I am a deacon serving at a Catholic church in western NC. Over the past couple of years I have noticed an increase in young men attending our Sunday Masses.
I am in Charlotte and we have no problems at our church. Our son is a pastor at a Catholic church in the mountains and things are quite difficult up there - fortunately his church is high enough that flooding is not an issue and they never lost power. He does have some parishioners who lost everything to the flood.
I will have to keep a closer watch on the congregation. Over the years, I had read about and noticed the feminization of the Church, noted by many. I guess I noticed that this is not the case in our parish, as evidenced by the increase in the young men. Our parish is more traditionally minded and we have a reverent NO Mass. Young women do attend our parish, though I haven't noticed the differences between singles vs. engaged and married.
The declining commitment of women to religion first showed up in England in the 1960s, as the Pill reduced women’s practical commitment, buttressed by religion, to pre-marital chastity.
In Germany, the commitment of young men and women to religion converged as both approached zero.
Now, there are some signs of a reversal, although whether it is permanent and whether it is confined to a few churches and countries is not at all clear.
I belong to a rapidly growing Ordinariate church in Baltimore; its is Roman Catholic, but uses an Anglo-Catholic ritual, and has an excellent pastor who has nine children. We have many large (up to 8 children) families in the congregation, and many young men. Why this should be so is not at all clear.
Our pastor gives a good example of responsible and devout masculinity. That certainly is a major part of it. The politics of the congregation of overwhelmingly conservative, even for my taste, and I am a life-long Republican.
How common are churches like mine? Many Anglican churches in the United States seem to follow a similar pattern. In San Francisco it looks like the Dominican parish provides a setting for young Catholics who are marriage-minded to meet. Do the charismatic and evangelical churches follow this pattern?
A balance of young men and women would be ideal. For a long time it was difficult for a devout young women to find a suitable mate; I hope the situation does not reverse itself.
I am 65 years old and my wife and I attend a nondenominational church in Tallahassee, Florida. The church is currently averaging 800 adult attendees over three services each Sunday. Tallahassee is a college town—Florida State is one of three colleges/universities—and our attendees are roughly 75% college students. And of that 75%, well over half are females. This is obviously anecdotal evidence against the article, but it is my reality. Over the last couple of years the fellas have started showing up and, yes, marriages are piling up (my wife and I conduct a lot of premarital counseling sessions). I write all this as a probable outlier, but a positive one. God does not work within our conceived boxes, thank goodness.
I am a deacon serving at a Catholic church in western NC. Over the past couple of years I have noticed an increase in young men attending our Sunday Masses.
I hope your church is OK in the flooding. Where are you?
Are you seeing the pattern I mention in the post -- lots of men, lots of COUPLES (married and engaged), but few young single women.
I am in Charlotte and we have no problems at our church. Our son is a pastor at a Catholic church in the mountains and things are quite difficult up there - fortunately his church is high enough that flooding is not an issue and they never lost power. He does have some parishioners who lost everything to the flood.
I will have to keep a closer watch on the congregation. Over the years, I had read about and noticed the feminization of the Church, noted by many. I guess I noticed that this is not the case in our parish, as evidenced by the increase in the young men. Our parish is more traditionally minded and we have a reverent NO Mass. Young women do attend our parish, though I haven't noticed the differences between singles vs. engaged and married.
What’s a NO Mass? Like a Kabuki Mass, but slower?
Short for Novus Ordo, the Vatican II texts and rubrics. There is, for example, a Novus Ordo Latin Mass — rarely used.
The declining commitment of women to religion first showed up in England in the 1960s, as the Pill reduced women’s practical commitment, buttressed by religion, to pre-marital chastity.
In Germany, the commitment of young men and women to religion converged as both approached zero.
Now, there are some signs of a reversal, although whether it is permanent and whether it is confined to a few churches and countries is not at all clear.
I belong to a rapidly growing Ordinariate church in Baltimore; its is Roman Catholic, but uses an Anglo-Catholic ritual, and has an excellent pastor who has nine children. We have many large (up to 8 children) families in the congregation, and many young men. Why this should be so is not at all clear.
Our pastor gives a good example of responsible and devout masculinity. That certainly is a major part of it. The politics of the congregation of overwhelmingly conservative, even for my taste, and I am a life-long Republican.
How common are churches like mine? Many Anglican churches in the United States seem to follow a similar pattern. In San Francisco it looks like the Dominican parish provides a setting for young Catholics who are marriage-minded to meet. Do the charismatic and evangelical churches follow this pattern?
A balance of young men and women would be ideal. For a long time it was difficult for a devout young women to find a suitable mate; I hope the situation does not reverse itself.
<<For a long time it was difficult for a devout young women to find a suitable mate; I hope the situation does not reverse itself.>>
The irony in the Orthodox context is that it is young MEN who return to the church seeking to marry and move into adulthood.
Please see this recent post/podcast -- including the YouTube to a very high-quality discussion of this topic.
https://tmattingly.substack.com/p/crossroads-yes-quite-a-few-young
I am 65 years old and my wife and I attend a nondenominational church in Tallahassee, Florida. The church is currently averaging 800 adult attendees over three services each Sunday. Tallahassee is a college town—Florida State is one of three colleges/universities—and our attendees are roughly 75% college students. And of that 75%, well over half are females. This is obviously anecdotal evidence against the article, but it is my reality. Over the last couple of years the fellas have started showing up and, yes, marriages are piling up (my wife and I conduct a lot of premarital counseling sessions). I write all this as a probable outlier, but a positive one. God does not work within our conceived boxes, thank goodness.
Thanks for your input. I appreciate the content.