Why lads lag: how to put men more in touch with their spiritual side
a report by Catherine Larner
This article first appeared in the Church Times on 30th June 2006
www.churchtimes.co.uk
reproduced by permission
Men 'do' God don't they? So why are they in church on Sunday, but not in the small groups or the prayer meetings, the quiet days or the retreats? Why can they be seen handing out hymn books and organising building repairs, but not leading the junior church or sharing their testimony? What needs to be done differently?
Dave Gardner, vicar of St John's, a 300-strong evangelical congregation in Woodbridge, Suffolk concluded that church can be too domesticated, too feminine, and that men need to be reminded of the sense of adventure of their faith. So he invited 24 men to spend 24 hours away with God in a remote location on the coast.
"This is the year of abiding for St John's," says Dave. "So we have been running quiet days for the congregation to spend time out with God. But these have predominantly attracted women. We felt that we had to run a retreat specifically for men in order to encourage them to seek God's voice."
In order to attract as many men as possible, they selected a destination that was only a short distance away but still wild and desolate. Orford Ness was used for the testing atomic bombs and has an eerie atmosphere. Here an old barrack room was available for overnight accommodation.
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