Monday, May 23, 2022

Did the World Wars kick off the gender gap within the pews?

Over the last five weeks I’ve been teaching my year 9 history class about World War 1. As we conclude the unit we’ve been looking at the lasting consequences of the conflict and the impact upon those who returned and the fallout from the vacancies caused by those who never returned home.

Needless to say, the war was devastating.

World War 2 more so.

I wonder, in light of the detestation that was inflicted on a generation of men, how did this impact the church?

For, every church (which is old enough) has a plaque to two commemorating the names of the fallen from their congregation.

Is this, in reality, the pinpoint that the gender gap emerged within the church?

For, if a third of all me fell in combat, what legacy did this leave for the demographics within the pews?

Once children didn’t see as many males at church on a Sunday, at least across a generation or two, did this actually set in motion the trend for women to dominate the numbers within the church?

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