This is a 50-question, non-scientific test that will help you assess your congregation’s “guy friendliness.” Choose a number between 1 and 9 for each question. Any number is acceptable (For example, if your church falls between a 3 and a 5, write in “4.” )
When you’re done, add up your score and read the scale at the end of the test.
To download a printable version of the test, click here.
| No. | Question | Score |
| 1 | Let’s start with first impressions. Does your church have men in the parking lot welcoming people in?
1 —Never 3 —Rarely 5 —Sometimes 7 —Often 9 —Always |
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| 2 | How good is your church’s signage (pointing people to the sanctuary, restrooms, classrooms, offices, etc. Include parking lot and roadside signage)
1 — No signage at all 3 — A few signs 5 — Signs at some corners 7 — A lot of signs 9 — A ridiculous number of signs |
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| 3 | What condition is your church facility?
1 – Old and tired 3 – Old but functional 5 – Well kept 7 – Nicely updated and kept 9 – Cutting edge |
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| 4 | Your sanctuary is decorated
1 —Like a ladies’ parlor (quilts, banners, lace and flowers) 3 —Somewhat feminine (fresh flowers) 5 —Gender neutral 7 —Somewhat masculine 9 —Intentionally masculine |
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| 5 | On a typical Sunday, what percentage of the people on stage are men?
1 – Under 20% 3 – 20 to 40% 5 – 40 to 60% 7 – 60 to 80% 9 – 80 to 100% |
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| 6 | When you walk into the church, how much of a “buzz” or a feeling of excitement is there?
Choose a number between 1 (Funeral Parlor) to 9 (The Super Bowl) |
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| 7 | The quality of our music is
1 —Amateurish 3 —Not great 5 —Pretty good 7 —Very good 9 —Professional |
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| 8 | How often do we sing a song that could become a top-40-love song if the word “Jesus” were changed to “baby”?
1 —Every week 3 —Monthly 5 —At least 10 times a year 7 —Two or 3 times a year 9 —Never |
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| 9 | Also regarding the music, what’s the maximum number of times you repeat the same chorus over and over?
1 —It feels like 100 3 —10 or more repetitions 5 —5 to 9 repetitions 7 —3 to 5 repetitions 9 —We never repeat more than 3 times |
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| 10 | How long are your pastor’s sermons?
1 — 2 hours or longer 3 — 1 to 2 hours 5 — 30–60 minutes 7 — 15–30 minutes 9 — Under 15 minutes |
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| 11 | How often does the pastor include a strong visual component in the sermon, such as a physical object or a film clip? (Words on the screen don’t count)
1 —Never 3 —Two or 3 times a year 5 —At least 10 times a year 7 —Once or twice a month 9 —Every week |
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| 12 | Does your pastor choose illustrations and metaphors that appeal to men? (drawn from battle, adventure, sports, survival and the like)
1 —Never 3 —Rarely 5 —Sometimes 7 —Often 9 —Always |
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| 13 | How often do individuals share prayer requests during your worship service?
1 —Always 3 —Often 5 —Sometimes 7 —Rarely 9 —Never |
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| 14 | How often do children perform in the worship service?
1 —Every week 3 —Twice monthly 5 —At least 10 times a year 7 —Two or 3 times a year 9 —Never |
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| 15 | How long does the worship service typically run?
1 — 120 minutes or longer 3 — 90 to 120 minutes 5 — 75 to 90 minutes 7 — 60 to 75 minutes 9 — Under 60 minutes |
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| 16 | How much laughter is heard in your worship services?
1 – None 3 – An occasional bit of laughter 5 – We laugh at least once every Sunday 7 – We laugh multiple times during each service 9 – It feels more like a comedy club than a church service |
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| 17 | How much racial diversity do you have in the pews?
1 – We’re over 95 percent the same race 3 – 90 to 95 percent the same race 5 – 75 to 90 percent the same race 7 – 50 to 75 percent the same race 9 – We’re totally mixed, with no dominant racial group |
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| 18 | How often do you invite people to hold hands or encourage people to hug during your worship service, adult Sunday school or small group?
1 —Every time we meet 3 —Every other time 5 —Sometimes 7 —Rarely 9 —Never |
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| 19 | How would you rate the overall quality of your worship service?
1 —Amateur hour 3 —It’s good enough for church 5 —We do pretty good 7 —Consistently well done 9 —Cutting–edge creativity |
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| 20 | How often does something completely unexpected happen during your worship services — something so unusual people are startled or shocked by it?
1 —Never 3 —Two or 3 times a year 5 —At least 10 times a year 7 —Once or twice a month 9 —Every week |
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| 21 | In your worship service, how emotional do the people become?
1 —Extremely emotional (crying, fainting, hollering) 3 —Quite emotional 5 —Somewhat emotional 7 —Not very emotional 9 —Someone could die and nobody would notice |
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| 22 | Rate your pastor’s sermons
1 —Consistently boring and irrelevant 3 —Usually not very good 5 —Some are quite good, others not so good 7 —Consistently good sermons 9 —Astonishing, challenging sermons every week |
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| 23 | Where does your senior pastor fall on the manliness scale?
1 —Feminine 3 —Soft 5 —Average 7 —Manly 9 —Jock |
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| 24 | Where does your worship leader fall on the manliness scale?
1 —Feminine 3 —Soft 5 —Average 7 —Manly 9 —Jock |
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| 25 | How active is your church’s men’s ministry?
1 —Nonexistent 3 —Annual retreat 5 —Meets monthly 7 —Meets weekly 9 —Men meeting regularly in small groups |
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| 26 | What percentage of your men participate in the men’s ministry?
1 —Less than 10 2 —10 to 20 3 —20 to 40 4 —40 to 60 5 —you’re lying! |
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| 27 | What percentage of your lay ministries are headed by men?
1 —Less than 10 2 —10 to 20 3 —20 to 40 4 —40 to 60 5 —more than 60% |
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| 28 | What percentage of your volunteers are male?
1 —Less than 10 2 —10 to 20 3 —20 to 40 4 —40 to 60 5 —more than 60% |
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| 29 | Think about your midweek activities. What percentage of your adult participants are male?
1 —Less than 10 2 —10 to 20 3 —20 to 40 4 —40 to 60 5 —more than 60% |
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| 30 | What percentage of your church staff is male? (count ministry and office staff, but not custodial & building maintenance)
1 —Less than 10 2 —10 to 20 3 —20 to 40 4 —40 to 60 5 —more than 60% |
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| 31 | If your church offers a men’s ministry program, does the pastor participate?
1 —Never 3 —Rarely 5 —Sometimes 7 —Often 9 —Always |
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| 32 | Your Children’s Sunday school format is:
1 —Traditional classroom, lecture style 3 —Mostly classroom with some activities 5 —Classroom plus active learning 7 —Mostly active learning with a bit of lecture 9 —All active learning —no lecture |
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| 33 | Does the high school youth group sing worship songs? If so, how many minutes do they typically sing?
1 —More than 30 minutes 3 —30 to 20 minutes 5 —20 to 10 minutes 7 —10 to 5 minutes 9 —They do not usually sing |
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| 34 | In your small groups, how often do you ask people to look up passages in books (including the Bible) and read them aloud?
1 —Every time we meet 3 —Every other time 5 —Sometimes 7 —Rarely 9 —Never |
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| 35 | Is your Senior Pastor a strong leader, or more the shepherd type?
1 – A gentle shepherd 3 – A consensus builder 5 – A cautious leader 7 – A deliberate leader 9 – A charge ahead leader |
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| 36 | Does your church ever conduct meetings that seem to have lost their purpose?
1 – Always 3 – Often 5 – Once in a while 7 – Rarely 9 – Never |
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| 37 | How well known is your church in the wider community?
1 – Virtually unknown 3 – Known within our denomination 5 – Known in our neighborhood 7 – Known in our city 9 – The best known church in our area |
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| 38 | Along the same vein, how many times in the past five years has your church done something that generated a news story?
1 – Never 3 – Once in the past five years 5 – Two to three times in the past five years 7 – Once in the past year 9 – They write about us all the time, many times a year |
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| 39 | How often does your church attempt big, risky things?
1 —Never 3 —Rarely 5 —Sometimes 7 —Often 9 —Always |
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| 40 | How often do male visitors show up without wives or girlfriends?
1 – Can’t remember the last one 3 – It’s pretty rare 5 – Sometimes 7 – Pretty often 9 – Every week |
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| 41 | Does your church offer ministries that take advantage of guy–skills (such as car repair, home repair, strategic planning and the like) ?
1 – None 3 – One 5 – A couple 7 – A few 9 – Many |
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| 42 | What is your ADULT gender ratio in worship?
1 – less than 20% male 3 – 20 to 30% male 5 – 30 to 40 % male 7 – 40 to 50 % male 9 – more men than women |
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| 43 | How many worshippers does your congregation welcome on a typical weekend?
1 – 100 or fewer 3 – 100 to 500 5 – 500 to 1000 7 – 1000 to 5000 9 – over 5000 |
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| 44 | Let’s say a tone–deaf member of your church asks to sing a solo. What will your music director do?
1 – Let her make a joyful noise unto the Lord 3 – Put her in a trio 5 – Put her in the choir, but don’t give her a solo 7 – Encourage her to find another ministry, but let her sing 9 – Remove her from the choir |
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| 45 | How is your church’s theology, generally speaking?
1 – very liberal 2 – leans liberal 3 – right in the middle 4 – leans conservative 5 – very conservative |
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| 46 | How are people in your church expected to dress?
1 – Suit and tie for men, dresses and skirts for women 3 – Jackets for men, pant suits for women 5 – Business casual 7 – Casual Friday (jeans and t–shirts) 9 – Anything goes |
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| 47 | How much does your pastor delegate responsibilities to staff and laypersons?
1 – He does it all himself 3 – He delegates a few tasks 5 – He delegates many tasks 7 – He delegates almost everything 9 – He delegates too many tasks |
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| 48 | Let’s say your church has a ministry program that’s outdated, poorly run and not producing much fruit. How will your congregational leaders handle it?
1 – Do nothing – just let sleeping dogs lie. 3 – Assign a committee to study the problem 5 – Shuffle the leadership of the program 7 – Phase it out over time 9 – Kill it immediately |
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| 49 | How often does your pastor say something controversial from the pulpit? (Taking a very strong stand on an issue, sure to offend some people)
1 – Can’t remember the last time 3 – It’s pretty rare 5 – Sometimes 7 – Pretty often 9 – Every week |
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| 50 | What percentage of your congregational life takes place outdoors?
1 – We never meet outdoors 3 – Easter sunrise service only 5 – We have a few outdoor meetings 7 – We’re outdoors quite a bit 9 – We’re outdoors all the time |
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| Congratulations! Now add up your score and place it here: |
As you’ve probably figured out, the higher the score, the more likely your church is to appeal to men, with some important caveats:
- 1. Not all men are alike.
- 2. While a score of 50 would indicate a serious problem reaching men, a score of 450 would not be desirable either. It’s too masculine.
- 3. The best churches for men will score in the 300s. A score of 350 is just about perfect.
- 4. As I frequently say, the spiritual trumps the practical. If God’s spirit is living and active in your church, none of this matters. The pastor could preach in a Hello Kitty suit and if God is present, men’s lives will be changed. However, practical things do help men feel more welcome in our houses of worship. Just as a missionary tailors his gospel presentation to the people he’s trying to reach, we must not forget men when we present the gospel.
