“the biggest thing that discourages me from (and i am sure many other guys) from considering priesthood (as a Novus Ordo priest anyway) are ALTAR GIRLS!!!! Its a job for guys only. Its like going hunting, or playing NFL with a girl- it’s just something you DON’T do.
you see all those bad statistics about why people like ME aren’t answering the call, well i am telling you.”
Consider a vocation anyways.
If you are worried about the femininity that has crept into what has been traditionally the role of the priest (like the running of the parish or the ‘public’ and visible actions at Mass), there are ways to deal with that. Find a solid Knights of Columbus council. Find religious orders that haven’t gone crazy in recent years. The Dominicans (where I am) are supposed to be quite good. If you can find solid Jesuits—hard to do perhaps—such as they can be the best priests around. That should help change your conception of how things are now.
Let me tell you, most of the guys I have talked to who are in the seminary, or entering soon would have nothing to with altar girls. And none would have anything to do with the polyesther pants-suit nuns.
Our former (Episcopal) parish solved the problem by having all girl and all boy teams.
Our Catholic parish solves the problem by running the altar server program along military lines. Drill, ranks, promotions, points alloted for service, etc. That eliminates 99 and 94/100ths of the giggling silly girls, leaving a very few girls who are dedicated to serious service (and in numerous cases considering a vocation as a religious). Our altar server program is probably 75% male, and in the Elites (the kids who promise to serve through graduation from high school and lead the teams) my daughter was the only female in her graduating year.
Another option that another FReeper has in his parish is vesting the altar girls differently - in little nun's habits. It's adorable as can be, and their heads are covered, and it makes a clear distinction between Boys and Girls.