There has been a shift in the
attendance demographics of churchgoers. More interesting is the unbalanced
attendance in relation to the gender of churchgoers. In the last two decade,
there has been a shift in the attendance demographics of churchgoers. More
interesting is the unbalanced attendance in relation to the gender of
churchgoers. Nigerians are known to be very religious people and happenings
have shown that more women go to church than men. Before the advent of
Pentecostal churches, sitting arrangements in churches were very clearly
demarcated by gender with the male gender taking the front seats. However, the
narrative has changed with more women attending church services than men while
some even take to the pulpit to lead services. In a report by Uganda based
platform, East African, while the number of women coming to church started
increasing, the number of men that attend church services started declining. And
as the women started taking more seats than men, the sitting arrangement no
longer seemed necessary.
# Women relate better with
others:
A research by Gallup says one of
the reasons more women go to church than men is that women tend to be more open
about sharing personal problems.
The research also revealed that
women are more relational than men. The research also shows that a higher
proportion of women than men say they have a best friend in their congregation.
Again, women were found to lean toward an empirical rather than a rational
basis for faith than men.
# Women help build the faith in
the family:
The Economist, in a 2016 report,
said women are more likely to believe in and practice a religion than men are. Women
are more likely to believe in and practice a religion than men. (Surviving
Dating)
The report further showed that
83.4% of women identify with a faith while 79.9% of men do so across the globe.
But in America, 60% of women see religion as very significant in their lives
while only 47% of men do.
The Economist report further
posited that women have more staying power, including in times of repression.
Under regimes which aim to abolish all external signs of religion, women can
discreetly transmit the faith to their progeny.
Continuing, the report says
another reason is that women often lead the way in making the religious switch,
hoping their families will follow. And this is particularly true of the
Pentecostal churches which have gained ground at the expense of orthodox
churches.
# Women are more in touch with
their emotions:
Giving reasons for this
occurrence in churches, a vox pop conducted revealed that more women are in
touch with their emotions. “I agree more women are going to church than men. I
think because women are more in touch with their emotions,” a young and
upwardly mobile lady says.
# Some women are seeking
partners:
Another single lady who insists
her opinion shouldn’t be treated as a fact said: “I believe more women go to
church than men because single ladies are probably seeking a relationship that
will eventually lead to marriage and where best to find such relationship other
than God’s vineyard.”
# Women have more problems than
men:
The East African report gives
reasons for the influx of women in the church as women having far more problems
than men and so need God more. The report further said women naturally feel one
of their major duties is to be the prayer warrior of the home and since they
pray for the men more, they tend to attend more church activities than the men.
# Women enjoy showing off:
A young telecommunication
engineer feels that aside from seeking a man to wed in church, some single
ladies and even older married women tend to use the activities in the church to
flaunt their success or husbands’ wealth.