Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Men are for Projects, Women are for Programmes

The book I am reading at the moment is "Why Men Hate Going to Church" by Richard Murrow. He suggests that because of a man's hunter instinct our typical cycle is: Plan - Hunt - Celebrate - Rest, which makes us more project oriented. Women on the other hand are good at creating systems to make life easier. They are programme oriented - a programme being a way of organising people and resources to meet ongoing needs. He argues that modern churches are more programme oriented and that's why men get bored there.

Personally I haven't been in enough churches or at one for long enough to know if this is true, but tonight I finished two projects - I fixed my bike tyre that had been flat for at least a month and secondly I finished the painting in our bedroom that was started at Christmas time. When I got back to the library, one of my friends said: "Why have you got such a big smile on your face?"

I've really enjoyed this book so far, the only thing I am slightly concerned about, is that I am only a third of the way through and he has mentioned twice now that men are the expendable sex!!!

1 comment:

Jamie said...

Hi Nick

No one else seems to have commented on your blog - so maybe it's just a journal thing rather than discussion. If so, forgive my interruption.

I was wondering what church would look like if it was more project-based and less programme-based. I'd love your thoughts after reading that book (either here or on my blog, where there's a similar question being asked - www.santafetrail.blogspot.com).

Good blogging mate - refreshingly honest. Keep it up!

Jamie