THE Church of England’s national assembly has been urged to address a “testosterone deficit” among the faithful and attract more men into the pews.

Canon Simon Bessant, from Sheffield, said there is “plenty” of anecdotal evidence that the gender balance in congregations is getting “seriously out of line”.

In a question to the House of Bishops of the Church of England, he asked whether the Church was debating the “profound theological issues” implied by a “gender imbalance”.

The Rt Rev Michael Hill, Bishop of Bristol, told the General Synod meeting in London that “every soul” is precious to the Lord and the Gospel is the same for men and women alike.

“I believe every bishop is concerned to build a well-balanced church and mission among men and young people is on everyone’s agenda,” he said.

The Synod is meeting after attendance figures for the Church of England released last month showed a fall in average Sunday attendance to 960,000 in 2008, compared with 978,000 in 2007.

Weekly attendance figures were also down over the same period at 1,145,000 in 2008, compared with 1,160,000 in 2007.