An article of interest
'Ah men,' sigh lone church women
09 September 2006
By ANNA CHALMERS

A man drought has hit the church and could be pushing some single women away.

The shortage is so dire that Christian women are being forced outside the church or are getting into unsuitable relationships, Challenge Weekly warns this month.

The Christian publication says American research shows there are up to 13 million more "born-again" Christian women than men.

Christian dating agencies report having up to 70 per cent women on their books – a trend reflected in other dating agencies.

Central Baptist Church minister Jenny McIntosh said there were more single women than men in the Wellington congregation. She feared single women were feeling alienated and were being pushed away because the "norm" was to be in a family.

"Single women are finding it hard to be in churches. Often churches are very family-oriented. They talk families, they talk couples."

Emma Green, 24, who attends Blueprint, a division of The Rock church in Wellington, said there was pressure to find a partner in the church. But though marrying a fellow Christian was "non-negotiable", she did not think she faced a tougher challenge.

"It seems like there's a man drought across the board."

Statistically there are about 9 per cent to 11 per cent more women than men in the 30-to-34 age group.

A study by Victoria University this year found a shortage of bachelors – and an increase in the number of women with degrees – meant more highly educated women were staying single or "marrying down" by choosing a partner with poorer job prospects.

Another Wellington Christian said the men at her church were less educated and many more single, Christian women "had more going for them".

From www.stuff.co.nz

I was over at Sam, Dave, Reuben and J's new sweet pad (yes it does deserve full Napoleon props) on Saturday night and this article was found in the paper. It held some personal interest. Both for the Church and a MORE personal interest. What do you think? I also remembered that Carmi had asked a similar question in a recent post too.

Is there something in the water? Do guys need to grow up? Are girls expecting too much? How exactly does one compete with Jesus for a girl (or a guy for that matter)? Why are there no guys in church? How does church change that? Should church change that? Is polygamy an option (Or as someone on Sunday put it "Pulling the "Big love" styles in sacrifice for our Christian sisters" -Ewww!) What about training all the girls in "dating evangelism"? Do all our girls feel a pull to China to evangelise and help out with the imbalance there? (OK, dumb idea n of many). But seriously, why on earth are guy's groups the most important yet most frustrating things on earth?

Although, this probably would explain why I have so many awesome female friends from church compared to the number of awesome guy friends. Beaten by shear numbers obviously.

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The corpse moves
Hello. Yes this is an actual blog. I'm shattered from doing public health- (one of my friends actually mocked me for saying that yesterday) but it's true. I really can't be bothered learning any more about Maori health tonight. So I won't.

Bascially its not from the study that I feel tired. It's been having to do 2 weeks worth of pathology exams concurrently with a public health project on the "level of compliance of tobacco retailers with the Smokefree act 1990 and amendments 2003". Any suggestions more sexy names for the project are welcome. It was a good excuse to see "Thank you for smoking" though which was very funny.

As usual, I'm head first into these kinds of things, having become the group computer geek- learning how to use Access and "dominating" the data with excel. I've also been told that I have quite a good public health mind and should consider it as a future career. I do like the social component and the actually being able to do health improving things for the community, but I'm not sure yet. Oh well, plenty of time yet, although I'm surprised at how much influence my mother has had on my medical career. She's very pro- the fence at the top of the cliff and not the ambulance at the bottom. Hopefully her views on homeopathy won't rub off the same way :). Nah, Mum, I think I'm too cynical for that.

Another thing I think my mother has instilled in me has been the sense of a bargain. Actually my colleagues were hassling me about my bargain hunting skills the other day. 2 chocolate blocks for $4 or 1 for $4.30. Now who wouldn't buy 2 really. Oh and although I don't think an iPod for $290 is on the cards currently, I did pick up 9 CDs from the warehouse a couple of weeks ago for $45. Now do I justify it because it was a bargain or because I was spending $45? I really don't know.

Only 8 weeks till exams. Can't wait. Pity I can't study either.
If I do fail, yetisports will probably have nothing to do with it, but is still providing some light relief.

Sorry, this has been a bit wandering tonight. Hope it makes sense.

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