Church Talk Makes Men Walk: What the Research Shows and What to Do

The mystery of the missing men can be answered in one sentence: The church has forgotten how to speak to men. While the churchs language has excluded women in its use of nouns and pronouns it has excluded men in everything else. Its content character and construction say You dont belong here. Church Talk Makes Men Walk: - Corrects the myth that men are innately non-religious or non-spiritual; - Demonstrates how the culture increasingly reflected in church talk has filtered action-oriented people out of the church in favor of relationally orientated ones; - Demonstrates that the same factors that have driven most men from the church have also driven like-minded women away; - Provides research-based and theologically informed solutions to the problem of the missing action-oriented men and women. Chapters presenting well-documented social science research alternate with chapters presenting practical steps that answer the question So what should the church do? Written in a conversational humorous and sometimes confessional style Church Talk bridges the gap between the academy and the local church. It shows how language that is inclusive of both women and men relational and action-oriented can create a church that is once again gender-balanced and missional. It has been become a maxim that when the men of the house take the initiative in church attendance the family almost always worships together. That alone should underscore the importance of this remarkably researched and well-written book. --Robert G. Tuttle Jr. emeritus professor of World Christianity Asbury Theological Seminary Words matter. This entertaining and well-written book shows us how to involve more men and boys in our churches simply by changing the words we use. --David Murrow director Church for Men author of Why Men Hate Going to Church Woody L. Davis writes as a communication scholar who has used both qualitative and quantitative methods to study the problem of the missing men for over thirty years. He is an ordained pastor who has evangelized and mentored men of all ages served as a denominational leader and trainer of church leadership teams in evangelism and congregational development and as a seminary professor of church leadership.