April 3, 2000

Women carrying big load at church
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___VENTURA, Calif. (ABP)--Men may fill the dominant leadership positions in the church, but women are the ones who keep the church running, according to a new nationwide study by the Barna Research Group.
___While only 5 percent of the nation's Christian churches are led by female pastors, women are significantly more likely than men to hold other leadership roles in the church, the study found.
___Women also shoulder the largest burden for cultivating the spiritual life of their families, according to pollster George Barna. "Women, more often than not, take the lead role in the spiritual life of the family. Women typically emerge as the primary--or only--spiritual mentor and role model for family members. And that puts a tremendous burden on wives and mothers."
___Male church leaders should take notice of the load women are carrying or risk catastrophe, Barna added, because women increasingly are getting burned out by their extensive church commitments, combined with their duties at home and work.
___As evidence, he cites a 22 percent drop in women's church attendance since 1991 and a 21 percent drop in the percentage of women volunteering to help their churches.
___"Women's monumental efforts to support the work of the Christian church may be running on fumes," Barna warned. "Churches need to consider whether or not they are providing sufficient opportunities for women to receive ministry and not just provide ministry to others. We may continue to see tens of thousands of women leaving the church unless there is a widespread, aggressive, thoughtful approach to recognizing and appreciating women."
___More men also need to step up to the leadership plate, he added. "We must impress upon men the importance that they model spiritual maturity and more actively participate in the life of the church."
___Highlights of the survey include:
___ Without women, Christianity would have 60 percent fewer adherents.
___ Women are more likely than men to be classified as "born-again" Christians. This is not based on self-description but on respondents' answers to two specific questions about the basis of their faith. Forty-six percent of American women hold beliefs that could classify them as "born-again," compared to 36 percent of men.
___ Women are more spiritually focused. Forty-one percent of women said they have set specific spiritual goals to accomplish within the next two years, compared to 29 percent of men.
___ Women are twice as likely as men to be involved in a discipleship process at church, although participation is not extensive for either men or women. Fourteen percent of women are involved in discipleship programs, compared to 7 percent of men.
___ Women are more likely to be involved in Sunday School. Twenty-two percent of women surveyed had attended an adult Sunday School class in the previous week, compared to 14 percent of men.
___ More women are leaders. About 14 percent of U.S. women have served in some leadership role in their churches, compared to 9 percent of men.
___ Women are more likely than men to share their faith with others and to disciple others. The survey found 27 percent of U.S. women have shared their faith with someone else during the past year in hopes that person would accept Christ as Savior, compared to 21 percent of men. Nineteen percent of women said they have served as a spiritual mentor to someone else during the past year, compared to 13 percent of men.
___The survey also found women outpace men in having a daily devotional time, volunteering time to help at church, reading the Bible, attending church services, donating to the church and praying.
___A major exception to all these findings relates to women of the so-called "buster" generation, those who are 34 or younger.
___Significantly lower levels of religious participation were found among both men and women in this age group.
___The survey was based on telephone interviews with 4,755 adults who live in the United States. It carries a potential margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

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