ATTENDANCE OF MEN AT CHURCHES

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21088, 13 February 1934, Page 15

ATTENDANCE OF MEN AT CHURCHES

i lu lilE Elilll'ft Of THE !'«(.'•' '■ Sir,— Coinciding with the vicar of J Merivalc's statement in his sermon | printed in your issue to-day regarding the absence of men at. church was another statement in a sermon preached that same evening by Sir ' John Sandeman Allen, which could !be well used in the balance on the men's side. Sir John spoke to a large audience of men and women, in fact, nf all ages It represented an audience of complete family worship which is rare in the churches these days The hall was well lighted, but free'of all embellishments and acces- , series pertaining to the Anglican ! Church And the singing, which had ; no help from organ or other lnstru- ■ ment of music, was the most fullthroated and whole-hearted I have heard from the congregation of most j Cl TheSubject of the particular state- '■ ment made by Sir John was the incident from the Scriptures wherein our Lord is sitting waiting.at the well for (he woman to give Him drink. Sn 1 John stressed the fact that our Lord was waiting for her. knowing her to j be a very sinful woman, and asking 1 her to "give" Him drink, so that in succouring our Lord she might fill her i own empty heart. The present-day , clergy are nine-tenths to blame for ] the non-attendance of men at church. i They seem rather inclined to stand in 1 the pulpit and denounce their ab- i sence before the congregation instead of finding out what is holding them Men, generally speaking, become immediately self-conscious at the j thought of going to church. The aver- j C age man has very much of the child i g in him over matters of that kind, and, | e as many wives know, needs humour-L ; ing accordingly, so that the more ne f js publicly denounced the more selfconscious lie becomes. t Women find much more pleasure in ' the practice of churchgoing than men

. because they are not so awed, and find much more to interest' their wandering attention. One very fine old church in St. Albans. Holborn. I in the Old Country, once had a very fine parson, who was noted tor nis work amongst men and boys, and whether the fact that a special part . was set aside for the use of men worshippers only helped to make that church notable for its congregation of > men I would not say, but the fact r remains. Those who remember l Father Stanton will confirm my statement. He always waited for the sinner, inasmuch as he waited at the prisons for all the first offenders and saw that they had a fresh start. He always held a brief for lads, and that appeals to the man when he- leaves , his youth behind. What particularly appealed to the more solid type of business man only the man could . know, and even then that is not always easy to define, but his congrega- • tion certainly lacked nothing of the type that should take its place in Merivale churches. Why not a "men's night," as against all the activities' 1 for women and mothers' meetings, etc. Men need moral support at such a time, and a common meeting ground outside the church itself will hold more possibili- ' ties of leading the men into church than keeping inside the church and using it as a barrage.—Yours, etc., AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM. February 12. 1934.