Why Should My Church Be Single-Focused?
Let’s Define Single Adults
Singles are unique. There is a specific way to reach and minister to each type of single adult, but these labels are not meant to place singles into different ways of being reached. Quite the opposite. Once you know who you want to reach, you need to know how to reach them.
- Singles Never Married
- Adults who have never married and may or may not be looking to date.
- Dating Singles
- Singles actively looking to date and may or may not be in a relationship currently.
- Engaged Singles
- Singles who are engaged with an official ring, however, not married yet and still single.
- Divorced Singles
- Singles who have been married and the legal divorce papers have been signed by a judge.
- Single Parents
- Parents of children who are not married, including single parents who became so by divorce, widowhood, adoption, or out of wedlock. Never assume how an individual became a single parent.
- Widows and Widowers
- Singles who did not choose to be single again as their spouse has passed.
Know Your Community
Singles in America comprise over 50% of working-age adults. The average age to marry is 30 for men and 27 for women, of which 63% are never-married adults. You may be thinking your community may not have as many single adults as others. While that could be true when it comes to families in your community, the national average is 40% of those are single-parent families.
The last major statistic demonstrating singles in your community is the average age of a first-time divorce: 30 years old. All these statistics from the US Cenus and Department of Labor and more can be found on tfoministries.org. The first step in being a single focused church is knowing your community. As a nation, we have never been more single.
Grow Your Church Through Singles
Single adults may be one of the most absent people groups from our churches in America. Singles desire to know they are complete in Christ, tfoministries.org/completeinchrist, and the church offers that message of hope. You may know a few singles in your church; the question is this: Will you find ways to engage the singles in your area looking for community?
Be A Single-Friendly Church
Family-friendly church models need to align with single-friendly models to reach 100% of your community. The first step to being a single-friendly church is to acknowledge that single adults have a place in your church. Where will they go on a Sunday morning when they arrive? Does your website say singles are welcome? How your church does discipleship is not a factor of if singles will attend your church.
The largest factor is if your church is friendly to singles and how you communicate equality from the pulpit and website for all adults. That will demonstrate acceptance for all your community to be engaged in your congregation, and your church can grow as a result of that commitment.
Join the conversation in our Facebook group! Remember that you can connect with one of our consultants anytime.
Published June 22, 2020