5 Things Single People Need from the Church

smgianotti@me.com  —  August 18, 2015

I wrote this article for Kindred Spirit’s Summer 2015 issue “Singles and the Church.” Kindred Spirit is the magazine of Dallas Theological Seminary.


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1. See us.

 

  • If you’re a speaker, talk about marriage, but also about the possibility of celibacy and prolonged singleness. Revere all options—like the apostle Paul did. 
  • Broaden views of male and female roles beyond breadwinning and childrearing.  

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Image courtesy of Hoola Talullah via flickr.com

 

2. Validate us.

 

  • Celebrate how God is using us by admiring our contributions at work or how we met that single parent for lunch.
  • Convince us of our significance—help us understand how we can use our schedules, our relationships, and our aloneness to bless the church and fulfill the missio Dei

3. Include us.

 

  • Mention us in pastoral prayers. And when thinking up applications for messages, include a single man or a dating woman in your examples. When you do so, challenge us toward more than just sexual purity.
  • Invite us to small groups and dinner parties, even when all the other guests are married. We need close relationships with people from all walks of life.

4. Help us.

 

  • Offer to change our windshield wipers or join us as we look at houses for sale.
  • Tell us we may call you at any time—if our car stalls on the highway or if we return home to find the front door vandalized. 
  • Send us home from church with healthful leftovers. 

5. Welcome us into your family.

 

  • Offer to have dinner waiting for us before small group. Eating at your house, even leftover spaghetti, fills us up better than a Big Mac.
  • Invite us to Junior’s soccer match or to go bowling with your family. Many of us would love to spend time with our friends’ kids. 

 

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4 responses to 5 Things Single People Need from the Church

  1. Amen! I’m not single. But sometimes things need to be said.

  2. Amen sister! Well said.

  3. Wow, I wish I could have read that all those years and years and years that I was single. It’s everything I thought but never said.

  4. Great article. So glad you are part of our CP family, and so value you.