With singles prevalent in pews, churches shift views

In Christianity, single status has at different points in time carried either a mark of holiness or a stigma of deformity. Roman Catholics, for instance, have preserved the ancient and medieval standard of celibacy for priests, nuns, and monks as the highest sign of a life set apart for God. Protestants, meanwhile, have since Martin Luther's day upheld married life as ideal, leaving singles to feel at times like second-class church members. And while both hold holy matrimony in high esteem, neither has ever established any sort of blessed distinction for singles, however faithful, who forego the taking of vows.

Today, however, singleness is being viewed through a changing lens, at least in certain religious circles. Some mainline Protestants, for instance, are replacing the 1980s and '90s model of singles ministry, which brought together people of similar ages and often devolved, according to Dickmann and other sources, into "Christian meat markets."

In the Northeast, more than a dozen churches use the "New Beginnings for Single Adults" program, which has flourished especially in urban areas like Lowell. Its success, Ms. McDaniel says, stems from helping people accept their single status through what she describes as "a self-help 101 class, where people are working through loss and grief, gaining new communication skills and boundaries."

Growing regard in congregations for singleness as an acceptable condition, however, does not necessarily mean singles have assimilated. Carl McDonald, a divorced father of two adults, says he still feels a discomfort in suburban congregations where couples are the norm.

"I think Christmas is a very painful time for single people to go to church because it is so family-centered," says Mr. McDonald, a youth ministries adviser at the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ. "And these are people who are sometimes better off than when they were coupled. They find joy in their work, they have lots of friends, but even when they go to singles ministry, it's about grieving."

As congregations seek new ways to bring singles into their mainstreams, the challenge yet to be surmounted is how much a community will acknowledge or accept about a single person's personal life. At Warehouse 242, singles who cohabitate may take part in church life but are forbidden to lead small groups, since their lives fall short of church standards. By contrast, at Christ Church United, an unmarried couple may have a child baptized as long as they agree to join the church. No commitment toward marriage is expected, McDaniel says, because "sometimes it isn't a good relationship, but we still put the child first" by welcoming a bond with the church through baptism.

So far, singles are often being welcomed in communities across the religious spectrum along the lines of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy about personal lifestyles. But whether the probing goes deeper with time or not, the process of discovery for what makes for a holy single life in the 21st century will surely be lived out in settings where married couples and single people explore the depths of faith side-by-side.

"The question is, 'Do you minister based on a person's station in life?' " asks the Rev. John Matusiak of the Orthodox Church in America. "Or is the goal to get people together from different stations in life together to enrich each other? We believe it would be totally artificial to create a specialized ministry for single people. And single people find that refreshing."

Page: 1 | 2