You kinda need to be able to recruit from villages in this mod to... well... play (unless you are cheating). I hope this gets fixed because there have been recruitment issues for a while now.
The relationships with villages keep deteriorating, which I THINK is the reason people can't recruit. I have no idea what it has to do with, but it's not religion or culture.
What version are you playing and how many days in?
Nevermind I think it's fixed with your latest hotfix. Most villages still say other lords already recruited them but that's normal I think.