Why more women go to church than men

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.

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.

“Going to church is another opportunity to show off their clothes as women or let the congregation see how well they are pampered by their husbands. They litter the church premises and surroundings with luxurious cars and even form associations in church,” the telecoms engineer opined.