On Single-Dom

Okay, so I started to write this post last December and got a little sidetracked in life....regardless, it still has a great article :)

After reading Singled Out: How Churches Can Embrace Unmarried Adults, I thought back to a lot of the interactions and experiences I'd had over the years.  Regardless of the frustrations I've felt, my faith itself has never wavered due to something directly related to this topic, it's just kind of something that is perpetually irksome.

 It's extremely easy to feel very lost, left out, and irrelevant as a single person in church.  I don't intend to point fingers at a particular one as I have frequented many in my adult (scary word) life.  Involving singles is something they can all work on.  I don't by ANY way shape or form mean that they should be offering matchmaking or dating services (not even close!), but it's pretty easy to feel overlooked or incomplete in a church setting.  Conversations frequently start with children, how many, and ages which inevitably leads to "my" children which I must have???  Nope.  Husband? Nope.  Boy---- Nope....at this point people are sometimes left standing awkwardly wondering what to say next.

Secondly, many people mistakenly assume that all Christian singles at church are "shopping" for eligible singles.  Not so.  Honestly, I'd love the opportunity to just fellowship with other people who share the similarity of singleness.  Single life is very different than married life.  While I greatly appreciate the opportunity to fellowship with the women in my ladies bible study across different stages in life and with families in my church, there is a something totally different about fellowshipping, encouraging, and enjoying the company of other single believers.

We want to be involved.  We want to feel needed.  These are human wants in any community.  Shouldn't they be met in a place where people are modeling their lives after the only perfect man's teachings?