By RAY WADDLE

Do men hate church?

An indelicate question, but a relevant one. Various measures say the typical worship service runs 60 percent women. Some say 80 percent. Why the gender gap?

An old debate is revived by the book Why Men Hate Going to Church, by David Murrow (Nelson Books). He and others make their case with burly bluntness. Church these days is passive, ceremonial and boring, a place arrayed with fresh-cut flowers and wordy therapeutic phrases. Its all too ... feminine.

The men plead for something more from church. They want adventure, boldness, energy, hands-on solutions, challenge and fun. If houses of worship do not try harder to reflect male values, guys will find adventure elsewhere. They do not want a girlie God but a manly Almighty.

This male faith movement says it is trying to wake up organized religion to a troublesome truth: Church experience today is driving men away. Ultimately, all believers suffer for it.

Many guys complain this religious trend is a symptom of a larger condition; the whole culture has gone womanish, with Oprah as the matronly national emcee and Rachael Ray as the inescapable icon of spunk. Princess Diana still haunts the Western world as a goddess of dreams and heartbreak. Elvis was Elvis and Jagger is Jagger because of their androgynous looks.

The church remedy, according to advocates? Be alert to the needs of men, give them tasks, help them make friends with other men, stir them to action, inspire them to lead their families. Bring a masculine spirit into the heart of church life.

The male-driven Promise Keepers movement (there is an event July 20-21 at Nashville Arena) has been saying these things for nearly 20 years.

Yet, little has changed. The question is why.

The reason is not because an army of women stormed the gates. Men still run the show. They lead most denominations, most congregations.

What ails the church is a different sort of softness. A boring church usually lacks zest or imagination or neighborhood mission because it is too bureaucratic, too afraid of religious awe, humor, rhythm, jazz. It is often under the sway of a few controlling families, not the feminine mystique, and it does not push back against a consumer juggernaut culture of fear, comfort, violence, vulgarity and derision.

Some men think church has turned Jesus himself into a gal-pal messiah. More likely, the message of Jesus is what goes missing, not his masculinity. He preached peacemaking and sacrifice, refused to take up power and died by state execution. He turned values upside down, challenging both sexes. Man-sized complaints about church distract from a bigger question ... Did the non-violent life of Jesus, and his confrontational parables, represent weakness or ultimate courage?

Men, make a decision.