Revitalize Your Singles Ministry for Every Life Stage

Create a welcoming environment for Christian singles in all stages of life with these fresh ideas that will breathe new life and even more excitement into the traditional singles ministry.

However, before getting into the new ideas, let’s identify some of the problems and myths with stereotypical thinking about singles’ ministry.

Myths and Stereotypes to Avoid

1. Singles-only events.

Church leaders may have good intentions when offering singles-only events. However, the separation can alienate them from the larger church community. Just because a person is single doesn’t mean he or she can’t or doesn’t want to interact with married couples or families.

2. Everyone is in their early 20s.

Typically, we think of singles as young adults fresh out of college, beginning careers and establishing their own lives, but many vibrant singles are in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.

3. Play matchmaker.

Not every Christian single is looking for a mate. And that’s OK! There are lots of reasons a person may want to be single. One is a whole number. A single person can be content.

How do you abandon these problematic ideas and myths to develop an active, engaging and thriving ministry to serve single adults in the 21st century? Terry Hershey, a leader in singles’ ministry, believes churches don’t need singles ministers as much as singles advocates.

Advocacy, he says, “has nothing to do with instituting a program. It has to do with how we help provide childcare for single parents who are in our church. It has to do with how we plug people in who are single adults, so they know they can serve here and have support here. That’s singles ministry.”