need to preach a Biblical Jesus who does not want men to leave their masculinity at the door, but embrace it positively through an authentic Christian life.

Men long for a sense of Christian duty, to stand for the truth, to love, and to serve their families in a sinful world. This cannot be achieved with YouTube alone. Looking at the online statistics, the harvest is plentiful; it is worth asking ourselves the question, how can our local church value men better and become a welcoming place (offline) for men to be men as God intended?