Computers may draw some men to Christianity

Posted: 8/04/06

Computers may draw some men to Christianity

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald

Religion News Service

REDMOND, Wash. (RNS)—For more than a century, women have outnumbered men in the pews of America’s churches. For almost as long, concerned Christians have wondered where all the men went—and how to get them back.

Now some are seeing glimmers of hope coming from a most unlikely place—flickering computer screens.

Religious software has become an $80 million industry in the United States, thanks to a clientele that’s predominantly male. According to a survey conducted last year, 77 percent of all Bible software users are men.

For niche-leading Logos Bible Software, which sells about 12 percent of all religious software, nine out of every 10 customers are men.

As devout men demonstrate a holy zeal for study around electronic platforms, evangelists are pondering the broader implications and possibilities.

Perhaps, the thinking goes, men turned off by preaching, small talk and shared feelings in tight-knit groups will be receptive to the gospel when it’s delivered instead via technology.

A man “might be on a spiritual journey and not want anyone to know about it,” said Rick Kingham, president of the National Coalition of Men’s Ministries, which is based near Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

Just as “a guy can be sneaky” to access pornography on the Internet, he said, so also can he seek knowledge of God privately in settings where “being a Christian isn’t cool.”

“I think God’s going to use the same technology and the same system to, in fact, spread (faith) like wildfire—even amongst those who are just on a spiritual journey and are doing it very anonymously,” Kingham said.

But even if men get inspired by electronic resources, they won’t necessarily become more interested in congregational life, said David Murrow, author of Why Men Hate Going to Church. In fact, he says, the opposite could occur.

“It might actually cause men to be more isolated from a local church body because, you know, they’re not interested in the church politics or the sermon or the singing that we offer. They just want to know about God,” Murrow said. “And if they can bypass that bore that we call ‘Sunday morning worship,’ they’ll do it.”

Men say they appreciate the convenience of electronic resources, since they don’t require arranging meetings with other people or lugging around a sack of books. For example, Mike Laird configures his laptop to open to sacredspace.ie, where he gets a daily devotional from Irish Jesuits as soon as he logs on.

“If I’m in (a coffee shop) working on my sermon, I can log on and it’s right there,” said Laird, pastor of North Shore Chapel, which meets in a movie theater in Danvers, Mass. “Before I know it, I’m already into the day’s meditation.”

During Sunday worship, Laird lets loose a manly passion for gadgetry each time he fires up the MediaShout projection system software. The software, which lets religious communities blend music, text and moving pictures, more often than not attracts men to its control buttons, said Jann Saulsberry, vice president of marketing at MediaComplete, maker of MediaShout.

The technologies men love are fast becoming staples of worship in many of America’s churches. More than 60 percent of Protestant congregations now use large-screen projection systems and show video clips during worship, according to a September 2005 survey from Barna Research Group, a leading Christian trend tracker.

That trend could bode well for getting at least a few more men to darken the door of a church, according to Quentin Schultze, professor of faith and communication at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“Men have become more involved in worship planning and worship itself by participating in the use of technology in worship, such as PowerPoint and special software designed for worship presentations,” Schultze said.

However, he cautions that those who run the gadgets aren’t likely to join small discussion groups any time soon.

“There is a general stereotype that men use communication technologies to escape relationships, and women use them to foster relationships,” Schultze said. “It tends to be true.”

Technology alone won’t overcome all the reasons why many men of faith don’t like going to church, Murrow said. Men “are drawn to risk, challenge and adventure,” he insisted. “But these things are discouraged in the local church. Instead, most congregations offer a safe, nurturing community—an oasis of stability and predictability” that appeals more to women and seniors.

But competent usage of technology, he argues, can be a helpful start for churches aiming to make men feel comfortable.

“A church that uses the latest technology to teach and encourage,” Murrow writes in his book, “will be sending a strong message to men and young adults: we speak your language.”