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.
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.
Amen! I’m not single. But sometimes things need to be said.
Amen sister! Well said.
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.
Great article. So glad you are part of our CP family, and so value you.