Stat of the Day:
51% of 18-39 year-olds agree: “romantic relationships aren’t my priority right now”
Why it Matters:
The church focuses a great deal on the young families in our midst, from childcare options and Godly Play to Messy Church and designated kid-zones in the sanctuary. This is wholesome and good, and much appreciated by parents with young children. Though there are always things that can improve in this regard, the church has a consistent and deliberate focus on young families and their formation. It ought to continue this focus in the months and years ahead.
But what about the single people in our midst? For many single people, the church can seem less welcoming since so much is geared towards families and children. How do singles fit into our congregation’s life together? How can we better serve and minister alongside single people in the church today?
With young people marrying later and having fewer children, the church’s engagement with single people will have an increasingly significant impact as time goes on.
Dig Deeper:
What are some ways in which the church can be more intentional about ministering to the singles in our midst, whether young people who are just not prioritizing romantic relationships or even those experiencing burnout from all the dating app failures they’ve experienced? Are there places in our community where single people concentrate that our congregation doesn’t engage or does not do so well (e.g., colleges, community centers, etc.)? How can we do better at engaging the singles in our communities, especially those already in our midst?
If the church spends a fraction of the time we devote to family ministries on singles ministries, we might find that we’re meeting a need long ignored.
Try It:
College ministries tailor their programming and events around class and student life norms in order to engage the largest possible number of young people, for example, hosting Bible studies or group discussions on week nights after dinner time. Churches could do something similar—polling single people in our midst about formation or fellowship activities that would be particularly meaningful to them and organizing events later in the evening for them to participate in. Better yet, we could provide a meal and combine a communal dinner with formation and fellowship.
This need not require clergy to be available late into the night every weeknight, but could be used during special liturgical seasons (e.g., Lent) for certain kinds of study and fellowship. Promoting this kind of an adult education or fellowship event during defined liturgical seasons can both protect clergy from scheduling overload while offering something that can be engaging for singles and edifying for the whole congregation.