The author of the blog “Ten Tips for a Man-Friendly Christmas Eve Service”, which was removed from a diocesan site after an “unedifying” online debate, has defended its content.
The author, the Vicar of Stanford in the Vale with Goosey and Hatford, and Diocesan Missioner (Unreached Men), the Revd Paul Eddy, advised the employment of “masculine imagery and language”, the use of a video clip from an action film “as a metaphor”, and the presentation of “Christ the man rather than Christ the infant”.
Churches should “focus teaching on Christ’s power and mission”, he wrote, “rather than just his meekness and gentleness.”
The reaction online to the blog was mixed. Some described it on Twitter as “sexist” and “patronising”; others found the tips helpful.
The reaction feels like another one of those “we don’t want men because they are not women” reactions.